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Need eviction advice

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Started 3 years ago by Matthew
Latest reply from misskitty

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Matthew
Hilltop
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I have a friend who cannot afford an attorney, who is renting a room out to a public servant. Being that the guy is a public servant, my friend assumed like a jackass that the guy was legit, responsible, etc, and did not sign a lease. Instead they have a verbal month to month agreement.
Only problem is, the guy hasn't paid rent in three months. Also, he brings his middle aged girlfriend over for loud all night sessions, along with her 17 year old daughter who apparently watches the fun. He urinates in kitchen cups and leaves them sitting all over the house instead of walking to a bathroom, and he empties them in the kitchen sink. He brings in pot, lets the girlfriend and daughter smoke in the house, lets the car drain oil all over the driveway, floods toilets until ceilings collapse, yanks doors and towelbars off walls and his girlfriend is now in the habit of bleeding on sofas and leaving it. He also steals food, laundry soap, and anything else not nailed down.
An eviction noticed was filed 60 days ago, the dude still hasn't left. Now he is taking it to court.
Question is, all of this is documented in photos as well as dates, times etc. Is there any chance the judge will side with the tenant with all of this evidence? Should he hire an attorney still? Does anyone know if there is any law that could get the guy out? Perhaps for leaving piss sitting around in drinking cups or something? Also, the landlord (friend) has a minor son living in the house. Any advice would be forwarded to him.
Thanks!

Posted 3 years ago #
lifeontwowheels
Highland West
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The drug issues would be one way. Minor laws would be another. I imagine if a high school girl can be named a sexual predator for sending nude photos of herself, this guy has something coming.

Posted 3 years ago #
Cookie
Flyntonville
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Why can't he make someone who doesn't have a lease leave?

Posted 3 years ago #
Matthew
Hilltop
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Cookie wrote Why can't he make someone who doesn't have a lease leave?
Once a person receives mail at your address (or pays rent) they have as much right to live there as you do. Locking them out, etc will only get you arrested.

Posted 3 years ago #
lifeontwowheels
Highland West
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Matthew wrote my friend assumed like a jackass
I think that sums it up.
It's probably because I grew up with my dad running a small business, but anything major goes in writing.

Posted 3 years ago #
Coremodels
Really close to Explorer's Club.
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Matthew wrote
Cookie wrote Why can't he make someone who doesn't have a lease leave?
Once a person receives mail at your address (or pays rent) they have as much right to live there as you do. Locking them out, etc will only get you arrested.
The fact that he paid rent...then stopped...is probably all your buddy will need to win this. I'd also recommend he leave the drama by the wayside and make his case financial (no loud sex, pot smoking, etc.)

Posted 3 years ago #
Rockmastermike
CORNspiracy HQ
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Coremodels wrote
Matthew wrote
Cookie wrote Why can't he make someone who doesn't have a lease leave?
Once a person receives mail at your address (or pays rent) they have as much right to live there as you do. Locking them out, etc will only get you arrested.
The fact that he paid rent...then stopped...is probably all your buddy will need to win this. I'd also recommend he leave the drama by the wayside and make his case financial (no loud sex, pot smoking, etc.)
except for documenting damages that need to be paid for out of and beyond the security (if any was paid).

Posted 3 years ago #
Coremodels
Really close to Explorer's Club.
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Rockmastermike wrote
Coremodels wrote
Matthew wrote
Cookie wrote Why can't he make someone who doesn't have a lease leave?
Once a person receives mail at your address (or pays rent) they have as much right to live there as you do. Locking them out, etc will only get you arrested.
The fact that he paid rent...then stopped...is probably all your buddy will need to win this. I'd also recommend he leave the drama by the wayside and make his case financial (no loud sex, pot smoking, etc.)
except for documenting damages that need to be paid for out of and beyond the security (if any was paid).
Well, that's my point...make it financial. Loud banging of MILFs, peeing in cups, pot smoking, stealing food or laundry soap...pretty much impossible to prove and pointless in the process. Yanking doors of hinges, not so much.

Posted 3 years ago #
gramarye
In Exile
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As a low-cost interim solution, I suggest small claims court. Small claims courts cannot issue injunctions, which means they can't evict, but it's cheap to file a claim and no attorneys are necessary. Franklin County's small claims court can issue monetary verdicts of up to $3000, which means that you could potentially get both unpaid rent and compensatory damages (i.e., for replacement of property and repairs of fixtures that the unwelcome guest has damaged). Assuming the person is in fact a public servant (and therefore employed), if you get a small claims court verdict, you can garnish his wages. (Also, if you still have a check from when he did in fact pay rent, I think you can also get a lump-sum garnishment, if he's got any real money in his account, which he may not.)
If you get a judgment, you could then either (a) collect it or (b) offer to forgive all/some of it if he just goes away. (In a common pleas court proceeding, you could probably get both damages and an eviction order, of course, but that's going to be a longer, more drawn-out process, the filing fees will be higher, and operating without an attorney will be a far larger handicap.)
In the future, get tenancy agreements in writing and require a security deposit--I don't care how good a tenant's credit is. Do it anyway.
Fair warning: I've never actually used small claims court. However, the undergraduate student government at OSU worked a little with some people who were involved with the Student Housing Legal Clinic. I didn't have much to do with them, but they seemed like they knew what they were doing, and small claims court was one of their preferred tools. SHLC has a small claims court help guide in PDF form here. Keep in mind that it's written for the perspective of tenants have trouble with landlords rather than vice versa, but the part about court procedure is of course the same no matter who's filing, and it looks to me like it's written for a lay audience. YMMV.

Posted 3 years ago #
lifeliberty
Here
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I evicted a person from my house once. I got a lawyer though, cost about $700 and 3 months from start to finish.
verbal contract is as good as any. residency laws really hinder the landlord.
there's a lot of info online about the process. like, first you post a note on the door and mail the tenent a letter. but it has to be posted for 1 full month before you can file for the eviction. the wording has to be a certain way and you have to post it before the first of the month. If you posted the letter now, then you would have to leave it up until December 1.
then another letter gets mailed for another 30 days and posted on the door.
hopefully the tenant gets the point by then and scoots and formal eviction is avoided. if tenant still there then you
file the eviction with the courts and pay the filing fee (I think $175 or something)
the court date comes in 2 weeks.
you go to court.
judge issues the tenant out (if all goes well) and a set out and lock change date is set. in my case that was set for 2 weeks from the court date, but the judge can make it longer if the tenant argues his case well, I think at least up to another 30 days.
get a lawyer.
and actually if you bring up right away that the tenant does drugs he can get evicted immediately. there's some law that states that breaks all contracts or something.

Posted 3 years ago #
misskitty
Columbus
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you dont need a lawyer , just some stuff to take care of it try this
http://www.fcmcclerk.com/faq/civil/evictions.php
http://ohioevict.com/index.html
or
http://www.ohiolandlordtenant.com/courtforms.html

Posted 3 years ago #