I allowed my mother and brother to move into my house in April and we made a verbal agreement that they would?

Question

pay me rent. Well my mother has fallen 2 months behind and owes me $2,000. My brother never pays on time and has recently threatened to slash my tires and burn my house down if I kick him out. Neither of them are on a lease. Can I just tell them to get out? Or do I have to go through with a formal eviction process? I live in Virginia.

Please help!

Answer 1

You can ask them to leave, but if you "kick them out" a simple call to the police gets them back in.

This is their home now (still your house, but their home) and it is illegal to kick anyone out of their home without a court order.

If they do not leave you have to evict them.

That must be an amazing house to get 1k a month for a room.

Answer 2

So, were you charging your mother $1,000/month or is the $2,000 owed in addition to rent?  

Yes, if they paid or provided services to you, then they're tenants and you're their landlords.  You'll need to go through the formal eviction process.

In other roommate situations I would suggest give them a 30-day move-out notice and warn them that you intend on filing an eviction.  However, in a family situation, it depends on what you're willing to do.  Do you have stamina to take your family to court, evict, and, probably, disown your family?  If your mom and brother are completely abusive to you then you're probably going to have to make that hard decision.  Otherwise, you'll need to realize the fact that you'll never receive the money owed (hence, never do business with family).  Instead, assist them in finding a new place to live.

If you believe your brother's threat was serious, then you need to obtain a restraining order against him and have him removed from the premises immediately.

Answer 3

You can just kick them out.

If you are threatened you can call the cops.  

If you call the cops you'll probably never have a relationship with them again.   I can just about give you a 99.999999% assurance that your brother won't do all that.  Probably all mouth.

Answer 4

You may want to start a paper trail by writing your mom a letter. State in it that you had a verbal agreement which she has not lived upto. Write one to your brother and document his threats. Give them enough notice so that they can find themself a place. Let them know you will involve the law if necessary.

I'm curious though, is it that they cannot afford to pay the rent  or they think you are family and would be more understanding? If there are legit reasons for them to be late, may be you can work out something. I'm weary though of your brother threatening you and if you condone his threats he may stop paying you rent all together. Even if he may never follow through, thats kinda lowdown of him.  I hope your house is insured!

Even though they are not in a lease, since they have paid rent at some point, that makes your verbal agreement binding and them your tenants. Did you agree on how long they will be living with you? If this does get ugly, a formal eviction may be your best bet. Sometimes with family you have to put your foot down with a little bit more force for them to take you seriously. They may hate you now, but we all have to live in the real world sooner or later. You can only do so much for family...beyond that point you would  be crippling them, and putting yourself in a bind.

Answer 5

You need to call the police regarding your brother and file a report about the threats. He has got some serious issues and you need to get him off of your property.

You can tell them to get out, but legally, they have the right to be evicted through the courts. If they leave, fine. If not you need to go through the entire process.

The do have a lease in the eyes of the law - they are month to month tenants by default. Verbal month to month rental agreements are goverened by your state's landlord laws and hold up in a court of law.

If they have not paid rent, you need to serve them with the proper pay or quit notice per your state's landlord/tenant laws.

If they do not pay up or vacate per the notice, then you need to start the eviction process.

Answer 6

You know your family better that anyone.  Talk to them - they could be tenants with a lease that are doing the same thing - having tenants is usually not a walk in the park.

The trick here is to not get caught up in the family emotion - figure out what you want from them and what you are willing to put up with - then calmly talk to them and if it gets emotional excuse yourself from the situation - don't get into the drama.

This too shall pass.

Answer 7

You CAN tell them to get out, and you have every right to.  However, you need to take into account that this may harm your relationship and consider that no formal contract was ever written up.  The problem with verbal agreements is that they are only as good as the word of the person giving them.  Please don't take this the wrong way, but it sounds like you have been a little too lenient with them, and it has given them the impression that you can be walked on and not taken seriously.  Simply kicking them out could be disastrous for  your relationships, so you want to try to do everything you can before it comes to this so that you can salvage the relationship.

First, you need to sit them both down and discuss the situation with them.  Explain to them what they are doing and how it is making you feel.  (IE, tell them "I have opened up this place for you, provided you paid me rent and took care of the place.  You haven't paid and seem unconcerned, which makes me feel as though you think you can walk all over me because we are related.")  Try to put the focus on WHAT THEY ARE DOING and not your love for them or who they are.  People will often get defensive when they feel they are being attacked.  If you make it about their actions and not their identity, they might be more apt to listen.

Secondly, draw up a contract beforehand stating the terms of the living arrangement and in this same meeting you need to have them sign it with you.  Go through the lease with them and leave room to negotiate on things that need to be negotiated on.  (I.E., if rent is too high or something else.)  BE DETAILED with this lease and cover your bases on things like care of the house, ground rules, when rent is due, etc...  Once all parties have agreed on the terms, sign and date the paperwork.  Make 3-4 copies and give each of them one copy, while keeping 2 copies for yourself.  Keep one of your copies in the house, and leave the other copy in a safe place. (IE, a trusted friend or maybe at work.)  That way, if your brother gets mad and tries to destroy your copy of the agreement, you'll have another copy should things every come down to court.  You also might look into having the contract notarized.

Once the contract is in place, you have full rights to deal with the situation as a leaser and it removes the whole relationship aspect because it is a legal agreement, not a family arrangement.  They will either accept this and live on YOUR terms, as it is your house, or they will get ticked off and move out.

I hope this helps you!