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Eviction (California) tenant not on lease
Bendery It Like Beckham
HopelessRegistered User regular
HopelessRegistered User regular
A friend of mine has a lease on a house and a "squatter" so to speak. Man who is on the lease, we'll call him J, has person G sleeping in a vacant room.
Person G entered and stayed on the premise of needing a couch for a couple of weeks. He was a close friend of one of person J's friends, so he allowed it.
It's been 2 years and person G still has not left, and has assaulted person J voraciously (he has bruises around his neck from the strangling)
A court has permitted a temporary restraining order (of 30ft wtf?). And person J has been trying to evict him but all the knowledge he found has lead him to needing to give him 30-60 days notice.
Person G is not on the lease and domestic violence is on the table and documented in court. There is no rental agreement either, I'm not 100% sure on California Tenant law, but everything I have read talks about Tenant -> Landlord agreements, which is defined on the lease as those signed and the owner of the home, not the psychopath sleeping on the couch.
So, can he just call the cops and kick him out? Or is there hoops to jump through.
edit: Person M (we'll call her mom) just informed me that person G recieves mail at person Js house is that changes anything.
Person G entered and stayed on the premise of needing a couch for a couple of weeks. He was a close friend of one of person J's friends, so he allowed it.
It's been 2 years and person G still has not left, and has assaulted person J voraciously (he has bruises around his neck from the strangling)
A court has permitted a temporary restraining order (of 30ft wtf?). And person J has been trying to evict him but all the knowledge he found has lead him to needing to give him 30-60 days notice.
Person G is not on the lease and domestic violence is on the table and documented in court. There is no rental agreement either, I'm not 100% sure on California Tenant law, but everything I have read talks about Tenant -> Landlord agreements, which is defined on the lease as those signed and the owner of the home, not the psychopath sleeping on the couch.
So, can he just call the cops and kick him out? Or is there hoops to jump through.
edit: Person M (we'll call her mom) just informed me that person G recieves mail at person Js house is that changes anything.
Bendery It Like Beckham on
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If he isn't on the lease, the process is generally easier. The fact that this squatter has made a change of address to the property complicates things as, generally, that would provide a "Squatter's right" to tenancy.
I would go down to your local police station and ask. Either that or contact an attorney.
Since violence is involved, you'd have to catch it in the act and it would be a separate battle with intersecting lines. One can receive protective restraining orders or other such as has already happened.
In most cases, a legal eviction for an actual tenant requires 30-90 days notice depending on state (30 days here in MA). Since this guy isn't a legal tenant, the eviction should be instant. Since this guy has changed his legal address (I assume) to this property, that may provide a legal basis of tenancy.
In any case, you need advice from a professional (law enforcement or, even better, an attorney who specializes in tenant law).
So, wait, there's a restraining order on G but G is still living in the house?
Yes, absolutely call the cops. G is violating the terms of his restraining order. Eviction doesn't even matter at this point.
With a temporary domestic violence restraining order (DVRO), before it expires there will be another court hearing where the court will decide to turn it into a permanent DVRO. Based on what you've described, it won't be hard to convince the judge to do that.
Again, eviction is a non-issue. There's a restraining order. That's all J needs.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
In most states if the leaseholder agrees to let someone crash at their place for X amount of time and that person resides in the residence for X time then they indeed can call that place home. Since he's been living there for YEARS and they are only now going to throw him out, he will most likely recieve rights as an actual tenant with the leaseholder fullfiling the role of landlord.
Understand the states position - if you throw him out on the street immediately, he becomes the state's problem and they dont want to deal with him anymore than you do.
Odds are you'll have to give at least 30 days notice.
Some tips from now till the end: Brook no goosery -
Things go missing? Call the police.
He wigs out and damages the property? Call the police.
He threatens anyone? Call the police.
He attacks anyone? Call the police.
Even if the police can't do anything, they'll file reports on what they came out for. You can get copies of the reports and this will be used should he try and combat the eviction notice or be used if you need to take him to small claims for damage he did.
If he tries to offer any of you ANYTHING, even as a GIFT, DO NOT ACCEPT IT. No money, No Food, No Coupons, Not even a porno mag! If he gives something to you, he can construe it as a payment and then the clock can reset on his 30 days and you'll have to issue ANOTHER eviction notice.
DVROs in California take that into account. If the common living areas (kitchen, bathroom, garage) are shared, then he's violating the DVRO no matter how big the house is.
By the way, you don't necessarily need to lawyer up over this. It can help, it's never a bad idea if you can afford it, but if you're worried about the expense, a lot of (maybe all?) county sheriff's offices in California offer DVRO assistance workshops. They're meant for battered spouses, but they're not going to turn you away just because you're having problems with your roommate rather than a spouse.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
IANAL and I live in Ohio, but a prescriptive easement in my state - which is basically squatter's rights - don't kick in until person G has been living there for twenty years.
In Berkeley California it's ~6 weeks, or slightly longer than one rental period.
This is one of those issues that varies a ton from town to town, and you have to check with your municipality to find out what it is.
At any rate, OP, it seems like the tenancy thing is irrelevant for the immediate situation since the restraining order is in place. Clearing up the property may be more difficult, but that can be handled in court once the violence risk is taken care of. Good luck to your friend.
3clipse: The key to any successful marriage is a good mid-game transition.
Thats for actual property - as in land rights.
This is going to fall under landlord/tenant law. In Ohio, if you are a month to month or week to week renter, you have to give either 30 days or 7 days respectively.
It would depend if he was considered a tenant - which, while murky, would probably happen. Odds are he's either supplied services, goods, or directly paid for something during his two years which would be enough for him to be considered "paying" to live there.
Just call the cops.
Yeah, this is the same thing I was trying to describe, only better presented
3clipse: The key to any successful marriage is a good mid-game transition.
Although, with the restraining order you might be able to expedite that, check with police. But send the letter regardless.
legal or illegal, if this were me those locks would have been changed and G's shit would have been out on the curb. also all the old doorknobs would be loaded into a sack in case he got back in.
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