My husband has 2 properties which are occupied. Neither tenant has signed a formal lease agreement, in fact, he's never really had tenants sign lease agreements. This has not necessarily been a problem in the past.

About 2.5 years ago Deann* moved into one of the houses. DH (Dear Husband not to be confused with DoingHomework) and Deann agreed upon $XXX monthly rent, he did not ask for a deposit or anything else. Deann paid rent consistently and on time for a while. Sometimes in lieu of rent she would have things fixed up. She has never provided receipts for repairs or maintenance she had performed in lieu of rent, nor has DH requested them.

Recently, we had another tenant, Zack*, move into the other house. He paid rent one or two months then started aggressively fixing up all sorts of stuff. And I'll admit the houses are very old and while some it is aesthetic, he's done some really good work. We've reimbursed him for materials and he trades his labor for rent.

After Zack moved in to the other house and started fixing/repairing and doing all sorts of general maintenance Deann has not paid him for work nor has she paid rent. So it's been nearly 8 months of non-payment nor any contribution toward all the work being done. She has started to complain that the work is an inconvenience to her. None of it is being done inside her house, it's all exterior work. Recently, Zack broke her kitchen window and she complained about this. Instead, of allowing him to fix it correctly she would not allowed him to come inside the house to make the necessary repairs and is insisting that we pay for the repair by someone else.

I'm a little taken aback that someone who is living on our property rent free has the bravado to complain and refuse to have Zack make the necessary repairs.

I would like to ask her to find another place to live. I think at this point she is taking advantage of DH and simply asking her to pay rent will only turn the situation awkward, perhaps even adversarial.

Given the lack of written/formal rental agreement, what are our options if she refuses to leave after being asked politely?

*not their real names

Most states have laws that determine the nature of the tenancy in the absence of a formal agreement. Usually it is month to month, but you should check with your state's specific law to make sure.

As far as Deann not paying rent, you really have to ask her to pay. Unless I am missing something, I don't know what reason she could have as to not paying. If she refuses to pay and refuses to leave, you are left with eviction proceedings as your only option.

Talk to her and the other tenant. If they are not willing to listen to reason.....

In my state this is what I had to do. You will have to pay to get rid of her legally, if she doesn't want to leave on her own.

First thing call your clerk of county courts and talk to them. My county has a notice to pay rent late sheet, that you fill out and deliver to the tenant.

If they have not paid after the specified date, you can then file for an eviction. Have all your paperwork in order.

Since this place belongs to your spouse, in my state he can come into the house any time he chooses even if it is to survey the property.

Document everything. Get the other tenant on a lease. If he doesn't agree to the lease terms, my suggestion is to give him 30 days to find other accommodations.

I hope this goes smoothly for you.

Someone who stays on your property and doesn't pay rent and has no formal written agreement is not a tenant.

They're a guest.

That means you can kick her out right now. Why waste time and money on lawyers and court fees? I don't think you need to worry about jumping through formal eviction hoops, just go over to your house (it's yours, not hers), tell her you want her out by the end of the week. Come back on Saturday with a locksmith, ready to change the locks. If she hasn't moved any of her stuff out, then have a yard sale on Sunday. If she refuses to leave, bring the police and charge her with trespassing.

What's she going to do? She has no written agreement proving she's allowed to stay there. She has no receipts proving she's paid rent. She has nothing. She's a leech. Get rid of her. She can't sue you, she has no paperwork to prove anything.

And I really hope your husband has learned his lesson from all of this. He was incredibly, incredibly stupid for getting you both into this situation. He absolutely should have had written agreements, clearly spelling out the terms of the situation. He should have been collecting rent every month, and definitely NOT permitting this ambiguous "labor-in-lieu-of-rent" situation to occur. He should hire proper trades to perform any necessary work.

Kombat,

At least in Illinois, that advice is a recipe for her to get in a lot of trouble. The tenant would not be considered a guest that you can just kick out any time you want. She's paid rent before, and the OP even states there is an oral agreement for X dollars per month rent. By law, (again at least in Illinois) that is a month to month tenancy and the OP has to comply with the landlord tenant act including formal notice and eviction proceedings.

Changing the locks and having a yard sale to sell her stuff is a sure fire way to get sued and lose badly.

In Florida Kombat if she gets mail there, then she's considered a resident of that abode.

Its their word against the "tenants". In Florida landlord cannot just change the locks and throw away their stuff neither.

Every state is different on tenant and landlord laws. Please contact your department of consumer services in your state, that's what its called in Florida.

I wouldn't want to rent a place from Kombat. Wow, he's tough. But I agree with his position that it was a horrid decision to forgo the written lease on with these renters. It will eventually come back to haunt you.

I do, however, think you probably need to follow the local laws on eviction proceedings since the renters probably have a leg to stand on concerning the renter-vs-guest argument.

Too be honest Tightwad, I think Kombat's bark is alot stronger than his bite. I bet he's a softie. I don't know what the laws are in Canada but in each state its different and Anna cannot simply throw Deann's stuff out and change the locks.

Has she given any reason why she stopped paying rent?

If the fixes by Zack are inconveniencing Deann, then I would tell Zack to stop fixing Deann's place, and I would let Deann know she will no longer be bothered by him. That's what is making this situation adversarial. I know that if the renters in the other half of the duplex we rent, started coming over to my side and fixing stuff, I would find it weird to say the least.

Once DH has done that, he can ask her to start paying her rent again and for the back rent.

If you would rather have Zack fixing stuff, than get any rent for the place(s), then go ahead and ask Deann to move out. She might comply willingly. If not you can work on evicting her.

The implied month-to-month lease has benefits for the landlord as well. It means that she legally owes the rent, both on an ongoing basis and for the past 8 months. There's nothing wrong with insisting that a customer pay you what they owe.

Right, I understand that legally, the OP has to go through all the necessary paperwork for the eviction process. But the burden would be on her mooch tenant to prove her claim. And without any paperwork or receipts, she'd have a hard time proving her case. In addition, she'd have to actually have the money to hire a lawyer, be familiar with her rights, have the time to devote to going after her mean ol' landlords, and so on.

In actuality, she'll probably be pretty miffed about being booted out of her free housing, but in all likelihood, I'm guessing she'll just move on to the next naive landlord and not bother following up. If she hasn't got money for rent, where's she going to find money for a lawyer?

If it were me, I'd have her out by the weekend, and take my chances.

Woah! I don't think changing locks and tossing her stuff out for sale is the most diplomatic first approach

DH is sometimes an apathetic landlord, which is how this situation has come to be. I've already resolved to get Zack on a lease.

When Deann did pay rent she paid by check. So, if there was litigation she could show proof of payment. I'm not to the point of worrying about litigation, yet.

I'll go ahead and start looking into my states laws regarding this situation as it seems this will be complicated and probably invoke some acrimony on Deann's side.

I really appreciate everyone's input!

I'm pretty sure that she has money as she has a steady job.

She has not given a reason for not paying rent and DH has not bothered to ask. I've just this morning heard through the grapevine that she is saving for a down payment on a house. I guess that explains where all the rental money has been going.

As for the inconvenience, I'm still a little aghast she has the nerve to complain about improvements to the property while she has not paid a dime in rent.

I hate getting into these types of situations and all current tenants (that we intend to keep) will have a lease and future tenants as well.

If she is saving for a down payment on a house, you have some leverage to get the owed back rent from her.

Take her to court for eviction and back rent. You should get a judgment for the rent owed and have the judgment recorded. That way when she is applying for a loan, any lender who bothers to check (and they all should) will see the judgment and insist on it being paid before loaning money to her.

Anna...I hate to say it (and don't take this offensively) but DH needs to man up & put his foot down on the rent money. If you let them mooch then they will continue to mooch. I've been there with roommates & as a landlord who was dumb enough to allow family to "rent". I never came out ahead.

You wrote that your husband is apathetic, but why doesn't he care about his money? I understand that you guys are married, and YOU could be collecting the rent, but it's kind of his thing, it seems.

Has he asked for your advice on what to do? Maybe he really doesn't care whether he gets a dime or not, but explain to him that the mortgage/taxes on those properties are coming out of YOUR pocket too, and you don't want to pay for freeloaders. If he still doesn't understand, have him set up an account of his own, and he can pay the property fees out of HIS account. Maybe then he'll jump on getting them to sign a lease or evicting them or whatever.

I don't understand Deanna. What a nutjob. hee hee.