MetaChat - Eviction

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04 April 2006

Eviction Friday I'm evicting someone. Those of you following the drama know what I'm talking about. He has no lease agreement with me. No financial ties to the house or bills. Basically he does not exist on paper. Is it legal for me to change the locks and put his stuff in the yard? This is in Missouri, btw.

post by: pieoverdone at: 10:58 | 33 comments

I haven't been following the drama... Do you have an oral lease agreement?

posted by amro 04 April | 11:01

We did until last month. He was supposed to be out by the end of the month. He is not paying anything for April and is dragging his feet and giving excuses for this new place he's supposed to have. Cannot give me an exact move out date.

posted by pieoverdone 04 April | 11:05

Missouri Revised Statutes Chapter 535 Landlord-Tenant Actions

Good luck! This being Missouri, I would be surprised if you couldn't just put his stuff on the sidewalk.

posted by LarryC 04 April | 11:07

In Oregon that's still a month-to-month lease, legally, even if papers weren't signed, and you would need to follow the exact same eviction proceedure you would if they had signed something. So 30 days notice tacked to the front door or sent via certified mail would cover you.

I don't know about Missouri, though, and you probably should talk to a lawyer just to be safe.

posted by cmonkey 04 April | 11:08

Then nope, you probably can't toss his stuff out, sorry. In Missouri a landlord may not evict a tenant without a formal court order. Grounds for eviction include failure to vacate at the end of the lease term. You have this, right? I have no idea what formal eviction proceedings entail in Missouri but there's a link to the state statutes in the Landlord-Tenant Law booklet. Oh yeah, and IANAL.

posted by amro 04 April | 11:10

(Actually, LarryC already linked to the statutes.)

posted by amro 04 April | 11:11

Ugh. It's my ex. He's squatting on my couch and I just want him out.

posted by pieoverdone 04 April | 11:14

Take the cushions off the couch.

Better yet, remove the couch. "If you sleep here, it'll be on the floor."

posted by Hugh Janus 04 April | 11:16

I just left a message at the equal housing place to see if i'm within my rights to do this

but if anyone has any experience tossing someone out and changing locks, let me know. If it's funny, that's even better since I'm about to cry at my desk.

posted by pieoverdone 04 April | 11:20

Seriously. Remove the couch. Cook something revoltingly stinky. Put on music or tv shows he hates and leave it on 24/7. If you're living there, it shouldn't be too difficult to make the place into an "unattractive" alternative.

posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson 04 April | 11:22

Are there any Tenant's Rights organizations locally? You might contact them prophylactically, since your deadbeat may also try to do so. Better to have a working relationship in advance of him showing up in their offices.

posted by Triode 04 April | 11:25

It's rather machiavellian, but.. If it's an Ex, you could take out a restraining order, and let the sheriff explain what 500 ft. looks like.

posted by Triode 04 April | 11:28

Throw him the hell out and let him figure out what the legal beagle angles are. No court is going to order you to let him back in. He hasn't paid you any money, so there's no way you are going to owe him anything, regardless of landlord tenant laws. When he demands that you let him back in, call the cops and have him tresspassed and cited for disorderly conduct.

Sheesh. Liberals.

posted by warbaby 04 April | 11:36

I know! Freedom sucks!

posted by Hugh Janus 04 April | 11:54

Well, for what it's worth, warbaby, I'M a liberal (actually, I'm way to the left of liberal) and I'm right there with ya. Pie, give him till noon on Friday to get out, and if he's not there with a moving truck you just put his shit out on the sidewalk, change the locks, and let him sort it out. I'd be willing to be he'll be too damn busy scrambling for an apartment to go find a lawyer -- what's he gonna do, spend more time that he should be using to find an apartment to go get a court order to get back in a house he doesn't own or have a lease to?

Bottom line: he's not a tenant, he's crashing -- so force him to go crash somewhere else. He's got to have some other friends with couches, right?

posted by scody 04 April | 12:10

What triode, warbaby and scody said. Put his shit out on the curb and change the locks. Have a sheriff standing by with a restraining order if you think he's going to cause problems.

posted by deborah 04 April | 12:20

Toss the wanker.

posted by omiewise 04 April | 12:21

Change the locks. More likely than him starting a civil suit is him just calling the police. I've witnessed (NYC) police try to sort this out on their own and the first question is "do you have a key?" if so they treat it as an equal dispute, so do that first.

Second, put his stuff in boxes and stack them neatly outside, like under the eaves, covered with a tarp. Treat his stuff with "ordinary care" and they won't be inclined to look at it as destruction of property which they might if its all dumped like garbage.

Sorry, nothing funny to add. These territorial battles are about the most unfunny thing anyone can deal with. It gets all about the animal brainstem.

posted by StickyCarpet 04 April | 12:24

The original question was whether or not tossing him out is legal. Like I said, it's probably not. But if you're going to go the self-help route, just make sure you know the risks (like, does he have a potential remedy for damages, and what are his chances versus yours in a civil suit). A local tenants' rights group should be able to give you some good info.

posted by amro 04 April | 12:29

Easy. Ask him for a commitment. He'll be outta there so fast it'll make your...

posted by go dog go 04 April | 12:30

Change the locks now. When he asks for it, give him one opportunity to get his stuff out of the house before you toss it in the yard.

posted by sarah connor 04 April | 12:35

The plan was to pack his stuff up neatly and put it in the shed in the backyard. Change the locks and leave 2 suitcases of his clothes on the front steps. Possibly a note on the door telling him where his stuff is, to get it, and not contact me again.

He's at a point where he's in debt to a billion people that even if he tried to declare bankruptcy he'd be paying people until 100 years after he's dead.

posted by pieoverdone 04 April | 12:54

So that answers the question about him being able to pay a lawyer.

posted by warbaby 04 April | 12:58

I'm sorry your ex is giving you so much hassle, pie. Good luck to you.

posted by matildaben 04 April | 13:00

Ok. I called the cops. He has no lease agreement with me so as long as I put his stuff in storage in the shed outside and not in the street, it's all good. I am starting to enlist people to help me. And I'm calling locksmiths now for appointments.

Now, I want to leave a note on the door. My second question for help here is how to do the wording.

My first choice is:

Your stuff is in the shed. You are free to retrieve it at any time. Please do not return to the house otherwise and please do not contact me.

I'm having my phone number changed Friday. I've also locked him out of all internet access this morning.

posted by pieoverdone 04 April | 14:09

Good going, pie. I couldn't see how this would be illegal if he was a boyfriend. Boyfriend doesn't equal tenant as far as I know.

posted by deborah 04 April | 14:46

Just reading what this dude's "history" is through this thread, I wouldn't necessarily be so generous as to say he could retrieve it "at any time." You don't want a shed full of his garbage for some time to come.

Glad you've got the hardest parts sorted out, though. Good luck.

posted by viachicago 04 April | 14:58

Well, he's waiting on some flake friend of his to put his two weeks notice in at the halfway house he lives in so they can get an apartment together. I have tried to get confirmation that junkie loser has in fact done this and I get answers like 'I think so' or 'I'm pretty sure he did' so I can't get an exact move out date from him. My patience is running out. Running out to the point that he is going to end up there all of April without giving me a dime and I just can't have someone there that doesn't want to be with me, but enjoys all the comforts of my fucking house.

Someone ship me a bag of kit kats and heath bars. Please. Also, gin.

posted by pieoverdone 04 April | 15:02

I think viachicago has a point. Maybe edit to:

Your stuff is in the shed. If you do not pick it up by [DATE], I will have it removed. Do not return to the house otherwise and please do not contact me.

posted by occhiblu 04 April | 16:26

update. he put a deposit down today and will be moving out on the 14th

posted by pieoverdone 04 April | 19:00

It's rather machiavellian, but.. If it's an Ex, you could take out a restraining order, and let the sheriff explain what 500 ft. looks like.
Please don't do this unless you really, truly feel you are at risk. Actions like this make people like me unwilling to trust any female.

Having said that, if he doesn't get his crap out of your place by the 14th, change the locks and get him (physically, if not emotionally) out of your place. Then you can start to work on getting him out of your head. Who gives a fuck if it's legal or not - it doesn't sound like he has the wherewithall to come at you armed with a legal eagle. In any case, he has given notice that he intends to leave, so write him a note acknowledging his intention to vacate and advise him that any belongings left behind after that date will be disposed of. That should cover almost any legal issue.

Good luck.

posted by dg 04 April | 22:38

If he pays or has paid rent, he's a tenant and has rights in most places.

If not, you can almost certainly kick him out whenever.

posted by grouse 05 April | 06:34

http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/35754

pie, are you okay? If he is making you uncomfortable you should get him out of there despite extenuating circumstances..

posted by By the Grace of God 05 April | 12:57

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