How do I remove an occupant from my lease?!?!?

Question

In Aug. 2006 I moved to Chicago, to go to Grad school, with my then boyfriend. The lease states that he is an occupant. My credit as well as my father's was run for the lease, with my father co-signing. As the months have progressed things have become unbearable and we are not together. He constantly lies about what he is doing, has cheated on me, posts on craigslist looking for girls etc. He does not have a job & barely pays me the money that he owes me for rent and bills. He does not clean up after himself (i.e. food, wet towels, clothes etc) Each month, he gives me less than what is owed and I must continually ask again and again. I have tried telling him that I want him to leave, it doesn't work and he threatens to take me to court because he says he "is on the lease" and has "legal right to be here." I want him off my lease and out of my apartment. When I approached my landlord about the situation he said there was nothing that he could do. What can be done?!?!

Answer 1

wow, that totally sucks! but good thing you're trying to give him the boot!
thankfully i've never been in a situation like that and hope to never be [knock on wood!] and as such don't know how to deal with but i do suggest that you look online or in the phone book for a local housing association or housing/neighbor mediation center or a lawyer specializing in housing issues or something of the like... many times they're able to help you out or advise your for free [maybe even over the phone!]... my mom was having some issues a while back with the landlord and she went to one of this lawyers for free...
just tell them your problem, ask if the pig living with you [soon to be homeless ex-bf] has any leg to stand on because he "is on the lease" and ask how is the proper way to dispose of him.
i doubt he has much since you can probably argue that the credit and name the place is rented under is your/your dad's, also you can threaten to take him to court for not paying his part of the bills since you never agreed he'd be living w/ you for free [right??] in fact, if you guys had a verbal agreement and depending what state you're in the verbal agreement might be as good as a signed contract and you might be able to take him to court on "breach of contract" and since he breached you're free to kick him and his crap to the curb and recuperate your expenses! oh man! i can't believe i just said that! i think that proves i've been watching too much of "peple's court", "judge maria lopez", "judge mathis" and "divorce court"!!!! LOL oh man! that's what happens when you only have afternoon classes! you spend your mornings watching court shows...

tell his as$ he only has the "legal right to be [t]here" when he's fulfulling his legal obligations such as paying for his part of the bills

seriously, go to a lawyer, or something... maybe go to your school's housing department or whatever office manages the dorms/on-campus apartments [even if you don't live at a campus-owned/operated facility] they might be able to help you or refer you to proper place to find help
if straight off the bat they tell you he has no leg to stand on, then please promptly kick him out and don't look back

and please do keep us [me!] informed on how this goes! =)

good luck!

Answer 2

Your landlord is just being lazy or he has a crush on your boyfriend. you, yourself have to act like a landlord would. You need to give him a thirty day notice. If her refuses to leave you can file for an eviction in court because of non payment or back payment for rent or because he has not moved out after the thirty day notice. You have to file and ask for a court date and explain your situation in court. don't let your court reply sound like your relationship is a breakup, Just explain that he has not been consistant with the payment of the monthly rent and has habits that could potentially cause your deposit not to be refunded because of household habits and you gave him a thirty day notice and he has refused to move. If the court finds in your favor the judge will assign date to remove him from your house or apartment. If he still refuses to move you can then call the state marshall and the marshall will remove him as soon as he arrives. You can recover from all rent owed at that time in a judgment, but you may have to take him to court again to recover funds via a wage garnishment or attachment on real property or recovery from an exisiting bank account.

If he decides that he is going to move out on you without 30 day notice or even with a notice he can or may be liable for the next 90 days for rent becuase he must find a room mate to replace him.

If you signed the lease a a couple and not as room mates it may be harder to remove him with some kind of domestic hardship for you with the help of your local police, but you an't just say that you want him to move because he is bothering you.

You need to let your landlord know that you will not be responsible for his portion of the rent in the future and that if you have to cover his rent your land lord needs to acknowledge that any amount paid which is more than your half should be paid by a seperate check or money order stating that you are paying this part to aviod eviction for non payment and not covering the other persons rent. Keeping track will also show proof in court.

I hate to say it but I have to. This is the reason why if you rent a room with anyone that you make sure that your landlord knows that you are a rrom mate and not a couple. The best thing to di is to get a seperate lease for each occupant or become the landlord yourself and sublet roomates so that the landlord laws will help you instead of cause these kinds of problems.

If you decide to move out and leave him there and he does not pay rent you landlord can sue you for the balance of the rent even if you boyfriend can't be found after he decides to move out. This is why you have to take strong action in making him a roommate and not an associate of a relationship that when sour.

Answer 3

Short of paying him off to leave, the only legal way to remove him is to go to court and get a judge to do it. Unfortunately, there just isn't any other way.

Answer 4

Get a good real estate lawyer