Evicting My Son when there is NO lease

[pruitt340]

INDIANA

3 1/2 years ago, we took in my adult son and toddler granddaughter. We never had a lease, but he did pay some money (when he had a job). We are trying not to make this so personal, but it is hard. When he arrived, our grandchild had NO clothing. Over the last 3 1/2 years, we have bought every stitch of her clothing, and some of his, too. We fed them, housed them, paid for all incidentals as utilities and cell phone, and of course FOOD. We even paid to start her education. We went to court with him (in another state) and hosted that states guardian ad litem, when the court was trying to determine who that little girl should live with.

Fast forward to this past summer. Son met a girl on a dating site (she is still legally married), and left our home to live with her on August 9th of this year. He took only a few possessions with him, leaving almost all of his "stuff" from his room, took nothing from my granddaughters room and has trashed our guest bathroom. He owes us $500 (admitted in a text message), but has made NO attempts to pay this or come and get his belongings. We are now nearly at 60 days since he left, and he is no longer returning any calls/texts.

How can we LEGALLY, force him to come and get this stuff out of our house? We have no lease, so we can't serve him with an eviction. Or can we?

PLEASE help us and guide us in the appropriate filings and forms. I can find most of them online, by template, but don't know where to start.

Thank you SO much in advance

Loree and Lesleigh

 

[sprocket454]

Do you have any storage space? My friend took his kid's stuff and stuck it all above the ceiling in the garage. The ceiling is sheet rocked so you can't see the stuff. So far his kid hasn't come and got it but, out of sight, out of mind. You will never see the $500 again. You can't get blood out of a turnip. Just pretend you paid $500 to get him out of your house. That's a bargain.

 

[pruitt340]

Do you have any storage space? My friend took his kid's stuff and stuck it all above the ceiling in the garage. The ceiling is sheet rocked so you can't see the stuff. So far his kid hasn't come and got it but, out of sight, out of mind. You will never see the $500 again. You can't get blood out of a turnip. Just pretend you paid $500 to get him out of your house. That's a bargain.

We do NOT have the space to store all of his junk. I suppose we could rent a storage space, and put all of his crap in there, but it makes us keep paying for him and his stuff.

I guess that I am seeking a way to legally SELL his stuff and try to recoup some of our losses.

I need to know if I should/could send him a 3-day-quit or pay, or some other sort of documentation that notifies him that he either has to make arrangements to retrieve his belongings, or lose them. I have been unable to find a template that serves as an eviction notice where there is no lease. We cannot afford to hire a lawyer to draft one for us. There are really good templates on the Internet that serve as eviction notices, but none that suit our needs at present, where there is no lease.

 

[Gail in Georgia]

If you wish to go through the time and bother of an eviction, begin one with the assumption that your son had a "month to month" tenancy with you. "Google" terminating month to month tenancies in Indiana.

Frankly, if you don't wish to go through all of this, SEND him a certified letter (NOT a text, NOT a phone call) stating that after a certain amount of time (say by the end of October) that unless he picks up his property, you will consider it abandoned by him.

If you do not know his current address, send it to his last known address (your residence), collect it and keep it unopened in your files for future reference should he come forward later demanding his precious possessions.

Then...and I say this as a parent....get a stiff backbone. Your son is likely to attempt to return home again. Unfortunately, this makes it harder for you if this involves a grandchild. However, if he comes, he is likely to bring both the grandchild, his new bedmate and any and all offspring that she has produced previously (and perhaps a new bun in the oven by your son) to be dumped at your doorstep....and this entire mess will begin once again.

Gail

 

[pruitt340]

If you wish to go through the time and bother of an eviction, begin one with the assumption that your son had a "month to month" tenancy with you. "Google" terminating month to month tenancies in Indiana.

Frankly, if you don't wish to go through all of this, SEND him a certified letter (NOT a text, NOT a phone call) stating that after a certain amount of time (say by the end of October) that unless he picks up his property, you will consider it abandoned by him.

If you do not know his current address, send it to his last known address (your residence), collect it and keep it unopened in your files for future reference should he come forward later demanding his precious possessions.

Then...and I say this as a parent....get a stiff backbone. Your son is likely to attempt to return home again. Unfortunately, this makes it harder for you if this involves a grandchild. However, if he comes, he is likely to bring both the grandchild, his new bedmate and any and all offspring that she has produced previously (and perhaps a new bun in the oven by your son) to be dumped at your doorstep....and this entire mess will begin once again.

Gail

We ARE willing to go through the process of legally evicting him. He is a MASTER manipulator, and if he couple find a loophole in all of this, he will step through that hole and tighten it like a noose around our collective necks!

W have his address; we have been there several times, before he blew his stack and cut off all communication.

I cannot see him trying to return here. He looks at this new relationship as "my perfect new family". She has teenagers, one of them with autism. She has been completely manipulated by him. As for a pregnancy, that won't happen....her tubes are tied!

We are so very concerned about the granddaughter we have. She is beautiful and smart, and I did every thing for her from teaching her to feed herself, potty training and then all of the minutiae that goes along with raising a child. I miss her horribly and I don't want to do anything to hurt her, but I HAVE to start somewhere in making her father man up and be responsible. We might even have to contact CPS about some issues.

In three weeks, he will be 37, but acts like a spoiled adolescent. The IRS is even looking for him for 3 years of unpaid/unfiled taxes. I am just heartsick, but we need to take control of our lives. This is having an effect on our lives and our health.

 

[Gail in Georgia]

"We ARE willing to go through the process of legally evicting him. He is a MASTER manipulator, and if he couple find a loophole in all of this, he will step through that hole and tighten it like a noose around our collective necks!"

Then...

1. Google how to evict a month to month tenant in your state.

2. Take pictures of the damage he did to your property. If he sues you for tossing out his stuff, countersue for the damages he did to your place and the 500 bucks he admits owing you.

His "perfect new family" is likely to be short lived. Either she will get tired of him and kick his sorry ass out or he will run from the responsibility of attempting to be an adult. He will then likely show up again at your door using your grandchild as the bait to wheedle himself back into three free hots and a cot at your home.

Gail

 

[Silverplum]

Look here for info on eviction in your state: http://www.landlordguidance.com/eviction-notice-forms/indiana-eviction/

Don't pay for forms that are available at your county courthouse: http://www.porterco.org/index.aspx?nid=158

(I picked a random county, you can search for yours)

 

[Zigner]

Question for the OP: Has your son established a residence at the new place? Receiving mail, paying bills, etc.?

In anticipation of an affirmative answer: I'm not so sure that an eviction is required. At this point, the tenant has left (without notice, not that it matters) and established a new residence. The OP is now dealing with (potentially) abandoned property.

 

[LdiJ]

Question for the OP: Has your son established a residence at the new place? Receiving mail, paying bills, etc.?

In anticipation of an affirmative answer: I'm not so sure that an eviction is required. At this point, the tenant has left (without notice, not that it matters) and established a new residence. The OP is now dealing with (potentially) abandoned property.

I would tend to agree. I would simply send him a letter giving him a specific deadline to retrieve his belongings or they will be discarded. However, I would not discard the granddaughter's things. Its not her fault that her father is the way that he is. She may need that stuff one day.