Rights of roommates not on the lease?

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owlsinger

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My brother and his girlfriend rent a house. The girlfriend has lived with him since late November 2009 but is not on the lease, my brother is only lease holder. Recently, they have ended their relationship and he would like to have her move out. However, she is refusing to move out stating that she has rights to be there. What rights does she have as a roommate who is not on the lease? What actions can he take to have her removed? Thank you!
 
Has she paid rent and if so, to whom? Your brother or the landlord?

Is the landlord aware that there are two people living there? Has he/she approved this.

Your first line states "my brother and his girlfriend rent a house". That would imply she is a tenant.

Gail
 
My brother and his girlfriend rent a house. The girlfriend has lived with him since late November 2009 but is not on the lease, my brother is only lease holder. Recently, they have ended their relationship and he would like to have her move out. However, she is refusing to move out stating that she has rights to be there. What rights does she have as a roommate who is not on the lease? What actions can he take to have her removed? Thank you!

No he cant just throw her out. Like Gail asked was she paying anything to contribute to the household? I see she was not on the lease but I do believe he must still serve her in writing that she has so many days to leave.
 
Has she paid rent and if so, to whom? Your brother or the landlord?

Is the landlord aware that there are two people living there? Has he/she approved this.

Your first line states "my brother and his girlfriend rent a house". That would imply she is a tenant.

Gail
Thank you for this info. and your reply. The brother is the only lease holder and has been for almost a year. Since late November the girlfriend has paid some money towards bills and rent to the brother, not the landlord. Landlord is aware of her living there; she refused to be put on the lease. Now girlfriend got the paperwork for a Writ of Debt against him for that money she already paid towards rent and bills. Wouldn't this action on her part negate that she has any ties to the house as an "authorized occupant" as she is trying to get her money back? Would his best action be to give his 30 day notice to his landlord and get the heck out of dodge and just be done with it? Thank you!
 
Your brother can begin the eviction process against her just as if he was the landlord. She is a subtenant.
If the actual landlord finds out what is going on then both could potentially be evicted... assuming the landlord does not know that someone else was allowed into the house.
if your brother has the means to do so, a faster way of getting her out might be by offering up some money to assist with the costs of moving.
 
Thank you. The landlord does know girlfriend is living there but is not on the lease and is fine with it. Brother doesn't have money to give her--she applied for a Writ of Debt trying to get the nominal amount of money from him back that she put towards the rent and bills (even though she was living there during the time these bills were paid). She even took personal items of his without permission and sold them and pocketed the money for herself. He wasn't present when it happened so he has no proof to take to the local police to make a statement. As you can tell...there are more extenuating messy circumstances that are typical of relationship break-ups that I am unable to mention. So, I don't think him giving her money to move would be a reasonable option. Thank you for your suggestion however. Your added input was helpful and we will take all of these answers into consideration and hopefully we can help the two of them work towards an amicable solution. I appreciate your feedback and taking time to answer my questions.
 
He can sue her in small claims regarding the property she sold. I'm going to guess that she is dumb enough to unknowingly admit to it.

While he can't legally throw her out without putting himself in a jam... he can make living there miserable. Power and water must stay on, but food and other supplies can be kept to himself so that she must get her own. Take away all the conveniences- television, microwave, computers, phone.
 
Thank you! As it turns out, after some lengthy discussion, the landlord is sympathetic to my brother's needs. He is going to help my brother take some legal routes to remove her from the house. My brother was going to break the lease but after talking with the landlord he realized that that action would ruin his credit and reference for the next rental house. They settled on that fact that it will be easier on his credit to stay put and have her move out instead and if necessary with the sheriff present with the eviction notice. Keeping fingers crossed this will be over soon. Thank you again!
 
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