A friend of mine who lives in Texas has a home he makes 100% of the mortgage payments on. A little over a year ago, his ex-wife (divorced) moved in with him after she quit her job and she needed a place to stay. He dislikes the situation, but did it because of the daughter they share. Fast forward to now...she has been employed full time for quiet some time...months now. He thinks he can't "evict" her since it has been so long since he allowed her to move in even though she doesn't and has never paid rent since moving in. I say he's perfectly within his rights to give her reasonable time (say a month's notice) to tell her she needs to find a new place and then if she hasn't left within that notice time he can move her stuff out and change the locks. Am I right or not? (I should note that they have been divorced for over a decade and she had her own place prior to this for over a decade.)
The owner can change the locks at will. She has no rights, since she has no signed, lease argument. Why is this an issue? It sounds like the ex-wife and your friend are f!cking again, and he doesn't really want her to leave, and won't admit that to you. And if true, why would that be your concern?
Some states like California have those pesky squatter's rights laws where the ex-wife in this situation can legally stay in the housing if she has been there for over 30 days. Not sure about Texas.
No that's not it. As a matter of fact, he complains to me weekly that he regrets letting her come live with him since he can't stand her. He's also with another chick ATM which also makes it awkward with her. Do you have anything of value to add or...?
Aren't squatters right about a vacant place, not a place that the owner is living in? And even if it still applies, are you saying the owner has no rights? forever.
yeah, my first, two sentences. That was my answer. I thought I was agreeing with you. The last part was mostly a joke. My bad. But focus on my first, two sentences.
Basic legal advice seems to be to treat it as a normal tenant, filing eviction paperwork. http://www.thelaw.com/threads/how-to-evict-a-tenant-in-texas-whos-not-exactly-a-tenant.37926/
good pull. But the lawyers on that site are saying the owner created a "Tenant at will" , because the couple is providing the owner a service. Is the ex-wife in the OP providing a service? Regardless to whether the OP's friend created a "tenant at will," the lawyers certainly agree with OP that a 30-day notice is sufficient.
Here's two lawyers answering a question regarding how to get a ex-gf to move out, which is general enough to apply to this situation as well. http://ask-a-lawyer.freeadvice.com/law-questions/my-ex-girlfriend-has-live-142470.htm
No rent or lease of any kind. Started out as a two month thing, while she finds a job...and has become the guest that would not leave. She wants to stay until she is able to buy another house of her own...but that should at least have required a conversation with me, one would think. But apparently not. I would just impose rent, but that would then work against her getting enough money saved to GTFO. But that is the solution, I think, if she tries to stay much longer. The other issue with eviction is 'how on earth do you do that without adversely affecting our daughter, who does live here'? Especially given that the ex would then spend the rest of her life trying to make sure that such adverse effect happens? Moral of the story? Don't do stoopid chit and let the ex back in....
First of all, you don't need a written lease to be a tenant...oral contracts are still a thing. However, in this case, if there was never any agreement to pay rent, help with bills, or anything like that, it is not a contract...there is no "consideration"...no legal value filling her part of the "bargain". So technically, she is a "guest" and can be asked to leave at any time. However, tenancy law gets convoluted and messy, especially if she moved in furniture, etc. His best bet is to nicely ask her to leave, then if she doesn't, he should at least consult with an actual lawyer and read up on Texas law on the matter. If he begins an eviction process, it might actually create a case where she can claim that she is a tenant, since you wouldn't evict a guest...but I don't know. Also, most likely, police will not get involved in the matter as they will just claim it is a civil matter for the courts, they don't know that she hasn't paid rent or given any consideration.
Don't blame the police...and if it gets to that point, the situation is already a failure. Yes, need to ask her to leave. She has stated that she wants to get a house of her own by end of the year, so will just keep checking on that, and if that isn't moving along, indicate that she needs to find another alternative then. Also think I'll impose rent at that point...that will encourage her to GTFO.
