So, your roommate didn’t work out. You broke up with your girlfriend or boyfriend and no longer want to live together. Or maybe it is that family member you let stay because they were having a rough time with life who now won’t stop sleeping on your couch.
How do you deal with this situation? What are your rights and what are the rights of the person staying on your couch who just won’t leave? Let’s walk through what you need to know to help you get your life back to normal.
Are They On The Lease?
The very first question to ask is if they are on the lease or not. If they are not, this makes things a bit easier for you. You are the primary renter, the apartment is your domicile, and you have rights to it.
In the vast majority of all situations like this, the person in question is not on the lease. They are just a friend or family member the actual tenant was trying to help out and the situation got out of hand for whatever reason.
Another common one is a boyfriend and girlfriend break up. One of the pair is on the lease, the other isn’t. But the person not on the lease may have felt like this is their home at this point and want to have some claim to it. They may even want the person who is actually on the lease to be the one who moves out. How do you deal with this?
Well, most times, it is going to come down to……
How Long Have They Been Staying In Your Apartment?
Why does this matter? Because the length of stay is going to depend on whether or not the person is going to be classified as a tenant or as a guest.
Most states use the 30-day rule for this provision. If the guest has been staying for you for more than 30 days, then they are automatically classified as a tenant, regardless of whether they are on the lease or not, or whether or not they have paid you or the landlord any money for the rent.
Furthermore, if the tenant has been giving you money for the rent, they are also going to be classified as a tenant. And in many cases, you are actually going to be classified as the landlord and have to go through all of the same hoops that the landlord themselves would have to go through to evict someone from the apartment.
Essentially, because they are paying you for their rent, and you are the only one on the lease, you are the primary renter and they are renting their space from you. It may not be what you considered your arrangement in your mind when you went into it, but this is how the law is going to view it. So keep that in mind as the days grow into weeks for that person continuing to sleep on your couch.
The law is also more than likely going to consider them a full tenant if there was a verbal agreement to let the person stay longer than what would constitute a guest. This can be hard to prove one way or another on what constituted the verbal agreement, but it is going to be harder for the person doing the evicting than the person trying to stay when it comes to claims like this. Most times, the court is going to give the benefit of the doubt to the person wanting to stay.
What If They Stay On and Off?
If you have a guest that periodically stays with you, your best friend, in this case, is going to be your lease agreement. In your lease, it should stipulate what makes a guest a guest, and what makes a tenant a tenant. Usually, there is a provision in the agreement that tells exactly how much time someone can stay without needed to be on the lease.
As we have mentioned in a couple of different articles on Apartment School, a good rule of thumb to use is if the guest is going to be staying with you or has stayed more than 14 days in a 6 month period, they should be included on the lease.
Now, why does this help you? Two ways.
The first is you can bring up your legal and liability reasons for the person you want to leave. You can show them that you yourself are in jeopardy of breaking the terms of the lease if they do not find someplace else to live. Showing them that both of you could be in danger of losing a place to sleep can be the impetus on getting them to just move out.
The second way it is going to help you is that you can go straight to your landlord and ask for help. Tell them about the situation you are in, who is staying, for what reasons, and why. They will more than likely be happy to help use their authority to ward off any future problems that could arise with the unfortunate situation.
The landlord will also be able to use the terms of the lease to help encourage them to leave. They will let the unwelcomed guest know that both the landlord and the tenant have legal rights that will be called upon if they do not leave within a certain amount of time.
Most time, this will be more than enough pressure to convince the person they need to be moving on.
How Can I Convince Them To Leave?
Ask them nicely.
The first and best option. There is nothing that beats sheer honesty. If you really want them to go, just ask them. They may hem and haw a bit and try to convince you otherwise, but if you stay firm and let them know it just isn’t working out having them stay with you any longer, many times they will just leave. Nobody likes living in an uncomfortable situation.
Put a timetable on their departure, say like a week a maximum. This lets them know that you are serious about them finding someplace else to stay and it puts pressure on them to be looking for a new place immediately.
Just ask. You don’t know how easy it can be to rectify a situation like this until you try.
But What If They Still Won’t Leave?
This is where the tough stuff comes in.
You are going to have to give them a Notice to Quit. This is basically a legal document that formally requests that the person vacate the premises. If the person hasn’t been living there for more than 30 days, you may be able to simply force them out, especially if they are uninvited and have not been paying you for rent.
A landlord cannot just evict you for any reason. There must be something that is being done that is breaking the lease agreement. However, if your uninvited guest is not on the lease, then you can evict him for any reason whatsoever.
The problem is, if they have been staying with you for any significant amount of time, you are going to have to give them 30 days after you give them the Notice To Quit before they have to be out. This is just the law, and while it is frustrating and you are possibly be going to have to live with this person for a few extra weeks, this provision in the law also protects your rights as a tenant as well.
If they still don’t decide to leave after the 30 days in the Notice To Quit, you will need to go to the court and get a judgment to have the police or sheriff’s department physically remove them from the property. Even if the court rules in your favor to do this, law enforcement typically gives the person being evicted another 5 days before they come over and remove them.
So, the moral of the story is: Be straight and upfront with any guests you have coming to stay with you for a while. Both you and them may think that it is going to be a short-term arrangement, but if it turns into something more, you may have more hassle than you want in getting them to leave.
Make sure they get on the lease if they are going to be staying for a while. But if they aren’t on the lease, go to your landlord and ask them for help. They are more than likely going to be willing to help you remove your pesky guest with you.
And as the last resort, give them notice that you are going to be looking for a judgment against them in court to leave. Most times it will not come to this and a simple, honest conversation will be all you need to get your life back to normal.
Be firm and honest with your guests when they do come to stay with you. Let them know exactly how long they can stay and when they must be out. This will prevent these issues from coming up in the first place.
