And stash your valuables in your car and put a lock on your bedroom door.
Because now they know for sure you’re pissed at them. So they don’t have to be sneaky. Right?
A couple questions I’ve got for those who might have gone through similar situations:
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The bitch made some mention that for a landlord to evict her, she has to be three months overdue with payments, not just one. I told her what the landlord told me, that since they aren’t actually ON the lease, he is under no legal obligation to do anything. In fact, he can claim they are living there illegally, BECAUSE they aren’t on the lease. I assume the landlord is right in this situation, and there won’t be any legal issue about kicking them out, even when they have no where else to live?
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What about all their stuff? They have a lot of it. It took them almost two whole months to move it in here from their old place, friend’s places, and a storage unit. They obviously won’t get it all out of here in a day (especially since neither one of them owns a car.) Clearly they’re going to have to be allowed to move the stuff out, but is there generally a time frame they have to do it in? Can I just put it outside? (I don’t want to, because that’s a lot of work on my part, but is someone is moving in to replace them the shits gotta go!) I also wouldn’t want ot have to be here every damn time they want to come back to get some stuff, but I sure as hell wouldn’t trust them to be here on their own.
Whether or not you can kick someone out without evicting them depends on your local laws. In some places I’ve lived, letting someone spend one night at your place means that they could be considered a resident and you’d have to legally evict them to get them out. If your landlord told you he could kick them right out, I’d believe him. He’s probably not going to do anything that he could be sued for.
As for their stuff, I don’t think you have the right to put it out. There may be a time limit on how long they have to get it (30 days?) and then you might be entitled to ownership after that. Your landlord will know the law about that. Ask him when you make that call.
I would not trust the landlord to handle it for you nor that he knows the laws. If you evict them without the proper paperwork you can be sued not the landlord since you sublet to them, not him.
He is already allowing you to kick them out and not him. I suspect he does not really want to be involved he just wants his rent.
First I would give them a notice of eviction and let it ride for 30 days. Lease or no lease they are living there as if there was one. In most places no lease means a month to month lease. I know you don’t like that answer but most cities/states require a 30 day notice whether it landlord to tenant or tenant to landlord. A tenant can’t leave with out notice any more than a landlord can kick you out with no notice. I would send it to them as a certified letter. Don’t just hand it to them as they can claim they never got it. Try to make it as official looking as possible.
If they don’t leave after 30 days then you may need to legally evict them which can take another 30 days. I doubt there is a three month no rent rule. In most places it is one month and in some cases you don’t need a reason at all but what I would do is to contact your local city hall and ask about eviction procedures and the rules that apply.
I know here there is letter for the landlord to send that gives the tenant three days. If they don’t leave then they must file a forceful eviction with the court. The court then sends a bailiff to the home with the forceful eviction notice that includes a court date. That date is usually about three weeks away. At this point the tenants have that time to leave and then contact the court that they have left or go to court and plead their case to the judge. In most cases the judge sides with the landlord and they are order to evict the premises in 10 days and if they don’t then they and their belongings are forcible removed.
Since you are subletting to them, lease or not, you are responsible for the eviction process. Hopefully the initial letter will scare them enough to get them moving out.
It also costs money to file a forcible eviction. Usually around $100 or so.
I would do it legally if you can. If you don’t they could take you to civil court and sue you for evicting them without 30 notice and force you to pay for the expenses of moving to another place since you forced them on to the street.
Missed the edit window.
If after you send them the 30 day eviction notice they pony up all the money owed it is still not a reason to let them stay but then that is your call but at this point I would not advise it. Two months down the road when they are short on rent again the 30 days starts over again.
Here is the form. I am sure you can get it free from the city hall or find something similar on the net.
This form is used by a Landlord to demand payment of overdue rent from a residential tenant within 14 days from giving the Notice in accordance with the laws of your state. (Note: If a written agreement provides for a longer notice, use the notice length stated in the agreement). “Residential” includes a house, apartment or condo. If the Tenant fails to pay within 14 days, the lease may be considered terminated by the Landlord. The Tenant is informed that the Tenant must either pay the rent or suffer possible termination. If he does not pay the Landlord may begin eviction proceedings. If the Landlord does not elect to proceed with termination or eviction but instead agrees to accept rent after the termination date stated in the Notice, the lease is generally reinstated. For additional information, see the Law Summary link.
Also this from a link on the form page.
**Vermont Termination of Lease for Non-Payment Law
§ 4467. Termination of tenancy; notice
(a) Termination for nonpayment of rent. Termination for nonpayment of rent. The landlord may terminate a tenancy for nonpayment of rent by providing actual notice to the tenant of the date on which the tenancy will terminate which shall be at least 14 days after the date of the actual notice. The rental agreement shall not terminate if the tenant pays or tenders all arrearages prior to the termination date. A tenant may not defeat a notice to terminate by payment of arrearages more than three times in 12 months. Acceptance of partial payment of rent shall not constitute a waiver of the landlord’s remedies for nonpayment of rent.
(b) Termination for breach of rental agreement. The landlord may terminate a tenancy for failure of the tenant to comply with a material term of the rental agreement or with obligations imposed under this chapter, by actual notice given to the tenant at least 30 days prior to the termination date specified in the notice.
(c) Termination for no cause. In the absence of a written rental agreement, the landlord may terminate a tenancy for no cause as follows:
(1) if rent is payable on a monthly basis, by providing actual notice to the tenant of the date on which the tenancy will terminate which shall be:
(A) For tenants who have resided continuously in the same premises for two years or less, at least 60 days after the date of the actual notice.
(B) For tenants who have resided continuously in the same premises for more than two years, at least 90 days after the date of the actual notice.
(2) if rent is payable on a weekly basis, by providing actual notice to the tenant of the date on which the tenancy will terminate which shall be at least 21 days after the date of the actual notice.
Termination of rental agreement when property is sold. In the absence of a written rental agreement a landlord who has contracted to sell the building may terminate a tenancy by providing actual notice to the tenant of the date on which the tenancy will terminate which shall be at least 30 days after the date of the actual notice.
(e) Termination by landlord under terms of written rental agreement. If the landlord terminates a tenancy in accordance with the terms of a written rental agreement, the notice to terminate shall be at least 30 days, if rent is payable on a monthly basis and the tenancy has continued for two years or less. The notice to terminate for no cause shall be at least 60 days if the rent is paid on a monthly basis and the tenancy has continued for more than two years. The notice to terminate shall be at least seven days, if rent is payable on a weekly basis; however, a notice to terminate for nonpayment of rent shall be as provided in subsection (a) of this section.
(f) In all cases the termination date shall be specifically stated in the notice.
(g) If the building is being converted to condominiums, notice shall be given in accordance with subchapter 2 of chapter 15 of Title 27.
(h) A rental arrangement whereby a person rents to another individual one or more rooms in his or her personal residence that includes the shared use of any of the common living spaces, such as the living room, kitchen or bathroom, may be terminated by either party by providing actual notice to the other of the date the rental agreement shall terminate, which shall be at least 15 days after the date of actual notice if the rent is payable monthly and at least seven days after the date of actual notice if the rent is payable weekly. (Added 1985, No. 175 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1999, No. 115 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 2, 2a.)**
Hopefully the 14 day form will get their asses moving.
You should not feel ashamed or guilty. You are RIGHT. Did you take a baseball bat to their heads while they were asleep, like I would have done?
Guard your stuff.
As for their stuff, ‘store’ it for them untill they pay you back.
60 fucking days? Your fucking kidding me! I am not letting these asswipes stay here for two more months! Here’s the thing: there is NO legal document anywhere with their names on it regarding this rental. They aren’t on a lease, they aren’t on any ‘landlord-tenant rental agreement’ thing, and I certainly didn’t do anything official when I let them rent the room.
Hell, I just got a voicemail from the landlord saying that he checked into it more, and since he doesn’t remember ever approving them, the lease has been violated by letting them stay (I don’t care if he doesn’t remember, I gave the application forms to him, and when I followed up on it, he said nothing came up. I now suspect he forgot but didn’t want to admit it.)
If they are dealing drugs or theives, they probably won’t go to the cops.
You could invite an officer to walk through your apartment and maybe he’ll ‘find’ some drugs in their room. Kick their asses out.
Then ask him if he’ll be nice enough to just break the lease, you can move out and they will have to, also. Then, you can find a new roommate who wont steal your shit (and really, it isn’t nearly as hard as you’re making it out to be. None of my friends have ever had their shit stolen from their roommates. Then again, we all live with our friends, so I suppose maybe that is a major risk you take living with strangers).
Gosh, imagine the number of small safes you could have bought with the 400 clams they stole! It’s a matter of prioritizing. It’s also a matter of not keeping large wads of cash in your house.
Actually, you can. Having roommates who steal from you is an infringement upon your quiet enjoyment of your home. Tell your landlord to kick their asses out or you are moving immediately.
You have no obligation to expose yourself to losses just to make sure your other roommates are not inconvenienced. That’s your choice, but it is in fact a choice you are making, so the continued theivery will probably receive less sympathy.
Most people have the ability to identify the shady and untrustworthy – especially after the first incident of stuff gone “missing.” Maybe you just lack that ability, I don’t know.
So why the hell are you dicking around with this at all? Tell the landlord to kick them out! That’s not your responsibility; it’s his.
I have a few small safes, and while I’m not hard pressed for cash and wasn’t being cheap when I bought them they still weren’t all that expensive relatively speaking.
I have a waterproof/fireproof filing box that I keep in a closet in my home office, any documents I really need to keep go into here. Really important documents will also have copies (or the originals) at my safe-deposit box at the bank (will, insurance documents, et cetera) I typically have around three copies of all of my important personal documents. I usually keep one set of them all at the bank, one in the secure filing box and one in a regular filing cabinet in my home office (these are the “convenience” ones I’ll pull out when I need to look at them, the rest exist primarily so that if a fire or something engulfs the house I still have them.)
A lot of these documents have also been scanned and uploaded to an online file system so a lot of the other precautions are probably redundant.
On top of protection for my documents I have a genuine safe that is recessed into poured concrete in the floor of my house, it holds $1,000 in cash at all times as well as a few other valuables I like to keep locked up.
Obviously not everyone can afford to have $1,000 sitting in a safe (it doesn’t collect interest there nor is it designed to be spent except for emergencies.) Over the years that $1,000 has come in handy. I’ve had to use it in a lot of circumstances where you or someone else needs money NOW, in a situation where you can’t wait for a bank to open or you need more money than you can withdraw form an ATM and where a credit card isn’t going to work. I’ve used it on a few occasions to bail people out of jail.
Now that more municipalities are accepting credit cards as bail payment I haven’t had to use any of the money in ages (at least ten years) so maybe it is kinda pointless. Especially since pretty much everyone takes credit card these days and there are few true “cash now” emergencies anymore, but it does provide peace of mind.
No one knows I have the safe there, no one. No one knows where it is or what is in it. You could look all over my (finished) basement for a few hours and you’d never stumble upon it incidentally.
During the power outage in NYC, it went to a cash only basis for over a 24 hours. Of course you would have to be home but it would still be good for that.
Using a credit card to make bail takes all the old world charm out of it, doesn’t it?
I’m a bit confused. You claim they are not on the lease, but they filled out applications with the landlord and the landlord approved them? Sounds to me that they are on the lease. Except you later say:
So who is in violation of the lease? It can’t be the roommates, because apparently they are not on it. I’d think that it is you that is in violation of the lease, for letting them live there. Looks like a sticky situation.
Bouv, a question.
What’s the possibility of you giving your landlord 30 days notice to terminate, and then turn around and sign a new lease, for the closest vacant like-apartment? Would that be a good solution for you?
They arn’t on your lease, you can call the police and claim they are tresspassing. Legally they cannot be there if you ask them to leave.
Here’s another thought. Do you have somewhere else you can move? Given that fact that your landlord hasn’t been paid, he/she may be willing to terminate your lease. Oh, and you are subletting as well, which is probably against your lease terms. Turn yourself in. You might want to talk to him and ask if your lease can be terminated at the end of the month. No eviction needed. If he allows that, get your shit out of the apartment ASAP (move in with parents, find another place, not sure, this might not even work for you). Then, after everything is gone tell the roomies “BTW, I broke the lease here, I’m leaving, you have to be out by the end of the month”
I was thinking something similar. But I’d be worried that roomies would just follow you and move back in. I think a better idea is to move to a new location, new landlord, new start. If the old roommates even set foot in the apartment, ask them to leave, then call the police since they are tresspassing. If they look like they’re going to attempt to move in, ask them to leave, call the police (tresspassing) AND call the landlord, explain the whole situation and ask them to come down and meet the police and you to take care of the situation.