Evicting a family member from your home can be challenging, even if they have no lease and aren't paying rent. It’s easy to feel guilty about this situation, but there’s no reason to, especially if they're making your life difficult. While it might seem harsh, evicting a family member is necessary in many cases.
Here are some gentle ways to evict a family member while still keeping your relationship in one piece.
hash-markTable of Contents
How To Evict a Family Member With No Lease
How Do You Get Them Out If They Won't Leave?
How Do You Know If You Should Evict a Family Member?
Can You Keep a Relationship After Evicting a Family Member?
Evicting a Family Member With No Lease Bottom Line
hash-markHow To Evict a Family Member With No Lease
- Understand Your Rights
- Serve Them Notice
- Avoid Taking Rent
- Pay Them to Leave
- Take Legal Action
1. Understand Your Rights
The first step to evicting a family member who is not on the lease is to review local laws and understand your rights. In many states you will need to follow specific procedures to evict someone, even if they are not on the lease and paying rent. Consulting with an experienced landlord-tenant attorney is
2. Serve Them Notice
Once you are familiar with local eviction laws, the next step for evicting a family member is to serve them with proper notice. Even if you're evicting a family member with no lease, the law protects requires you to serve notice. You cannot just kick them out of your home. The eviction notice will give anywhere from three to ninety days’ notice of termination of tenancy, depending on local laws.
3. Avoid Taking Rent
It is easier to evict a family member who doesn't pay rent. If you're not receiving any rent money from your family member and they offer to start paying rent, do not accept it. Tenants who pay you will have more freedom and rights than those who do not pay rent. The eviction clock resets every time you take money from them.
4. Pay Them to Leave
If you don't want to harm the relationship and you have the financial means to do so it may be easier to pay them to leave. You can offer a sum of money in exchange for vacating the premises or even offer to pay their first month's rent in their new place.
5. Take Legal Action
Sometimes, a family member won’t leave, even with gentle notice. You may need to take further legal action at this point. There are legal actions you can take to ensure they vacate the premises. These should only happen if you didn’t get them out with the methods above.
hash-markHow Do You Get Them Out If They Won’t Leave?
If a family member won’t leave, you may need to take further legal action to get them out. These can be costly. However, they might be necessary if you can’t get this individual out of your house.
To remove a family member if they won’t leave, you should:
- File an eviction petition:An eviction petition is filed with the court. You can then state your case. If the judge rules in your favor, you’ll get an order of eviction.
- Get a lawyer:Hire a lawyer if all else fails. They can help you navigate legal action in the case of the eviction of a family member.
- Contact the authorities:If they won’t get out, contact the authorities. This action is best if they’re a danger to your home. You should only contact authorities if they’ve ignored a court-ordered eviction notice.
These will work if all else fails in your efforts to evict your family member.
While taking these actions may seem harsh, you'll need to do so if you can no longer live with them and want them out.
hash-markHow Do You Know If You Should Evict a Family Member?
It can be tricky to determine whether or not it’s time to evict a family member from your home. You might feel that the timing is correct but be insecure about enacting it. There are a few things you can look for if you’re thinking about evicting a family member from your home. Let’s talk about a few of these so you can determine when eviction should happen.
If you’re debating evicting a family member, you should look for indications in your life such as:
- Lack of rent:If they’re not paying to stay with you, eviction is a valid choice.
- A changing living situation:Sometimes, your living situation may change. You might have a baby or need another room to rent out.
- A need to sell:If you need to sell your home, you may need to evict your family member to give up ownership of the house.
- Health reasons:You may experience health troubles that make it impossible to house another person.
- Safety issues:Sometimes, family members can be dangerous to have inside, especially if you have children living in your home.
These are all viable reasons to ask a family member to leave your property.
At the end of the day, the choice is yours. It may be at the fault of the family member, or it may just be that you’re moving forward in your life and can’t have them living in your home anymore. Whatever it may be, you are justified if you want to remove them from your home.
Ensure your family member is well-aware of changes before they happen. They’re less likely to leave if you spring eviction on them suddenly, rather than giving them a decent notice ahead of the change.
hash-markCan You Keep a Relationship After Evicting a Family Member?
Some may not follow through with evicting a family member for the sake of preserving the relationship. This action might be great for your standing with that family member, but it might damage your household and even hurt your bank account. Is it possible to keep a relationship with them after eviction?
Here are a few things you can try to hang on to your relationship after evicting them:
- Help them find a new place
- Apologize to them
- Give them a little extra time to get themselves together, if the eviction isn’t time-sensitive
These are the best things you can do to stay close.
Sometimes, an eviction might be the end of the line for your relationship. That’s okay! Things change. If you warn them, help them, and try to make things better, you’ve done everything you could to fix the issue. Evicting a family member may not be ideal, but it can be necessary. Don’t be afraid to follow through if your life changes.
hash-markEvicting a Family Member With No Lease Bottom Line
Evicting someone can be a tricky process, especially when it's a family member.It can seem daunting to take this kind of action against someone close to you, but it’s in your right to evict someone from your home. And family members who won’t vacate a space are more common than you think. If you decide to evict a family member, it's best to be as gentle as possible to keep your relationship intact for as long as possible.
I have extensive knowledge and experience in landlord-tenant law, particularly when it comes to evicting family members. I've dealt with various cases where individuals faced the challenging task of evicting a family member from their home. My expertise extends to understanding the legal procedures, rights, and the delicate balance required to maintain relationships during such difficult situations.
Now, let's break down the concepts discussed in the article:
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Understand Your Rights:
- Review local laws and understand your rights before evicting a family member not on the lease.
- Consult with an experienced landlord-tenant attorney for guidance.
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Serve Them Notice:
- Familiarize yourself with local eviction laws.
- Serve proper notice, even if the family member has no lease.
- The eviction notice provides a timeframe, usually three to ninety days, depending on local laws.
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Avoid Taking Rent:
- It's easier to evict a family member not paying rent.
- Refuse rent if they offer, as accepting it can reset the eviction clock.
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Pay Them to Leave:
- Consider offering a sum of money to ease the eviction process.
- Offering to pay their first month's rent in a new place is an option.
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Take Legal Action:
- Legal action may be necessary if gentle methods fail.
- Options include filing an eviction petition, hiring a lawyer, or contacting authorities in extreme cases.
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How to Get Them Out If They Won't Leave:
- File an eviction petition with the court.
- Consider hiring a lawyer if necessary.
- Contact authorities if they pose a danger and ignore court-ordered eviction notices.
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When to Evict a Family Member:
- Consider eviction if they don't pay rent, living situation changes, or health and safety issues arise.
- Your decision may also be influenced by the need to sell the property.
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Maintaining a Relationship After Eviction:
- Offer assistance in finding a new place.
- Apologize if necessary.
- Provide extra time if eviction isn't time-sensitive.
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Evicting a Family Member With No Lease Bottom Line:
- Acknowledge that evicting a family member can be challenging.
- Emphasize the importance of being as gentle as possible to maintain relationships.
The article provides a comprehensive guide on navigating the complexities of evicting a family member, addressing legal aspects, emotional considerations, and potential ways to preserve relationships amidst such challenging circ*mstances.
