Evicting a tenant

On Nov 2, 2:56 pm, "Paul J. Dudley" <pauljdud...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>   We have a situation whereby a female tenant calls from florida
>  to say she is giving up her tenancy. Her son is still here in
>  the trailer ( Sampson County - North Carolina ). We don't want
>  him though. I thought I could have him removed for trespassing
>  but I was informed by a magistrate that since the rent was caught
>  up we would have to evict him. But so far he has done nothing
>  to cause eviction that I know of.

Why do you think he has to have "done something" to be evicted?   ISTM you are mixing this up with the trespassing claim you originally brought (what did you do, call the police?) where, as you surmised, you can have a person removed immediately from your property if he has no right to be there.   As your magistrate has already told you, you can't do that under your actual facts, because his current possession is rightful -- the rent is paid up, and you originally gave him permission (direct or implied) to move in along with his Mom, and YOU HAVE NOT GIVEN HIM THE LEGALLY REQUIRED NOTICE (30-days or whatever your locality calls for) that you intend not to renew his tenancy at the end of the currently paid-for rental period.  If he continues to "hold over" after that time, then you may have a different situation.

Eviction is the name given to the legal procedure that has to be followed to remove a RIGHTFUL tenant as well as one who is in arrears on his rent or is wrongfully holding over after receiving due notice.   Do not assume that what the magistrate told you means that this man can stay on your property forever as long as he continues to pay his rent and doesn't do anything wrong to give you "cause" to evict him -- that's not the law.   You, the landlord, can decide for any, non-invidiously-discriminatory reason, that you don't want to rent to _anybody_ anymore, or that you simply don't want to rent to _him_ anymore, and you can terminate your relationship with him when the current leasehold expires.   If there is no written lease, it is probably considered a month-to-month tenancy, renewable at the end of each month if you have not given him timely notice to vacate.  Tenants have rights, too; you can't kick someone out onto the street on a moment's notice.  You have to give him the required advance notice of your intent not to renew his tenancy, so that he can make alternate arrangements in an orderly fashion if he chooses -- and if he just ignores you and doesn't move, it will be at his peril, because THEN, after jumping thru all the locally required legal hoops, you can put his junk out on the curb and change the locks.   But please don't do this without competent, local legal advice, because if you screw it up and violate his rights, he could sue YOU.

Even if you were just renting to this lady and her son as a one-off thing, and don't intend to continue in the landlord business, isn't it worth it to you to pay for a couple hours of a lawyer's time to explain to you what you can and can't do under local law, and maybe to prepare and file the necessary forms for you?  He might even be able to tack his fees on to the amount you will charge the holdover tenant, assuming the son has any money to pay you with.   But if you are indeed in the landlord business and intend to remain there, it would be very wise to begin a long-term relationship with a local lawyer who can advise and represent you regarding the conduct of that business as the need arises, if you haven't done so already.  Good luck,

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Mike Jacobs
LAW OFFICE OF W. MICHAEL JACOBS
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