What are my tenant rights if a roommate is harassing me?

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What are my tenant rights if a roommate is harassing me?

My roommate (boy) is harassing my roommate (girl) and I. He has taken things over the top since we discussed his moving out. He has stolen things from us and recently took 50$ from my room, leading me to get a deadbolt lock on my door. He stood outside of my door at night to listen to my girlfriend and I and now he has told my girl roommate that he will steal things from us and make our life a “living hell” until he moves. This being said, we need him gone now. What sort of notice do we have to give him about getting his things out? And would he still be legally obligated to pay rent?

Asked on August 3, 2012 under Real Estate Law, Ohio

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 11 years ago | Contributor

You can't evict him--only your landlord can. And if he is not violating the lease, not deliberately damaging the landlord's property, etc., then it's not clear that the landlord will in fact evict him. You could complain to the landlord that he is violating your "right to quiet enjoyment" of the premises, which is a right landlords should enforce, but if there is not alot of good evidence of that and  he is otherwise a good tenant, the landlord may decline to try to evict him for his alleged violation of the covenant of quiet enjoyment. If you have been stolen from, harassed, threatened, etc. this is a matter for the police, not the landlord--he has commited what appears to be criminal acts.

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 11 years ago | Contributor

You can't evict him--only your landlord can. And if he is not violating the lease, not deliberately damaging the landlord's property, etc., then it's not clear that the landlord will in fact evict him. You could complain to the landlord that he is violating your "right to quiet enjoyment" of the premises, which is a right landlords should enforce, but if there is not alot of good evidence of that and  he is otherwise a good tenant, the landlord may decline to try to evict him for his alleged violation of the covenant of quiet enjoyment. If you have been stolen from, harassed, threatened, etc. this is a matter for the police, not the landlord--he has commited what appears to be criminal acts.


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