roommate not paying, need to remove his property

[socky_bomb]

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

I am on a joint and several lease with 3 other individuals. One person told us he was going to visit family in Indiana a little over a month ago. After a week I asked him when he was returning. He said one more week. I didn't hear anything from him for another week or so when I called him. The landlord had notified us that he had not paid his rent. I called to ask for the rent money and for bills. He said his car had broken down and he needed another before he could return, but he planned to come back so he'd put a check in the mail. I called to confirm he had done so and he said that he had. I waited a week and never saw a check then called the realty company and they had not received payment either. I called him again and informed him that the realty company was planning to turn us over to his attorney and take us all to court and I needed the money immediately. He said that he would overnight payment via UPS. I asked him if i needed to find a sub leaser for his room and again he said no. Two days later I still haven't seen the money.

If I don't see payment in another week I need to get this guy out and find someone else to take the room. Most of his property is still in the room. What must I do to legally sell or dispose of his things and find someone else to take over his room?

 

[Isis1]

You will need to go through the proper eviction process in accordance with the laws of your state and county.

What is the exact amount of time he has been gone? And the exact amount of time he is late with his rent?

 

[justalayman]

you can't evict him. You are not his landlord.

You get to either pay the rent in full or expect to be evicted yourself. The best you can do is sue him for whatever he agreed to pay that you have to pay because he won't.

 

[treese]

You are all on one joint and several lease. You are all legally obligated to pay the entire rent. It really does not matter what roommate pays what portion. The landlord is entitled to the full payment regardless of your roommate not paying.

If one roommate does not pay "his share", the other roommates are legally obligated to cough up and pay his portion.

You cannot remove the roommate's possessions or have someone take over his room. You do not have the legal right.

You cannot evict him, only the landlord can in this situation. Further, the landlord would have to evict all of the tenants/roommates, not just one.

You and the other roommates have two options:

Pay the roommate's portion and then sue him for the monies owed.

or

Don't pay the amount due and all get evicted.

 

[socky_bomb]

You will need to go through the proper eviction process in accordance with the laws of your state and county.

What is the exact amount of time he has been gone? And the exact amount of time he is late with his rent?

I'm not positive the exact time he's been gone, but its been over a month. he hasn't paid rent since october 5th.

So the other posters sound like I have to either nicely ask him to leave or risk him taking me to court for removing his property?

Seems like there should be some type of notice I can give him that we're considering the room abandoned or something?

 

[applecruncher]

I'm not positive the exact time he's been gone, but its been over a month. he hasn't paid rent since october 5th.

So the other posters sound like I have to either nicely ask him to leave or risk him taking me to court for removing his property?

Seems like there should be some type of notice I can give him that we're considering the room abandoned or something?

Whether you nicely ask him to leave or not isn't the issue.
What you don't seem to be understanding is YOU are not the landlord.
Stop concerning yourself with his property. Stay out of his room and keep your hands off his property. His property is not your business. Again: YOU are not the landlord.

 

[Who's Liable?]

I'm not positive the exact time he's been gone, but its been over a month. he hasn't paid rent since october 5th.

So the other posters sound like I have to either nicely ask him to leave or risk him taking me to court for removing his property?

YES. Since you are NOT his LL, YOU cannot demand anything.

Seems like there should be some type of notice I can give him that we're considering the room abandoned or something?

There are notices for this type of thing, but they are only for the LL. Again, since you are NOT the LL, you cannot give him this notice.

Whether you nicely ask him to leave or not isn't the issue.
What you don't seem to be understanding is YOU are not the landlord.
Stop concerning yourself with his property. Stay out of his room and keep your hands off his property. His property is not your business. Again: YOU are not the landlord.

X2..


However OP can send a notice to the roommate stating if the outcome is an eviction, than said roommate will be responsible for all costs associated with said eviction. In other words, OP can sue the roommate for the eviction.

 

[socky_bomb]

that's really strange.

when i talked to the LL here he told me that there were things I could do. He wouldn't tell me exactly because he said 'i'm not an attorney,' but he mentioned he'd seen several cases where roommates had put peoples stuff out on the street.

i guess he was wrong.

anyway, i suppose i might just have to suck it up and pay for a consultation because if i don't see the rent the whole ordeal is certainly going to court so...

thanks anyway, everyone.

 

[Who's Liable?]

that's really strange.

when i talked to the LL here he told me that there were things I could do. He wouldn't tell me exactly because he said 'i'm not an attorney,' but he mentioned he'd seen several cases where roommates had put peoples stuff out on the street.

i guess he was wrong.

Not only COMPLETELY WRONG, but ILLEGAL as well. If you did that, YOU could be charged for theft, as well as sued in court for the value of said items. It's tantamount to stealing! This is NOT a game you want to play, and you WILL be on the losing side. Not many judges are lenient to the party which tries to settle the score by selling the other parties items without going through the legal process.

anyway, i suppose i might just have to suck it up and pay for a consultation because if i don't see the rent the whole ordeal is certainly going to court so...

thanks anyway, everyone.

That is the ONLY way you can LEGALLY get him to pay.

 

[justalayman]

when i talked to the LL here he told me that there were things I could do. He wouldn't tell me exactly because he said 'i'm not an attorney,' but he mentioned he'd seen several cases where roommates had put peoples stuff out on the street.
.

saying he has seen it and it being legal are two different things. There are a lot of misconceptions with the law. There are also a lot of people that simply do not take all the legal actions that are available to them. If nothing came of the situations your LL spoke of, I would guess it was because the guy whose stuff got tossed either didn't know they had any action available or they simply figured it wasn't worth it.