Before you can start a court case to make your roommate leave, you may need to give (serve) your roommate a Notice of Termination. (3) Alternatively, the court or its designee shall transmit, within one business day, Typically, each roommate signs the lease agreement individually, making them cotenants of a single unit. So, for example, if the abuse is from an uncle or aunt, a niece or nephew, or a cousin, it is considered civil harassment and NOT domestic violence. Roommate Harassment, Laws & Everything You Can Do About It. But if it doesnt specify, generally in California ahouseguest becomes a tenant after 30 days. petitioner and to any additional law enforcement agencies within the court's discretion A roommates right to sue a subtenant can depend on whether an agreement is in place between them and, if so, whether its in writing. If your roommate does any of the following things, the law has your back in the eviction and you are able to give only three days notice. Unlawful violence, like assault or battery or stalking, OR. under subdivision (b), or if it is in the best interest of the minor. At Law Soup we work hard to answer the most common questions for free. The law mandates that eviction shouldnt be a way to retaliate or discriminate against an individual. She specializes in family law and estate law and has mediated family custody issues. How to Evict a Family Member From a House. (p)(1) Either party may request a continuance of the hearing, which the court shall If the court imposes a sanction, the court shall first determine whether the person The instructions for each method are extremely specific and detailed, but in general you have to start by trying to deliver the notice to your roommate in person by handing it to them. (i) At the hearing, the judge shall receive any testimony that is relevant, and may Some laws that may apply include the following: In many states, it is illegal to discriminate against someone who is a victim of domestic violence. My roommate has been harassing me and I've made the rental office aware they gave me suggestions on what I could do. However, your landlord cant evict anyone without a just cause, such as causing damage or refusing to pay rent. Any eviction process must begin with a written notice according to the tenancy law in California. Findmore information about Workplace Violence. Under state law, a landlord can evict a month-to-month tenant by serving a 30-day notice that the tenancy is being terminated - no reason is necessary. Deprivation by a caregiver of basic things or services you need so you will not suffer physically, mentally, or emotionally. (2) The failure to state the expiration date on the face of the form creates an order in feeling more confident that they will not be injured or threatened by the other You can get an OFP to stop harassment or abuse by anyone you live with, not just relatives or spouses. or modification by further order of the court either on written stipulation filed a proof of service that the officer shall complete and send to the issuing court. Copyright 2023, Thomson Reuters. Landlords are also within their rights for evicting a tenant or cotenant who is a serious nuisance to other residents of the building even after being given fair warning, or if the tenant poses a threat to the safety of others on the premises. If you are evicting for just cause and your roommate remedies the situation, you cannot move forward with the eviction process. If you and your roommate have a separate agreement that each of you is responsible for half of the rent for the length of the lease, then you can sue your roommate for the unpaid rent each month. If your roommate is on the lease agreement with you, then they only answer to your landlord. party is physically present in court and does not challenge the sufficiency of the with the court or on the motion of a party. In this case, you need to serve them a 30-day written notice to vacate the premises. Treatment that has physically or mentally hurt you. In the latter scenario, the two parties present their cases to the court and a judge issues a final ruling on the matter. In a variety of situations, California law gives a roommate the legal right to break a lease before the lease agreement reaches its end date. | https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/code-of-civil-procedure/ccp-sect-527-6/. A minor who has alleged harassment, as defined in subdivision (b), shall not be While this is a costly and messy process no one wants to go through, the only way to have complete rights to stay is if you are the one whose name is on the lease. Provide any evidence of the reason for the eviction. Sally would have two choices if Joes behavior deteriorated to the point where it became intolerable. There are 4 types of abuse or harassment cases in civil court: Domestic violence is abuse or threats of abuse when the person being abused and the abusive person are: The domestic violence laws say abuse is: Keep in mind that abuse and domestic violence do not have to be only physical. this section to relinquish any firearms the person owns or possesses pursuant to Section 527.9. If you are not on the lease and your roommate ismaybe youre the one subletting, for instanceyou dont have many options. (ii) By a person to whom confidential information is disclosed, provided that the or termination of the order, and any subsequent proof of service, by the close of Remember that eviction can never be performed for a reason that is retaliatory or discriminatory. The support person is present to provide moral and emotional support for a person The person getting the restraining order is called the protected person. The person the restraining order is against is the restrained person. Sometimes, restraining orders include other protected persons like family or household members of the protected person. and that seeks a protective or restraining order restraining stalking, future violence, copy of the order, a law enforcement officer shall immediately attempt to verify the A fee shall not be paid for a subpoena filed in connection with a petition alleging Perhaps if you reason with your roommate that its not working out (or beg them to leave), they may leave quietly and that could be the end of it. Read more about Domestic Violence. If your roommate is threatening you, harassing you or hurting you, you can apply for an Order for Protection ("OFP") or a Harassment Order. Your name is the only one on the lease: If you're the only . There are certain situations in which you must provide just cause, and in these cases, you are allowed to evict your roommate much more quickly because the eviction is considered a justified response to a roommate's bad behavior. If it is less than one year, youll need to give at least 30 days notice. A: As you indicated, both parties named on the lease are jointly and severally liable for the rent payment, which means that if one tenant breaks the lease and moves out without paying their share, the remaining tenant is responsible for all of the rent. California may be unique for everything from its economy to its topography, but just as in every other state, the question of what to do if a roommate breaks a lease doesn't have a one-size-fits-all answer in the Golden State. If you're paying rent then you should notify the owner in writing about this disruption. For example, Sally is responsible for making the entire rent payment not just her half if Joe, her roommate, doesnt pay his share. On a showing of good cause, in an order issued pursuant to this subparagraph in circumstances: (i) By the minor's legal guardian who petitioned to keep the information confidential So, a landlord cannot refuse to rent (or terminate) solely because the person is a victim of domestic violence. (2) The court shall order the petitioner or the attorney for the petitioner to deliver that has been made confidential and shall include a statement that disclosure is punishable It all comes down to your unique situation and what your roommate may have done. An OFP doesn't require an attorney and does not cost. If your roommate is not paying rent, doing something illegal in the unit, or damaging the apartment, your landlord may step in to evict them for you. protective or restraining order to be issued, if either of the following conditions Heres what you need to know about resolving a situation with a hostile roommate. provided in this section. If that wont work, then maybe you can find a third party whom both you and your roommate trust to mediate an acceptable resolution for both parties. She might appeal to their landlord for assistance in evicting him, or she has the right to call the police if Joes behavior should become dangerous, threatening or abusive in any way, just as someone whos not living with him could do. If your houseguest has been there 30 days or more, they become a tenant (even if they havent paid any rent), and removing them is more complicated (see Roommate section below). A person who makes a disclosure pursuant to this clause is subject to the sanction However, I have a strong desire to get out of the lease early. Again, the landlord has most of the rights in the situation. Rental Agreements in California: Key Terms to Look For, Just Cause Eviction: California Landlord Rights, California Sublet Laws: Rules for Tenants & Subtenants, California Legislative Information: Civil Code Sections 1940 - 1954.05 Hiring of Real Property, California Legislative Information: Health and Safety Code Sections 17920 - 17928 Rules and Regulations, Law Offices of Stimmel, Stimmel and Roeser: Landlord Obligations for Habitable Premises The Basic California Law, Lawyers.com: Roommates: Your Rights and Liabilities, A People's Choice: How to Evict a Roommate in California, Curbed Los Angeles: Here's How California's Rent Control Law Works, Legal Beagle: California Sublet Laws: Rules for Tenants & Subtenants, Legal Beagle: Rental Agreements in California: Key Terms to Look For, Legal Beagle: Just Cause Eviction: California Landlord Rights, Legal Beagle: Breaking a Lease in California: Tenants' Rights, Legal Beagle: Landlord Right of Entry: California Tenant Privacy Rights, Legal Beagle: California Landlord Responsibilities for Tenant Safety. To evict your roommate in California, you need to start by giving them a three-day notice to cure or quit. A notice shall be provided to the respondent that identifies the specific information Eligibility for this program is based on a familys gross annual income and family size. But your issue may be more complicated. Elder or Dependent Harassment. Related: Can I Evict A Roommate During COVID In NYC? If the employee wants to protect him or herself, he or she can ask for a civil harassment restraining order (or a domestic violence restraining order if the abuser is a partner/spouse or former partner/spouse or close family member). The subtenant then has five days to vacate the premises or oppose the complaint by filing a response with the court. In California, whether or not you can evict your roommate is situational. Current as of January 01, 2019 | Updated by FindLaw Staff. Is it Legal to List Your Place on Airbnb? protected party, the party who is protected by the order shall be given notice, pursuant (q)(1) If a respondent named in a restraining order issued after a hearing has not Read More: Just Cause Eviction: California Landlord Rights. prompting, swaying, or influencing the party assisted by the support person. The request may be made in writing before or at the hearing, or orally at the hearing. This process is identical to the process that landlords go through when evicting a tenant. Since state law requires your rental place to be fit for the intended use, and you can no longer have personal belongings lying around because of the dog, then your place is no longer fit for you to live there. According to New York state law, you must give your roommate at least 30 days to vacate. Including a section on dispute resolution in your roommate agreement, perhaps an agreement to try mediation on specific issues might help. Both co-tenants directly and individually pay rent to the landlord. including, but not limited to, making annoying telephone calls, as described in Section 653m of the Penal Code, destroying personal property, contacting, either directly or indirectly, by mail ammunition while the protective order is in effect. To request an OFP go to the county courthouse where your rental property is located. Justice shall not, in and of itself, make the order unenforceable. As long as the roommate provides the landlord with written notice of his intent to terminate the lease due to active service, the tenancy is considered terminated 30 days after the next rent due date. The law considers being violent or stalking another tenant just cause for eviction, allowing you to evict the perpetrator with only three days of notice. The court may also grant a continuance on its own motion. Download the app and sign up today! (Note: be sure to read our Guide to Eviction). (a)(1) A person who has suffered harassment as defined in subdivision (b) may seek (2) A temporary restraining order or order after hearing relating to civil harassment (And he or she will have to turn in, sell or store any guns they have now and not be able to buy a gun while the restraining order is in effect.). pursuant to this subdivision or the protected party in an order pursuant to this division, Physically hurting or trying to hurt someone intentionally or recklessly; Making someone reasonably afraid that he or she or someone else is about to be seriously hurt (like threats or promises to harm someone); OR. If you are evicting your roommate in a situation that requires just cause, the notice must also include the reason for the eviction notice. in actions brought pursuant to this section is mandatory. If your roommate is NOT on the lease with your landlord (and you are on the lease), but they pay rent to YOU (not the landlord), or they dont pay any rent but you agreed to let them live there, then you may have animpliedsublease or sublet with your roommate (or you may have created an actual sublease or sublet with your roommate). officers responding to the scene of reported harassment. making harassing telephone calls to an individual, or sending harassing correspondence (k) This section does not preclude either party from representation by private counsel You do not have to be physically hit to be abused. not own, possess, purchase, receive, or attempt to purchase or receive a firearm or has or is reasonably likely to have the ability to pay. California Civil Code 789.3. Your roommate would then be your "sub-tenant." If that is the case, you would need to go to court to evict them and show either that your roommate violated the terms of your "sublease" or that there was no specific time period for the tenancy and thus you can terminate it at any time. If you do arrange for early termination of your lease, then get that agreement in writing, signed by you and your landlord. to that minor, be kept confidential. A landlord can demand an increase in rent or even an additional security deposit when adding a subtenant to an existing or new lease as a co-tenant. In this case, the long arm of the law isn't just long, it belongs to someone else, but the eviction process will proceed for the contenant just as it would for a regular, singular tenant. His or her childrens schools or places of child care; Other important places where he or she goes. If the dog is not an authorized pet on the lease, your landlord can evict your roommate for violating the lease. Read about the law in Code of Civil Procedure section 527.6. It's a good idea to file a police report to have evidence of the behavior if the eviction goes to court. If you are pursuing eviction with thirty or sixty days notice, you typically don't need to provide just cause. 2. Helpful Unhelpful. I realize that one or both of the parties who sign the lease are responsible for paying the landlord. or from appearing on the party's own behalf. January 30, 2015 - 3:17 PM. pursuant to this section is punishable pursuant to Section 273.6 of the Penal Code. The civil harassment laws say "harassment" is: Unlawful violence, like assault or battery or stalking, OR A credible threat of violence, AND The violence or threats seriously scare, annoy, or harass someone and there is no valid reason for it. (5) Respondent means the person against whom the temporary restraining order and order after hearing This can include a neighbor, a roommate, or even a friend that you haven't been on a date with. There are also dependent adult harassment cases which . You need a good, approved reason to evict your roommate in California, but there are some ways you can get rid of a bad roomie according to the roommate law in California. Use of this site means that you agree to the Terms of Use. of the petition. And in either case, a roommates rights depend heavily on state laws, which can vary. Physical abuse, neglect, financial abuse, abandonment, isolation, abduction (taking you out of the state against your will), or other behavior that causes physical harm, pain, or mental suffering; OR. FindLaw Codes may not reflect the most recent version of the law in your jurisdiction. Search: Roommate Harassment Laws California. At the same time, she was doing the exact same thing talking about me to our other roommate and friends. In any roommate situation (regardless of who is or isn't on the lease) where you feel unsafe, you can and should call the police. What can you do? (o) The respondent shall be entitled, as a matter of course, to one continuance, for Only a landlord can evict someone who is named on a lease, and can only do so with just cause. Except as provided in subparagraph (B), if the court determines that disclosure Other California harassment laws that can be useful are: California Penal Code 653m for harassing phone calls California Penal Code 647 for distributing private, sexually explicit photos and videos California Penal Code 653.2 for cyberstalking DoNotPay Can Help You Protect Yourself From Harassment in California (B) The protective or restraining order issued pursuant to this section is based upon . neighbors, roommates, and; non-dating friends. If the agreement doesnt discuss this issue, the general rule in California is that you are allowed to have a person stay at your apartment as long as the person doesnt violate any of the terms of the lease. 7 Easy Ways to Make or Save Money by Exercising Your Legal Rights. Harassment laws in California state that elder harassment cases are when the victim of the harassing behavior or violent conduct is of the age of 65 or older. that the respondent is evading service or cannot be located, then the court may specify She made up lies about my other roommate and her boyfriend and about her family and spread them and always told me these things. With our ever-increasing lists of rooms and roommates across the world, Roomi can help find your perfect new roommate. spoken in any other manner that has placed the petitioner in reasonable fear of violence, that a petition for a temporary order is granted or denied, a hearing shall be held at the court's discretion, for a period not to exceed 21 days, or, if the court extends Verbal notice of the terms of the order shall constitute service of the order and That's true even if you have a separate sublease agreement with your roommate, who's subletting from you. 0 found this answer helpful | 1 lawyer agrees. Outside of sublets, if one roommate in a cotenant lease believes that another roommate has violated the rental agreement, he may request that the landlord evict the offending roommate. On legal matters, the lease agreement remains the definitive legal document for tenant/landlord relationships. If a request for a temporary order is not made, the hearing shall be held within for modification or termination of the protective order, the court shall deny the You cannot evict a co-tenant. While there are a host of roommate harassment laws that you could prepare yourself with, there is also other know-how that could help you. (4) Petitioner means the person to be protected by the temporary restraining order and order after If the culprit had signed a written sublease agreement with you, and there is a just cause, three days quit notice will suffice. The difference is that the harassment happens primarily at work AND it is the employer of the harassed employee who asks for protection for the employee (and, if necessary, for the employees family). Copyright 2023 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Media, All Rights Reserved. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated in September 2019 that in the previous year, Americans spent more than 25 percent of their pre-tax income on keeping a roof over their head. However, if youre aiming to evict someone within a shorter time frame, then you need to be able to justify your position. Fortunately, a properly written lease may prohibit or restrict assignment, subletting and other changes in occupancy. Unfortunately, you cant just evict a roommate in California. All rights reserved. This might need you to know your legal rights as a roommate and intervention from law enforcement. When a new roommate moves in, it's common for roomies to create some sort of agreement covering everything from cleaning duties and food sharing to how much each resident pays for their share of rent and utilities. Speaking of the premises, Section 1942 of the state's Civil Code allows roommates and other tenants to break the lease agreement if they experience inhabitable or unlivable conditions in the rental space. In other words, roommates who initially occupied your rental unit as a subtenant may be catapulted to the status of a co-tenant by your acceptance of rent, even if they are not named in the lease. After entering into a binding agreement with the landlord, the master tenant contracts with another person, a roommate or housemate called the Subtenant, who is responsible for paying rent to the master tenant. unlawful violence or a credible threat of violence. Bottom line, its complicated and really depends on your particular situation, so you may want to get some legal help. of hearing, but you do not appear at the hearing either in person or by a lawyer, (3)(A) If the request is granted, except as provided in paragraph (4), information Read More: Rights for Roommates Not on a Lease. First, read your Lease/Rental Agreement (see above) to determine what it says on this; usually what an agreement says on this is enforceable and if you violate it, yes you and your houseguest(s) can be evicted. The term also means that their landlord is legally entitled to require that they both move out if Joe commits a serious, eviction-worthy lease violation. In this series, we want to resolve the quandaries. If not, you will most likely need to go through the court eviction process. A conviction can be a petty offense or a misdemeanor.. Either you or your agent must serve this notice of eviction, in line with the law. Calmly explain why youre upset might also help. However, if it's just a personal problem between roommates, then you have to find another way to resolve it. You cant evict them. Reviewed by: Michelle Seidel, B.Sc., LL.B., MBA. Public Spaces, Parks, Streets & Sidewalks, houseguest becomes a tenant after 30 days, 7 Easy Ways to Make or Save Money by Exercising Your Legal Rights. This section does not preclude a petitioner from using other existing civil remedies. the order and shall at that time also enforce the order. a temporary restraining order and an order after hearing prohibiting harassment as to an individual by any means, including, but not limited to, the use of public or But you are still responsible for the entire rent. Taking on a roommate or two and dividing the cost can save the day, but not all roommate relationships are made in heaven. Civil Harassment Restraining Order. another method of service that is reasonably calculated to give actual notice to the With our ever-increasing lists of rooms and roommates across the world, we help you find your perfect match! More. or maliciously disregards these requirements. issued on forms adopted by the Judicial Council and approved by the Department of was made, to a law enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the residence of the are sought and, if the petition is granted, the restrained person. for the expiration date is issued at the hearing, a copy of the restraining order Civil harassment has a specific definition in the law, and while his can vary a bit from place to place, here's the generality for Californ California Court Services Status Due to COVID-19 This handbook is designed for all participants, those taking, defending or facing a deposition The law only allows the victim of domestic abuse or sexual assault . The stairs has a bad odor and my room has a bad smell and was covered with dog hair at move-in. respondent does not attend the hearing, the court may make orders against the respondent Read More: How to Get Rid of a Roommate Legally. substantial emotional distress, and must actually cause substantial emotional distress The person accused is not engaged in constitutionally protected activity. Under California law, there are many different acts that fall under the umbrella of civil harassment. Unfortunately its not an easy answer. (2) A minor, under 12 years of age, accompanied by a duly appointed and acting guardian If you do have a good reason to evict a roommate, you have to know how it works. Workplace Violence Restraining OrderYou can ask for a workplace violence restraining order if: An employee CANNOT ask for a workplace violence restraining order. Service shall be made at least five days before the hearing. Having a roommate can be awesome! has been unable to accomplish personal service, and that there is reason to believe A lease makes you cotenants. Is your roommate the only one on the lease? First, lets define a couple terms. Kelly Klein is a Minneapolis attorney. There are 4 kinds of orders you can ask for: Domestic Violence Restraining OrderYou can ask for a domestic violence restraining order if: Find more information about domestic violence. Certain cities require just cause be provided to month-to-month tenants if they are living in a rent-controlled or subsidized housing program. It encompasses the transfer of rights held by one party the assignor to another party the assignee.