Boarder or Tenant? EVICTION

[Cassandra M Jones]

Jurisdiction

Georgia

Hello all,

Quick run down. I signed a lease with a person who is renting a room in my home on Jan 28 -2021. They pay month to month. They pay a set amount and that covers their room and use of all utilities and cleaning supplies. Things have not been going great and I asked them to leave with a 45 day notice (July 8th), as my lease allows. They said they would be moving as of June 10th, but now are not wanting to move nor planning to pay rent for June or for time they are here.

Please help! What options to I have? I'm confused as to if they are a boarder or a tenant...with the rights tenants are given. Do I have to go through the court to evict them?

Thank you in advance.

 

[justblue]

Hello all,

Quick run down. I signed a lease with a person who is renting a room in my home on Jan 28 -2021. They pay month to month. They pay a set amount and that covers their room and use of all utilities and cleaning supplies. Things have not been going great and I asked them to leave with a 45 day notice (July 8th), as my lease allows. They said they would be moving as of June 10th, but now are not wanting to move nor planning to pay rent for June or for time they are here.

Please help! What options to I have? I'm confused as to if they are a boarder or a tenant...with the rights tenants are given. Do I have to go through the court to evict them?

Thank you in advance.

They would be a tenant and you will have to follow the laws of Georgia for 1. Ending the tenancy. and 2. If they do not move by the required date you will need to follow the LL/Tenant law for eviction.

Did you give the tenant written notice that you were ending the tenancy or just a "Hey, this isn't working out and I want you out in 45 days" kinda thing?

https://www.dca.ga.gov/sites/default/files/2-15-21_handbook_final_draft.pdf

 

[Cassandra M Jones]

They would be a tenant and you will have to follow the laws of Georgia for 1. Ending the tenancy. and 2. If they do not move by the required date you will need to follow the LL/Tenant law for eviction.

Did you give the tenant written notice that you were ending the tenancy or just a "Hey, this isn't working out and I want you out in 45 days" kinda thing?

I provided both. We spoke, I texted to confirm, and I posted a notice on their door regarding the 45 days. It seems I may have to retract and provide them 60 days notice. However if they are not paying rent anymore will I still be able to go through the court to evict?

 

[adjusterjack]

Do I have to go through the court to evict them?

Yes.

Unless you want to pay them to leave. It's called cash for keys. You get a written agreement and you make sure they are out the door with all their stuff loaded in a vehicle with nothing left behind. Then you hand over the money.

The Georgia landlord tenant statute makes no distinction between boarder and tenant. Read the statute, especially the Dispossessory Proceedings.

Georgia Code Title 44, Chapter 7 (2018) - Landlord and Tenant :: 2018 Georgia Code :: US Codes and Statutes :: US Law :: Justia

PS. Renting out part of your home makes you your own worst enemy.

 

[zddoodah]

Out of curiosity, are you uncertain of your tenant's gender? If not, why are you using plural pronouns?

What options to I have?

If your tenant fails to pay rent for June, you can serve a notice to pay or quit and, if he/she doesn't cure the non-payment, you can file an eviction lawsuit. If he/she does pay the unpaid rent, then you'll have to wait until you have served a proper 60-day notice of termination of tenancy and the period in that notice has expired. Or you could try the cash-for-keys thing suggested by "adjusterjack."

I'm confused as to if they are a boarder or a tenant...with the rights tenants are given.

What would make you think this person isn't a tenant or that there is a legal distinction between a "tenant" and a "boarder"?

Do I have to go through the court to evict them?

If the tenant doesn't pay rent or comply with the termination notice, yes.

It seems I may have to retract and provide them 60 days notice.

As noted above, correct.

 

[Cassandra M Jones]

Yes.

Unless you want to pay them to leave. It's called cash for keys. You get a written agreement and you make sure they are out the door with all their stuff loaded in a vehicle with nothing left behind. Then you hand over the money.

The Georgia landlord tenant statute makes no distinction between boarder and tenant. Read the statute, especially the Dispossessory Proceedings.


PS. Renting out part of your home makes you your own worst enemy.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply!

I've been researching nonstop and I definitely realize the mess I've gotten myself into because I didn't take the time to really understand the scope of leasing out a room. Unfortunately I was under the impression that if I live in the home full time and just rented a random room out, the law would have some type of consideration (if for no other reason than safety) giving that I have to share a space with someone who I want out of my house and is refusing to leave.

Now that I have educated myself I understand there is no simple way of really getting her to leave as I can't really afford to pay her to leave... especially seeing that I am forced to cover her portion of the bills due to her not paying rent.

The cheapest way at the point seems to file for eviction with my county court and just wait it out.

 

[Cassandra M Jones]

Out of curiosity, are you uncertain of your tenant's gender? If not, why are you using plural pronouns?



If your tenant fails to pay rent for June, you can serve a notice to pay or quit and, if he/she doesn't cure the non-payment, you can file an eviction lawsuit. If he/she does pay the unpaid rent, then you'll have to wait until you have served and the period in that notice has expired. Or you could try the cash-for-keys thing suggested by "adjusterjack."



What would make you think this person isn't a tenant or that there is a legal distinction between a "tenant" and a "boarder"?



If the tenant doesn't pay rent or comply with the termination notice, yes.



As noted above, correct.

I was under the impression that as long as I lived in the home full time, finished, and held a sort term lease that the occupant would just be considered a boarder. There is a lot of misinformation online that I just accepted blindly with out reading the GA tenancy/Landlord Handbook. Definitely my screw up 100% and I will now have to eat the cost.

I was using non-gendered language because I don't really know what they identify as.

As far as the cash for keys thing..I'm not really in a position where I can afford to just pay them to leave. I'm only renting the room because financially I need to. I definitely can't miss a months rent and pay them on top of that.

I will just be proceeding with the eviction process. I typed up a pay or quit notice for 36 hours. Per my lease I can file for eviction as of the 15th for a little over a hundred bucks. I'll just have to wait it out and eat the financial loss.

I am concerned that the court will not force them to leave given they have some extenuating circumstances that I feel they may play up in court. I'm fine with extending the notice to 60 days if I have to by law, but will the court actually force them to hand over payment? Am I just stuck with them sitting in my house, running up my utilities, all while not paying rent?

 

[Red Kayak]

Out of curiosity, are you uncertain of your tenant's gender? If not, why are you using plural pronouns?

Seriously, you are being rude and the gender is legally irrelevant.

 

[army judge]

The cheapest way at the point seems to file for eviction with my county court and just wait it out.

Yes, that is the correct way, legally to cause the "squatter" to disappear.

You might wish to read the information on this link, then collect the proper forms for your county, complete same, file same, and begin the eviction process formally.

However, there is more bad news for you to digest.

It should also further drive home the lesson as to WHY it is a bad idea to rent living space to anyone in your castle, your home.

THE CDC EVICTION MORATORIUM HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL June 30, 2021, MEANING THAT NO ONE WILL BE EVICTED SOLELY FOR NON-PAYMENT OF RENT IN GEORGIA UNTIL THE ABOVE DATE.

If you reside in Houston County, this is the website where you can file the eviction case AFTER June 30th.

Magistrate Court - Houston County

If you reside in another Georgia County, you'll have to search for that website and the forms needed.

 

[zddoodah]

I was under the impression that if I live in the home full time and just rented a random room out, the law would have some type of consideration (if for no other reason than safety) giving that I have to share a space with someone who I want out of my house and is refusing to leave.

If your tenant poses a safety risk, you could seek a restraining order, which could have the effect of getting him/her out quicker.

I am concerned that the court will not force them to leave given they have some extenuating circumstances that I feel they may play up in court. I'm fine with extending the notice to 60 days if I have to by law, but will the court actually force them to hand over payment? Am I just stuck with them sitting in my house, running up my utilities, all while not paying rent?

Evicting for failure to pay rent can happen much more quickly than a simple termination of the at-will tenancy. It typically involves a three or five day notice, after which you can file the eviction action. Review the link that "adjusterjack" provided for more detail. Note that evicting the tenant and getting him/her to pay the rent are different things. The court will never "force" a tenant to pay rent, but you could sue and get a judgment that you can try to enforce.

 

[zddoodah]

Seriously, you are being rude and the gender is legally irrelevant.

Of course it's legally irrelevant. DUH. Did you not understand what "out of curiosity" meant? And I find it curious that the OP, to whom my question was directed, didn't take the question as rude, and I'm at a loss to understand why you felt the need to post for only this purpose.