Evicting non paying tenants??

Question

i have a friend who was in need ,she had no deposit,nobond for a house.i was due to move ,so i rented her mine .i left it fully furnished ,very expensive audio equipment ,tv etc.

i have heard she is due to leave and start a new life in another city .i confronted her and she said this is true i am leavingin 9 days.i have suspicion she will take someof my belongings with her?? have i right to enter do the packing and kick her out early ?? shes ignoring my calls ,not allowing me access to the house ??i cant even get access to show new tenants around >?? there was no tenancy agreement to begin with ,i still have a key ,what are my rights ??

Answer 1

As Joanna said, with no tenancy agreement she is not a tennant and therefore has no rights... let yourself in and change the locks, leave her stuff in a garage or at the back of the property.

Answer 2

with a tenancy agreement you would have access rights with 24 hours notice - with no tenancy agreement she may have squatter's rights, and I'm not quite sure where you stand with that. If you'd done a tenancy agreement you'd have written documentation to prove what was there and what condition it was in - again, with no proof i don't know where you stand.

You could do with having a scout around the internet for landlord's rights and squatter's rights.

make sure you learn from this and draw up a proper contract before you move in new tenants. You can get ready made ones from the internet or there are DIY packs in places like staples.

good luck

Answer 3

No tenancy agreement. Very dodgy. She doesn't sound like much of a friend, but, when the going gets tough - most people look after Number One and stuff the rest.

Fact of life, I'm afraid. Sorry, I know this answer doesn't say what you want to hear, but a valuable has been learnt?

Answer 4

She is a month to month tenant by default, her tenancy is governed by your state's landlord/tenant laws.

You will have to look them up to get details.

You can evict her through the courts for non-payment, but she is leaving anyway, so it would be a waste of time and money.

Hopefully you have a detailed inventory and pictures/videos to prove what was furnished upon her move in.

You cannot enter to remove anything, she has the right of use for everything in the house until she vacates or is evicted. You would be entering and removing furnishings illegally.

She likely cannot deny you access as long a proper written notice is given to enter to show the place to potential tenants.

There was a tenancy agreement - as long as a monthly payment was agreed upon, she is a month to month tenant.

Your rights are spelled out in your state's landlord/tenant laws.

Answer 5

If there was no written agreement, you technically still have rights to the place. Call the cops - then she'll have to let you in. She must not be too great of a friend if she would try to take your belongings.

Answer 6

You have gotten yourself into a sticky situation by not having a written agreement. Because the laws vary from state to state, you need to find out what the laws are for your state. Contact your local Sheriff's Office, they usually handle evictions, even within a city limit. You may have a right to enter the property, but unless you've gone through the legal eviction process for your state, you may have a hard time kicking her out at this point.

Answer 7

Typically, police don't get involved in this type of stuff. But seeing as how it could be theft, it would be wise to have a police officer with you there when she is moving, to take inventory of belongings.

Contact her, leave a message saying you want to do a walk through before she leaves.. perfectly legal. If you know the day she's leaving, meet her there. You can even mail her a "walk through" letter via certified mail, that way she can not claim "oops, I didn't know"...

good luck!

Answer 8

If you have a key to the place that still works (she may have changed the locks), I would go over there and get all of my belongings and take them away.

Without some sort of lease agreement, she has no rights to the place, but unfortunately for you, you have little recourse if she takes your things or destroys the place.

Some friend she turned out to be.

Answer 9

You have the right to inspect, with 24 hours notice.

You do not have the right to kick her out, pack anything, or even open a closet door.

With no agreement you fall to state law, which protects her rights in this case.

You can  sue her after the fact for anything missing, not giving a 30 day notice and any damage to the property.     You can't do much now though.

Hopefully you have her SSN, otherwise you may never see her again.