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Stupid Roommate
Dr. Frenchenstein
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So i've been having some bad times with my current roommate. It all started with my ex-GF who did not get along with her. my roommate didn't do anything wrong per-se, but it made me realize how passive aggressive she can be when she isn't getting her way. Also, she has been kind of a dumbass which has led to her getting her car towed and impounded, (for non renewal of registration, and non-payment of tickets stemming from that) and her wages garnished (car is ostensibly gone). anyways, the final straw was when i got a dog.
<Spoiled for longness>
TL;DR version: My roommate and i have fallen out of friendship quite a bit, for multiple reasons. Now she is stalling on moving out/finding a place, and i have renters moving in soon. I don't know what to do if her stuff is not out in time. She is not on a lease, so technically i could kick her out anytime. I don't want to be a jerk, but i also am tired of her shit. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if she expects to be allowed to stay if she can't find a place. She literally has about 8 days to move her stuff, and she has done nothing (she has a lot). I was thinking if she doesn't move by the weekend deadline, i could
A) hire a uhaul, load it up, and into storage. Bill her for the costs, give her access to the unit after she pays me back. Is that a dick move? I mean... my tenants are moving in, she needs to be gone.
B)try and work something out with the tenants? they don't have a lot of stuff, and things might be able to be put in an empty room temporarily. frankly, unless she is willing to ask, i'm not going to ask for her. I've held her hand enough through this ordeal.
I'm not sure if i'm legally able to do option A though... could that be considered theft?
<Spoiled for longness>
I own the house and told her when she moved in, i'd be getting one eventually. She was fine with it. I told her again and again that i was thinking about getting a dog, and each time she seemed less and less ok with it. Regardless, it's my house, if she doesn't like the pooch, move out. anyways, I find a puppy, and tell my roommate i'm getting a dog in the next few weeks. She freaks, says she has to find a new place. I'm like...ok, so be it. of course, this is all bluster, and she doesn't move anywhere. The dog is a puppy (6 mos) and she wants nothing to do with it. puppy happy to see her when she gets home, she wants the puppy away from her. fine...i decide it's too hard to live with a roommate who doesn't like dogs, with a dog. instead of kicking her out, i decide to move to my parents house that they've been renting. I can live there basically for free, it has a yard, and is on the water. i tell roommate, she can stay in the house at her current rent, or get a new roommate, whatever. she thinks about it, and says ok. So i tell my mom to give her tenants the boot, and i get my finances together to move. All of a sudden, roommate doesn't want to move anymore. she acts like i blindsided her with the dog, and with me moving out, and just doesn't want to be there. So i've got to find renters for the place, b/c i can't bail on my parents. we go back and forth about what a "bad friend" i've become, and what a douche she is being. i find renters fairly quickly, although i stressed myself out big time. they are moving in at the end of the month, roommate is going away for Memorial day weekend (last weekend of the month) and basically has to be out this weekend. she has packed nothing, done nothing. What do i do if she's not moved out in time? At this point, i feel no desire to help her out since she screwed me over, i already gave her an extra month to get her crap together and find a place, and she spent most of the time drinking at the bars.
TL;DR version: My roommate and i have fallen out of friendship quite a bit, for multiple reasons. Now she is stalling on moving out/finding a place, and i have renters moving in soon. I don't know what to do if her stuff is not out in time. She is not on a lease, so technically i could kick her out anytime. I don't want to be a jerk, but i also am tired of her shit. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if she expects to be allowed to stay if she can't find a place. She literally has about 8 days to move her stuff, and she has done nothing (she has a lot). I was thinking if she doesn't move by the weekend deadline, i could
A) hire a uhaul, load it up, and into storage. Bill her for the costs, give her access to the unit after she pays me back. Is that a dick move? I mean... my tenants are moving in, she needs to be gone.
B)try and work something out with the tenants? they don't have a lot of stuff, and things might be able to be put in an empty room temporarily. frankly, unless she is willing to ask, i'm not going to ask for her. I've held her hand enough through this ordeal.
I'm not sure if i'm legally able to do option A though... could that be considered theft?
Dr. Frenchenstein on
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You can't MAKE her pay for anything, though, since she didn't sign a lease; however if you use a u-haul to take her stuff away, you *might* be able to take her to small claims for the cost. Honestly though I'm not sure what the rules are about evictions; from the perspective of the law, I'm pretty sure you can call your local sheriff, ask about it, and he might have to be there to supervise it; but I think you can just dump her stuff on the lawn and change the locks.
edit: How much do you care about maintaining a cordial relationship?
And even if she gives your keys back you should probably change the locks anyway, in case she made copies.
edit 2: Look up the laws for your area. Where do you live?
however, to deal with a renter who hasn't relinquished the property you need to go to court, etc. my specific situation isn't really anywhere. it deals with lockouts, etc. she is free to get her stuff, i just need it out by a certain time.
as far as being cordial, i'd like to remain cordial, but if she screws me over again, i'm pretty sure i have no use for her. i'm fairly sure our friendship will never be the same regardless.
I'm hoping she is out in time, but she has set a precedent for saying one thing, and when the deadline comes acting all butthurt and blindsided.
OH GODDAMMIT... I just remembered she has a cat... that might be tough to get in a storage unit (j/k i wouldn't do that)
There is another option that I think might (IANAL) protect you in the worst case scenario...give it to her in writing now, referencing the verbal communication you had previously. In this communication, let her know that any remaining items will be moved into storage. (If you want to be really awesome, you could offer to pay for the storage for one month.) Give her in writing a timeframe she would either need to take it over/pay you back or her stuff would be forfeit aka sold or trashed. Also, again if you want to be generous you could offer her a couch to crash on in your new place for two weeks, but just as a place to sleep.
This is all assuming she doesn't move out by the time specified - she may be a really fast packer.
I wouldn't bring your new tenants in to this mess at all if you can avoid it.
However, you're perfectly OK to ask if she's got it under control. Use it as an excuse to reiterate that she must be out by the end of the month. Not June 1st or beyond, May 31st and no later.
In addition to whatever you do give her written warning (photocopy it) about what will happen if she fails to have her stuff out of the house by the due date. Don't let her keep the stuff there at all, it's not fair to the new renters.
Yeah i don't want to piss her off unnecessarily by laying down an edict, if she's got it under control, great! i'm being paranoid as she has burned me in the past.
I'm never renting without a lease again. the folly of youth! (not really, i'm 31)
My dad let a GF of his live with him a few years ago (in his house that he owns) , she turned out to be a little nuts, and a stalker. He ended things with her and tried to kick her out and turns out that he had to evict her, giving her 30 days to move. Meanwhile she is living there, breaking his stuff and destroying the house, and he is sleeping in his truck. On day 31 my dad shows up with the County Sheriff and his lawyer and a truck, and forcibly ejects her and all of her belongings..
I think you are going out of your way honestly - if you can legally evict her - all you have to do is take her belongings off the property to a public area, i.e. the sidwalk, and it is no longer your responsibility. So offering to get a truck and moving her stuff for her seems above and beyond, especially for someone who clearly does not deserve such consideration. Kudos to you.
Best of luck with all of that, and definitely change the locks
Because you haven't put anything in writing, you may be in trouble if she really decides to fight with you about it. The first thing I would do is draw up a statement explaining the date you originally asked her to move out and that you still expect her to vacate and ask her to sign it. If she isn't willing to do that and you need her out before 30 days from now, it is probably time to consult a lawyer and find out exactly what you can and cannot do.
edit: once you get a hard date at which she is required to be out, anything she leaves behind past that date can be dispensed with as you see fit. Whether that means piling it up in a spare room, offering to have it hauled to a storage unit, or leaving it on the sidewalk is up to you.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
I kind of doubt it...
bowen: yeah everything i've read says 30 days no matter what. lease or no lease.
If you went to court the judge would probably accept this. I'm not sure why one wouldn't.
man i hope she just gets her stuff out in time. I do NOT want to take her/have to go to court.
ed: verbal agreements (with email being evidence thereof) aren't worthless. It just means that you may wind up having to go to court if she really wants to fight about it.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
You can edit the base email she sent to you? Wouldn't it just make a copy of said email so you'd still have the original as proof no matter what?
far as i know, yeah. open the email (not the preview) change the underlying text. save email. BAM doctored email.
I stand corrected, if the judge was looking at my outlook folder on my pc, i could not change it. but as far as printing it out... yes.
In my situation, there a process of notifications and paperwork that must be filed for an eviction. Unfortunately, it cost hundreds and takes about a month and a half.
Good luck on getting rid of her. Don't do shit for her in helping her out unless you are sure you'll get something in return (like her being out in time). Don't expect to be friends with the people you rent to, it won't end well often.
Make sure for your new tenants you get the following:
-Deposit. It is to help you recover the property after they leave. Ya, many people don't want to rent from you if you expect a deposit, but you don't want them to rent from you. They can't afford a months rent up front, why do you expect them to afford it for the lease and treat the property well?
-Signed contract. Do not let them move in until they sign the lease. They get the keys when you get their signature. Don't let them start moving in until they sign; it is a liability.
-Credit check. If they pay their utility bills on time, then they are more likely to pay YOU on time. Most states have forms for landlords to use for this type of thing. It isn't the end all be all, but it helps you get a glimpse at them.
-Property Inventory-upon moving in, require that they return to you a signed copy of an inventory indicating any defects. Do your own before they move in and a copy of that is what they use. It saves you a lot of trouble when they move out.
Paperwork is a bitch, but this WILL save you so much trouble next time.
Good luck.
You are renting WITH her and you have a lease and her name's not on it but you're subletting to her anyway, or you're renting TO her and you own the house and there is no lease at all period? I think I lost the thread somewhere here.
He owns the house and she is renting from him without a lease.
Sit down with her and be like "Look. I have people moving in. You gotta go. You've had a long time now. You have a week longer. Seriously. Time to go."
I guess I also know that the definition of 'depriving' someone of their property is...quite broad. So exercise caution.
That along with those unedited emails should help. Now is she supposed to be out by June 1? and the new people are moving in June 1? That sort of sucks that you don't have any space in between there, even a couple days. In hind sight you probably should have given her 30 days written and made it say be out the 25th. There's no reason everything has to be the first of the month or end of the month.
Or if the new people were moving in on the 3 or 4 that would help and you'd just prorate their first month's rent for them.
Red B/Gold Professor
[15:53] <+juju-work> ArsonIsFun is one of the best people I know.