Kicked out my deadbeat brother in-law....

[Optiskate]

I'm currently residing in Washington. I've tried to do a little research on this already, but basically have made no headway. This is a bit long winded, so bear with me. This might fall some where between family law and landlord/tenant law. My wife and I separated for 6 months. In which time I was under no obligation to pay child support, but I did any way because it was the right thing to do. I paid $325 a week to her. In order to make up for lost income, my wife decided to rent out a room in the house, which I let her just keep. She rented out the room to her brother. My wife and I had stipulations in our divorce papers such as no alcohol or drug use when the children are home. My wife and I started working things out and I moved back in. Her brother played it cool, not letting on to the fact that he was stealing from me and in fact didn't like me. I'm not a stupid individual and it didn't take me long before I realized something was off. It was actually quite obvious. When I came home and the house reeked of pott. He had been smoking pot in the garage as well as partying with his friends while the kids were home. This has been verified by numerous family friends. I talked to my wife about the pott smoking, even though it is legal, I don't like drug use and don't want it in my home or around my kids. She talked to her brother and it continued. On two occasions I pulled my son out of the garage because he was in there while her brother was smoking pott. Talk about hard to maintain your composure. Any way, my career is very drug intolerant and so it should be. He had pott butter and had made pott mac and cheese and left in in the fridge, worst of all unmarked. The kids favorite food is mac and cheese and worst of all, I almost ate it myself. For me failing a drug test means losing my job, my career, being black balled from the biggest employment opportunity out here, and having to pay back $40,000 for all the school I've gotten thus far for free through my union. So as far as I'm concerned while there, he endangered my family and my well being. He also smoked pott and locked himself in his room when we thought he was watching the kids. The whole time he had agreed to be paying $400 a month. He only paid one month and only paid $250. So he still owes her $2150 and he continually says he'll pay her when he gets around to it. It doesn't stop there though. I moved the majority of my tools out with me when I moved out, but we had just moved into the house and much of my stuff remained in boxes in the garage. He went through all my stuff, destroyed my property, tried to steal close to $1000 worth of my stuff, and actually made off with a decent amount of my stuff. Anything small and expensive that he could easily whisk away and that he saw value in disappeared. I had a backpack with tools in it for a hobby of mine. I found the tools in his tool boxes, but the back pack itself is gone. My dill bit cases were in his tool box, but completely gutted and I never found the bits. I'm missing a lot of little stuff and more things turn up missing the more projects I want to do. I'm not being paranoid. Its not like he had a screw driver or two in his tool box. He had my tools hidden, packed in boxes, in other things, hidden inside his tool box. Its pretty obvious when he has a $400 GPS unit hidden in a box in the back of one of the drawers in his tool box. Any way, I recovered about $1000 worth of stuff before I let him come get his stuff. He had a safe that I wasn't able to get a look inside of and I have no idea what walked off inside that. He also tried to steal tools that I left for my wife. So it wasn't just me he was stealing from. The kicker this whole time was that my wife admitted that the money I was giving her was also going to supporting her brother, his daughter, and his dog. To make matters worse, his dad had been giving him money to help him out. He claimed he was working, but after we got back together I got laid off, which is normal (I spend about 1-3 months a year off), and I personally witnessed him not going to work. He had been telling every one that his boss couldn't pay him (he does remodels) because their customers hadn't paid them yet. I do construction and have worked in various fields in the last decade and I know first hand that contractors don't buy materials and pay for labor on their own dime. The customer takes out a loan or pays out of pocket up front either a percentage or in full to get the job moving. He had been lying to every one. This guy has a criminal record that goes back up until they sealed his records as a minor, which includes the two felony convictions for domestic violence that hes gotten since I've known him. Hes been in jail half the time I've known him and been in trouble for numerous other things. He wont get a real job because he doesn't want to pay child support or taxes. He only works under the table and for friends so that he knows no one will turn him in. The guy is a loser... but on to my question. Is there anything I can do about the rent and property theft? My wife didn't make him sign any sort of contract, everything was a verbal agreement. I hate to say it, as petty as it is, I'd love to see him nailed to the wall for not only what he has done to us, but for every one hes wronged. Maybe he'd pull his head out of you know where and grow up. Hes almost 30 and he acts like hes 15 and screws over any one who he can take advantage of.

 

[Dave1952]

From your post it sounds as if this man is your wife's tenant, have you spoken to her?

 

[Proserpina]

I'm currently residing in Washington. I've tried to do a little research on this already, but basically have made no headway. This is a bit long winded, so bear with me. This might fall some where between family law and landlord/tenant law. My wife and I separated for 6 months. In which time I was under no obligation to pay child support, but I did any way because it was the right thing to do. I paid $325 a week to her. In order to make up for lost income, my wife decided to rent out a room in the house, which I let her just keep. She rented out the room to her brother. My wife and I had stipulations in our divorce papers such as no alcohol or drug use when the children are home. My wife and I started working things out and I moved back in. Her brother played it cool, not letting on to the fact that he was stealing from me and in fact didn't like me. I'm not a stupid individual and it didn't take me long before I realized something was off. It was actually quite obvious. When I came home and the house reeked of pott. He had been smoking pot in the garage as well as partying with his friends while the kids were home. This has been verified by numerous family friends. I talked to my wife about the pott smoking, even though it is legal, I don't like drug use and don't want it in my home or around my kids. She talked to her brother and it continued. On two occasions I pulled my son out of the garage because he was in there while her brother was smoking pott. Talk about hard to maintain your composure. Any way, my career is very drug intolerant and so it should be. He had pott butter and had made pott mac and cheese and left in in the fridge, worst of all unmarked. The kids favorite food is mac and cheese and worst of all, I almost ate it myself. For me failing a drug test means losing my job, my career, being black balled from the biggest employment opportunity out here, and having to pay back $40,000 for all the school I've gotten thus far for free through my union. So as far as I'm concerned while there, he endangered my family and my well being. He also smoked pott and locked himself in his room when we thought he was watching the kids. The whole time he had agreed to be paying $400 a month. He only paid one month and only paid $250. So he still owes her $2150 and he continually says he'll pay her when he gets around to it. It doesn't stop there though. I moved the majority of my tools out with me when I moved out, but we had just moved into the house and much of my stuff remained in boxes in the garage. He went through all my stuff, destroyed my property, tried to steal close to $1000 worth of my stuff, and actually made off with a decent amount of my stuff. Anything small and expensive that he could easily whisk away and that he saw value in disappeared. I had a backpack with tools in it for a hobby of mine. I found the tools in his tool boxes, but the back pack itself is gone. My dill bit cases were in his tool box, but completely gutted and I never found the bits. I'm missing a lot of little stuff and more things turn up missing the more projects I want to do. I'm not being paranoid. Its not like he had a screw driver or two in his tool box. He had my tools hidden, packed in boxes, in other things, hidden inside his tool box. Its pretty obvious when he has a $400 GPS unit hidden in a box in the back of one of the drawers in his tool box. Any way, I recovered about $1000 worth of stuff before I let him come get his stuff. He had a safe that I wasn't able to get a look inside of and I have no idea what walked off inside that. He also tried to steal tools that I left for my wife. So it wasn't just me he was stealing from. The kicker this whole time was that my wife admitted that the money I was giving her was also going to supporting her brother, his daughter, and his dog. To make matters worse, his dad had been giving him money to help him out. He claimed he was working, but after we got back together I got laid off, which is normal (I spend about 1-3 months a year off), and I personally witnessed him not going to work. He had been telling every one that his boss couldn't pay him (he does remodels) because their customers hadn't paid them yet. I do construction and have worked in various fields in the last decade and I know first hand that contractors don't buy materials and pay for labor on their own dime. The customer takes out a loan or pays out of pocket up front either a percentage or in full to get the job moving. He had been lying to every one. This guy has a criminal record that goes back up until they sealed his records as a minor, which includes the two felony convictions for domestic violence that hes gotten since I've known him. Hes been in jail half the time I've known him and been in trouble for numerous other things. He wont get a real job because he doesn't want to pay child support or taxes. He only works under the table and for friends so that he knows no one will turn him in. The guy is a loser... but on to my question. Is there anything I can do about the rent and property theft? My wife didn't make him sign any sort of contract, everything was a verbal agreement. I hate to say it, as petty as it is, I'd love to see him nailed to the wall for not only what he has done to us, but for every one hes wronged. Maybe he'd pull his head out of you know where and grow up. Hes almost 30 and he acts like hes 15 and screws over any one who he can take advantage of.

You evict the guy per your state's required premises. He's a tenant - and if you just throw him out, he can sue you for illegal eviction and that's never pretty.

 

[LdiJ]

You evict the guy per your state's required premises. He's a tenant - and if you just throw him out, he can sue you for illegal eviction and that's never pretty.

It sounded a bit to me like he was already gone. However, that big block of text was hard to read, so I could be wrong.

 

[Gail in Georgia]

Hard to wade through this...

1. If the brother-in-law is still residing there and hasn't paid rent, serve him a three day Pay or Quit notice as outlined in the attached and if he doesn't "quit" (leave) follow the requirements to file for an eviction:

http://washingtonlandlordtenant.info/free-eviction-forms/three-day-notice-to-pay-rent-or-vacate/

2. If he's gone and you want to sue him for rent, "google" your small claims court requirements for filing a lawsuit against someone for such. Before you do, however, remember that even if you win, it would be up to YOU to collect your judgment. If the guy isn't working, there's no point trying to get money he doesn't have out of him. Sound like whatever you'd get would be money from your own wife and your father-in-law anyway. They're the enablers to this loser.

3. Want him punished for stealing stuff? Call the police regarding criminal charges for such.

Gail

 

[Just Blue]

I'm currently residing in Washington. I've tried to do a little research on this already, but basically have made no headway. This is a bit long winded, so bear with me. This might fall some where between family law and landlord/tenant law. My wife and I separated for 6 months. In which time I was under no obligation to pay child support, but I did any way because it was the right thing to do. I paid $325 a week to her. In order to make up for lost income, my wife decided to rent out a room in the house, which I let her just keep. She rented out the room to her brother.

My wife and I had stipulations in our divorce papers such as no alcohol or drug use when the children are home. My wife and I started working things out and I moved back in. Her brother played it cool, not letting on to the fact that he was stealing from me and in fact didn't like me.

not a stupid individual and it didn't take me long before I realized something was off. It was actually quite obvious. When I came home and the house reeked of pott. He had been smoking pot in the garage as well as partying with his friends while the kids were home. This has been verified by numerous family friends. I talked to my wife about the pott smoking, even though it is legal, I don't like drug use and don't want it in my home or around my kids.

She talked to her brother and it continued. On two occasions I pulled my son out of the garage because he was in there while her brother was smoking pott. Talk about hard to maintain your composure. Any way, my career is very drug intolerant and so it should be. He had pott butter and had made pott mac and cheese and left in in the fridge, worst of all unmarked.

The kids favorite food is mac and cheese and worst of all, I almost ate it myself. For me failing a drug test means losing my job, my career, being black balled from the biggest employment opportunity out here, and having to pay back $40,000 for all the school I've gotten thus far for free through my union. So as far as I'm concerned while there, he endangered my family and my well being. He also smoked pott and locked himself in his room when we thought he was watching the kids. The whole time he had agreed to be paying $400 a month. He only paid one month and only paid $250.


So he still owes her $2150 and he continually says he'll pay her when he gets around to it. It doesn't stop there though. I moved the majority of my tools out with me when I moved out, but we had just moved into the house and much of my stuff remained in boxes in the garage. He went through all my stuff, destroyed my property, tried to steal close to $1000 worth of my stuff, and actually made off with a decent amount of my stuff. Anything small and expensive that he could easily whisk away and that he saw value in disappeared.


I had a backpack with tools in it for a hobby of mine. I found the tools in his tool boxes, but the back pack itself is gone. My dill bit cases were in his tool box, but completely gutted and I never found the bits. I'm missing a lot of little stuff and more things turn up missing the more projects I want to do. I'm not being paranoid. Its not like he had a screw driver or two in his tool box. He had my tools hidden, packed in boxes, in other things, hidden inside his tool box. Its pretty obvious when he has a $400 GPS unit hidden in a box in the back of one of the drawers in his tool box.


Any way, I recovered about $1000 worth of stuff before I let him come get his stuff. He had a safe that I wasn't able to get a look inside of and I have no idea what walked off inside that. He also tried to steal tools that I left for my wife. So it wasn't just me he was stealing from. The kicker this whole time was that my wife admitted that the money I was giving her was also going to supporting her brother, his daughter, and his dog. To make matters worse, his dad had been giving him money to help him out. He claimed he was working, but after we got back together I got laid off, which is normal (I spend about 1-3 months a year off), and I personally witnessed him not going to work.


He had been telling every one that his boss couldn't pay him (he does remodels) because their customers hadn't paid them yet. I do construction and have worked in various fields in the last decade and I know first hand that contractors don't buy materials and pay for labor on their own dime. The customer takes out a loan or pays out of pocket up front either a percentage or in full to get the job moving. He had been lying to every one. This guy has a criminal record that goes back up until they sealed his records as a minor, which includes the two felony convictions for domestic violence that hes gotten since I've known him. Hes been in jail half the time I've known him and been in trouble for numerous other things.


He wont get a real job because he doesn't want to pay child support or taxes. He only works under the table and for friends so that he knows no one will turn him in. The guy is a loser... but on to my question. Is there anything I can do about the rent and property theft? My wife didn't make him sign any sort of contract, everything was a verbal agreement. I hate to say it, as petty as it is, I'd love to see him nailed to the wall for not only what he has done to us, but for every one hes wronged. Maybe he'd pull his head out of you know where and grow up. Hes almost 30 and he acts like hes 15 and screws over any one who he can take advantage of.

Just to help others to read the novella.