I'm having a problem with one of my tenants/roommates and was wondering what I'm allowed to do about it?
Question Details: He's been smoking in the house, which I've told him numerous times I'm not okay with but realized isn't in the lease agreement. I have sent him an official letter asking him to stop, however he refuses to. I've even given him the option of ending his lease early and moving out without any repercussions. It's 3 weeks later and he isn't speaking to me at all. And he isn't paying rent (he pays late every month for the past 6 months). At this point, am I allowed to evict him? How do I go about doing so and what if he won't leave?
You can only evict a tenant for violating the lease. So, if the lease does not disallow smoking, you cannot use it as a basis for an eviction.
When a tenant fails to pay rent, you can immediately file an eviction action in court for nonpayment; the only problem with that is that if he pays the missing rent at any time prior to your getting the judgment of possession (i.e. at any time before appearing before the judge), he can stay.
If a tenant is regularly late, you can give him a notice to cease, stating that paying rent on time is an obligation under the lease, that he may be evicted if he continues to do so, and demanding that he start paying on time. If he continues to pay late after that, you can send him a notice to quit (to leave) for lease violations and, if he does not leave, file an eviction action for breach of lease.
The best way to go about this would be to retain a landlord-tenant attorney to handle the situation for you. Alternately, if you want to handle it yourself, you should be able to get sample forms and instructions throughor from your landlord-tenant court.
