Do you live with a family member in your home or apartment? Chances are that you are not the only one. With the current hard economic times, most people usually find themselves living with their family members in their places of residence. By allowing your family member to live with you, you will enable him or her to save on rent and other utility bills that come with living alone.
However, there are instances when the family member can overstay his or her welcome. Other times, you may not be agreeing on a number of issues, and the only solution is to set him free. In such scenarios, you may have to evict him or her. In this article, we shall take a closer look at how you can evict a family member with no lease.
Reasons For Evicting A Family Member
Before we look at how you can evict a family member with no lease, it is imperative that you know some of the reasons why you may want to evict a family member. Some of the reasons that can make you evict a family member include:
1. The family member does not pay rent
One of the reasons why you may want to evict your family member is when he or she no longer pays rent. This is usually the case when both of you had agreed that each one of you will be contributing towards the rent expense each and every month.
If the family member no longer contributes to the rent expense, you may have to evict him or her. Most courts and judges will not allow a person to continue living in a rented house if he or she does not pay rent.
2. Health and safety concerns
Your current house may pose a health risk and thus prompt you to look for another house to live in. Some of these health risks include the growth of molds, the presence of lead, asbestos, and so forth. Living in a house with such health risks can be detrimental to your health.
Your loved ones or even the family member in your house may be adversely be affected by them. Since these problems cannot be fixed when someone is living in the same house, you may have to evict the family member as you look for another house to rent.
3. Abuse
Some family members can be abusive and thus make your stay uncomfortable in your own house. Whether you are suffering from emotional or physical abuse, you have every reason to evict such a family member from your house or apartment.
4. You need to sell the property
Life can be very unpredictable, and thus you may find yourself having to sell your house or home so that you can pay a particular creditor. Technically, you will be taking it off the rental market.
As you purpose to evict our family member due to this reason, you should bear in mind that different states normally have different rules. In some states, you may have to help the family member relocate and so forth.
I Want To Evict A Family Member, How Should Is Start The Conversation?
We all dread evictions. Your family member is not an exception. He or she will be shocked to hear such news from you. In fact, if you were having a good relationship, it may not be easy introducing the topic of eviction to him or her. However, circumstances may not allow you to buy any more time. As a result, you may have to do it outright anyway.
To start with, you need to prepare yourself before serving your family member with an eviction notice. Here, you should plan how you will introduce the topic and how you would like the outcome to be. Ideally, you would not want your family member to be dramatic for no good reason.
You also need to know the ideal location to discuss about this new dynamic so that you can avoid future problems. Besides this, you may have to practice mindfulness, deep breathing, and other self-soothing techniques that can help you remain composed at the moment.
As you purpose to speak to him or her, ensure that you remain as open as possible. If possible, ensure that you keep eye contact when talking to the family member. Besides this, try to keep emotions at bay and face the reality of life head-on. It is also essential that you listen to what your family member has to say.
If you are able to let your relative or family member know the reason behind the eviction, be sure that he will leave peacefully and will still have a good relationship with you. In fact, some family members are very cooperating and can vacate your house with minimal or no drama at all.
Procedure For Evicting A Family Member With No Lease
Since you already know what you should do as you purpose to evict the family member, time is ripe for you to know the steps one needs to follow when he or she wants to evict a family member with no lease.
1. Gather all the necessary documents that relate to your home or apartment
Before you start the entire eviction process, it is imperative that you gather all the necessary documents of your home and the family member you wish to evict. Some of these documents include those that prove that you actually own the home. They can also include copies of rent checks the family member has paid to you and so forth. Finally, ensure that you have a blank notice form.
2. Give the family member a written notice
Here, you need to give the family member a written notice indicating that you want him or her to leave your house. Ideally, you should give a 30-day notice so that the family member can make adequate plans on where he or she will relocate to.
However, different states usually have different regulations when it comes to the notice duration. Therefore, you should confirm with the laws of your state to avoid getting penalized.
3. Give your family member time to leave your house
Once you have issued the family member a 30-day notice to leave your house, you should give him time so that he can organize himself. Ideally, the family member should leave within that stipulated period. However, if the family member overstays his welcome, you can now start the eviction proceedings.
4. Fill out the eviction notice form
If the family member refuses to leave your house within the stipulated time, you can now fill out the eviction form with all the necessary information. Some of the details you should fill in include the person’s name, the reason for eviction, your home’s address, and so forth.
The reason for eviction can range from failure to meet the required expectations of living at your home to failure to pay rent. For optimal results, you should try to keep personal attacks from this documentation. Finally, ensure that you are clear and concise.
5. Make two copies of the eviction document
You should ensure that you make two copies of the eviction document and ask the family member to sign both of them. After that, you can now give him or her one copy and remain with the other one.
6. File for a court hearing
Once you serve the family member with an eviction notice, he or she should leave your house shortly. However, if the family member refuses to leave your house as agreed, you can now seek the intervention of the court. As you purpose to do this, check what the laws of your state say about it. The duration one needs to wait before heading to court may vary from one state to another.
If you argue your case well in court, the judge can now issue an order that the family member be evicted. Here, law enforcement may be necessary, and this will prompt the family member to leave your home immediately.
Tips To Facilitate The Eviction Process
Since evictions can be filled with personal feelings, here are some vital tips that can help make the entire process less excruciating:
1. Consult a lawyer
Most people are hardly conversant with the tenant law. Since evictions are highly regulated by these laws, it is imperative that you hire a lawyer to guide you. From the documents that you must file to the type of notifications you ought to give, there are many insights that the lawyer can offer. By doing so, you will avoid getting into the wrong side of the law.
2. Do not take rent
If you truly want to evict a family member, you should not be tempted to accept rent. This is because accepting rent will give the family member more rights. In fact, the family member may end up staying in your house longer than you intended.
3. Let the family member know his or her obligations
If you want to live with your family member, you should let him know his or her obligations. This is usually the case if the family member wants to live with you for more than one month. From rent issues to how he or she should behave while in your house, there are many things that you should inform the family member so that he can be alert.
Remember that some of these conditions will form the basis of his or her eviction. With this information at hand, you will be justified to proceed with the eviction in case he or she violates any of these conditions. All these conditions should be put on paper for references purposes.
4. Try to work it out
Since you are dealing with a relative or family member, you should always ensure that both of you still remain friends even after eviction. After all, you may have a difficult time facing each other during family get-togethers or gatherings.
In this case, you can see to it that your family member has successfully relocated even after you have evicted him or her. Better still, if he wants to change behavior or conform to what you want, you can opt to retain him in your house and see how it goes.
Generally, evictions can be costly as they can cost as high as $1000 to $10000 in legal fees. If you do not have this money to spend in litigation pursuits, you can consider working it out and settling everything out of the court.
Final words
Asking a family member to leave your house or home is not an easy undertaking. This is because the entire exercise is bound to be emotional, to say the least. However, this may be the only option you have so that you can lead an independent, happy life. As you purpose to evict a family member from your house, it is imperative that you pay attention to the procedure we have mentioned above so as to avoid future problems. By considering the procedure mentioned above, you will not only be able to evict your family member successfully but also remain at peace with each other even after the eviction process.