Help me get rid of my Roommate!

[Youngmom]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? VA

My fiance and I had a falling out and I needed a roommate to move in. I found one and she is horrible, I finally reached my limit and told her to leave but she refuses. We do not haev anything written up and she has been there for 30 days and has paid her 30 days and now I want her out. What can I do? The cops said I need to evict her and that can in the worst cases take up to 6 months and they also told me if she does not pay rent during that time there is nothing I can do at that time since I would already be in the process of evicting her. I cant afford that! She is making my life a living hell now and her mom lives up the street and that is where she was living before and her mom even has told her to move back in but she won't, I on the other hand have no family out here and none of my friends are in a possition to give me a place to stay. My ex and I are on the lease for the apartment...what can we do?

 

[johnd]

Ummmm...as a tenant, you don't have a right to evict. "Cops," even though they have limited knowledge of the law, are not lawyers.

Document the harassment or waste, then demand she leave...or leave yourself. If the living conditions can be proven to be unlivable because of her...you could be off the hook.

Sublet? Were you allowed to do this? You want to play LL, but the hat doesn't fit the player. Learn from your mistakes.

 

[Youngmom]

I was just informed by a friend that by law if there is no lease she is considered to be renting month to month and i have to give her 30 days written notice to vacate. If she doesnt leave after the 30 days then I will have to file a summons in the court for an unlawful detainer. Is this true? What do I need to include in the notice?

 

[johnd]

I was just informed by a friend that by law if there is no lease she is considered to be renting month to month and i have to give her 30 days written notice to vacate. If she doesnt leave after the 30 days then I will have to file a summons in the court for an unlawful detainer. Is this true? What do I need to include in the notice?

The question is: Do you have a right to evict? And if by some perverted twist of the code you deem yourself to be the LL in this instance, did you follow all the rules required of a LL?: http://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/HomelessnesstoHomeownership/PDFs/Landlord_Tenant_Handbook.pdf

And before we get to that question, did you illegally sublet? If so, and this is brought up in court, your case will be dropped like a bag of hammers.

 

[mwbarton]

The question is: Do you have a right to evict? And if by some perverted twist of the code you deem yourself to be the LL in this instance, did you follow all the rules required of a LL?: http://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/HomelessnesstoHomeownership/PDFs/Landlord_Tenant_Handbook.pdf

And before we get to that question, did you illegally sublet? If so, and this is brought up in court, your case will be dropped like a bag of hammers.

From your link:

"Landlord" means the owner, lessor or sublessor of the dwelling unit or the building of which such dwelling unit is a part. "Landlord" also includes a managing agent of the premises who fails to disclose the name of such owner, lessor or sublessor. Such managing agent shall be subject to the provisions of § 16.1-88.03.

When the tenant authorized someone else to establish residency in the dwelling, the tenant became a sublessor with all the rights and duties of a landlord. Whether or not subletting was permitted by the first lease is irrelevant when dealing with the sublessee. The sublessor may have trouble with the lessor, but that doesn't have any effect on the fact that eviction is the only way in VA for the OP to forcibly remove an occupant from a dwelling.

 

[johnd]

From your link:

When the tenant authorized someone else to establish residency in the dwelling, the tenant became a sublessor with all the rights and duties of a landlord. Whether or not subletting was permitted by the first lease is irrelevant when dealing with the sublessee. The sublessor may have trouble with the lessor, but that doesn't have any effect on the fact that eviction is the only way in VA for the OP to forcibly remove an occupant from a dwelling.

I read that. And that is a potential perverse twist of the code. The legislature may have meant sublessors in the business sense...not tenant sublessors.

Either way, the op will have a huge problem if subletting was specifically prohibitted, and if the op leased the premises w/o following the code.

So, to spend more time typing on what is painfully obvious to some:
1) the op must ascertain that he is allowed to sublet;
2) the op must ascertain that he properly sublet the premises (per code); and,
3) then, and only then, the op must persuade the court that he is a LL designate by definition of the code.

If the op succeeds in the above three criteria, I think he has a right to evict.

 

[ecmst12]

Nothing special has to be in the notice. It does have to be given at least 30 days prior to the next rent due date - meaning if you give the notice today(or any time between now and 9/1), she has until the end of SEPTEMBER to move. Just put that it's a written notice to terminate tenancy and she must move by 9/30 or you will proceed with court action. And she does still owe rent until the end of September too.

 

[mwbarton]

I read that. And that is a potential perverse twist of the code. The legislature may have meant sublessors in the business sense...not tenant sublessors.

Either way, the op will have a huge problem if subletting was specifically prohibitted, and if the op leased the premises w/o following the code.

So, to spend more time typing on what is painfully obvious to some:
1) the op must ascertain that he is allowed to sublet;
2) the op must ascertain that he properly sublet the premises (per code); and,
3) then, and only then, the op must persuade the court that he is a LL designate by definition of the code.

If the op succeeds in the above three criteria, I think he has a right to evict.

The Virginia Residential Landlord Tenant Act (which is the basis for the pdf in your earlier post) is not for commercial leases. Subletting is permitted by this act unless the lease specifically forbids it.

Why would the OP have a huge problem even if subletting was prohibited in the lease? The OP is still required to give adequate notice to remove the occupant and is still entitled to any rent that the occupant agreed to pay. I've spent enough time in VA courts to observe similar situations (which seem to happen a lot). I don't know why people think that they should be entitled to live rent-free because their landlord violated the terms of a lease that they weren't a party to.

 

[johnd]

Why would the OP have a huge problem even if subletting was prohibited in the lease?

Because if subletting was specifically prohibitted in the op's lease, his subsequent subletting would make it technically "illegal." Not criminally illegal...but civilly. Courts are loathe to rectify illegal contracts, and may very well give him no pot to pi## in: so to speak.

Why? Because people to often take the law into their own hands, breach contracts, or ignore specific prohibitions...and then want the courts to clean up their mess. I am all for the courts washing their hands of enforcing illegal contracts, or aiding illegal (civilly) activities. This is all academic if the op was permitted to sublet.

Also, op stated that this is a verbal lease and they "do not have anything written up." Well, the op is already in breach. The federal code (HUD) mandates that a LBP papmlet be given to all tenants prior to possession, as well as disclose any known info about lead, and reports (of the premises). It would seem the op failed to do this, and is in serious breach of a serious law...that has some tooth.

So yeah. I would advise the op to be very deliberate in her actions here.

 

[johnd]

You are just trying to scare people. You have no idea if the house was built before 1978. ...
For some reasons, it seems some threads get terrible advice.

"Scare people?" What's so scary about lead? Information is power son...it does not scare...it simply informs.

In VA!?! The oldest colony in America? Chances are, son, it was built prior to '78...but then again, perhaps not. Terrible advice? How's this junior? "Nothing" in writing. Most homes/dwelling in America are pre-1978.

Yeah, I think you're right. Listen to the "cops" for legal advice. That's good advice.