Kicking Out a Non-Lease Roommate

My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Washington

So here's my problem: one of my roommates drives me insane, and I want to ask him to find a new place to live. This is less of a question regarding law (though if there are procedures I need to follow, I need to know. I'm posting here because of that and because I'm guessing the people on this forum would know at least a little about this kind of situation and how to be tactful and respectful in handling it)

I'm the only person on the lease in a 4 bedroom home. That's how my landlord wanted to do it. He knew I was just going to get month-to-month roommates with no contract (I've lived at this house for 3 years with friends, one of whom bought a house about 30 minutes away, which was too far for me, so I signed another year here and got new roommates from craigs-risk) and as long as I paid rent every month and don't be a constant problem for him, we don't need to talk beyond sharing a beer when he comes to clean the gutters twice a year.

So I found three roommates. a software engineer, an insurance salesman, and a 35 year old "contractor." I put that in quotes because that's what he said, and yet he's worked one single day in the past month and a half. The first two were very relaxed, cool guys, and the 35 year old is also very friendly, but he also drives me insane on a regular basis.

He moved in about a week and a half before the beginning of the month, which I was fine with, but immediately felt like he was taking ownership of the place. He was cleaning when my former-roommates were still moving out and cleaning themselves, and then asked for reimbursement out of my former roommate's deposit. He insisted we replace the carpet (landlord did this out of the kindness of his heart and his own expense) and is constantly trying to tell me about all these "little" things we should do with regards to renovating the house. Not only that, but I asked for first and last month's rent, plus a small, refundable security deposit of $200 up front. All he paid was the first month's rent with promise to get the rest to me soon. Fair enough, I told him that I was flexible on when I got the cash, with how the economy and work is. But then he started arguing yesterday that I wasn't asking for a $200 deposit up front, then argued that I had waived it for him, then argued that it was illegal to ask for, then conceded after I showed him the original ad I had posted. I also found out that he's driving on a suspended license due to some mysterious $3000 in unpaid tickets, he doesn't actually HAVE any jobs (despite always telling me about how he's going to do such and such) and is always, ALWAYS bugging me and in my personal space, depsite asking him to give me some room. I'm a very laid back, take-things-slow kind of guy, and he's the obscenely high-energy, aggressive and insecure alpha-male type. I mainly worry about his income security, and that some of the friends he brings over are incredibly sketchy. Not to mention he's brought home about seven different women to sleep with in a single month... We've talked about some of his habits and such (don't mess with my things or let my puppy out of her crate) but he's always making excuses for -everything-, being passive-aggressive, and overall just isn't a good fit for this house. He gets along with one of my roommates pretty well, but drives the other mad, and my girlfriend hates coming over because he drives her nuts too. He's on the phone constantly shouting at people about other friends who are drug addicts or whores or in the hospital, and then has to come tell me about them, when I've made it clear that I don't want people making their problems into our problems. He's also VERY argumentative and confrontational.

In short, I worry about his ability to pay rent, he drives on a suspended license and brings home people that I don't particularly trust to be alone, but other than that, there's nothing particularly -wrong- with the guy, beyond the fact that he just isn't a good fit for the house or myself. Seeing as I'm the one on the lease, handling all the bills and am here for a year, I think it's fair to ask that I not hate coming home to a 35 year old teenager every night.

I have a coworker who is moving at the end of march, and is interested in moving here, and we get along great (and have for three years) so I have to make a hard decision; give the 35 year old more time to adjust to the people he lives with and potentially risk him getting more ingrained here, or ask him to move by the end of march. I feel very bad for letting him move in and then making him move again so soon, but I've known people like him, and the way he acts isn't going to change. He just needs conflict in his life, and I want everything -but- that. I worry about asking him to move out because of his very confrontational attitude, and the fact that he thinks he did so much work to the house (he's home all day, every day, and only spent about two days of time cleaning, of which he got reimbursed for) that he's practically taken ownership of it in his mind.

So, in short, how do I tactfully (and legally) ask someone who's not on a lease, hasn't signed a month-to-month document (it's just a verbal agreement) and while not technically a bad guy, just isn't a good fit for the household, to find a new place to live? I need to stress that the landlord knows all the details about how I'm doing roommates and doesn't want to have to be involved, hence why he only wanted me to sign the lease.

I think if he starts an argument (almost certainly going to happen) and it gets heated, offer to give him $100-200 off of this month's rent to pay for moving expenses, and not have to pay utilities, and just eat that amount myself (I can afford to) to make things go smoothly? I don't want to bring up the income security or expired license because I don't want to put him on the defensive, which is what triggers his aggression.

This is my first time having to do this, so I apologize for any errors or unnecessary details. I really wish we could just get along, but I'm at my wits' end, and have someone in the pipe looking for a place that I feel would be a good fit for the house.

Tell him the truth as you see it - he's not a good fit with you or the other tenants, you are tired of the constant drama, loss of privacy, etc. Exactly what you said in your post. Expect push back but be firm and ask for support from the other roomies. Present a united front. Don't take no for an answer and offer incentives if necessary. You must try to convince this person that it would be in his best interest to find another situation.

That all seems reasonable and like what I will probably do, but what about simply lying and saying that my girlfriend wants to move in and the landlord only wants four people in the house. Immoral, yes, but it does reduce the possibility of conflict.

Your call bro...seems to me conflict is inevitable though. What would you gain by not being truthful?

what excuse you give him is irrelevant. In fact, if you don't want to give him a reason, don't but you do have to follow the law in terminating his lease (even if it is not a written lease, it is still a lease).

You have to give him proper notice. Then, if he does not leave by that time, you will have to evict him through the courts. If he owes you money, that could allow you to give a short notice (most states have a 3 or 5 day pay or quit but haven't checked for specifics for your state) to pay or quit and if he fails to pay or leave, start eviction proceedings.

failure to follow the laws in terminating his tenancy could cause you a lot of problems.

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Quoting jk

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what excuse you give him is irrelevant. In fact, if you don't want to give him a reason, don't but you do have to follow the law in terminating his lease (even if it is not a written lease, it is still a lease).

You have to give him proper notice. Then, if he does not leave by that time, you will have to evict him through the courts. If he owes you money, that could allow you to give a short notice (most states have a 3 or 5 day pay or quit but haven't checked for specifics for your state) to pay or quit and if he fails to pay or leave, start eviction proceedings.

failure to follow the laws in terminating his tenancy could cause you a lot of problems.

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This is exactly why I posted it here, heh. I want to make sure I'm doing things fairly and legally.

I plan on giving him at least 20 days to a month. Telling him to be out by the end of the week would be insanely unfair (and illegal)

I doubt I'll have to evict him. Though is that even how it works when there is no contract signed? Or is everything entailed with the month-to-month document legally implied when money is exchanged for a room in a house?

Personally, I just want to be fair, reasonable, and make sure that he isn't screwed over, because he's not a bad guy, he just isn't the type of person I want in my house. By lying, I might at least avoid some modicum of conflict, though I also don't know what he'd do if he found out I was lying.

an oral contract is as enforceable as a written contract. You have a month to month contract because that is the period the payments cover.

here ya go:

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(1)(a) When premises are rented for an indefinite time, with monthly or other periodic rent reserved, such tenancy shall be construed to be a tenancy from month to month, or from period to period on which rent is payable, and shall be terminated by written notice of twenty days or more, preceding the end of any of the months or periods of tenancy, given by either party to the other.

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that means you have to give notice no later than the 11 of March for him to be out by the end of March. It appears you do not get to do a mid month split, unless of course he would agree to it.

take notice: notice must be in writing.

If you can find a standard form notice to quit for your state, it's typically better to use the form than to devise your own. Standardized forms should include provisions and present information in a manner that may be prescribed by statute, that you might not be aware of in making your own. Keep a copy for your records - and for filing with the court, should it become necessary to proceed with an eviction.

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Quoting jk

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an oral contract is as enforceable as a written contract. You have a month to month contract because that is the period the payments cover.

here ya go:



that means you have to give notice no later than the 11 of March for him to be out by the end of March. It appears you do not get to do a mid month split, unless of course he would agree to it.

take notice: notice must be in writing.

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Sweet, thanks for the clarification!

I'll be sure to keep documentation (thankfully did that when my last sleazeball landlord decided to give us $37 from the $1600 deposit on a house that we left in better condition than it was when we moved in, cost us more to initiate the small claims suit than he gave us in deposit money, heh) but as I said before, I doubt I'll have to evict him. I am just extremely non-confrontational, and that's the kind of house I want to be in, and how I want to handle the situation. I'm just tired of him coming in and bugging me for five minutes repeatedly while I'm in my room, with the door closed, watching t.v. with my girlfriend on the bed, just so he can show me the dog hair on his sweater, then a tub of expired protein supplement and tell me about how he wants to get "jacked," and then a box of old CD-rom's and ask me about them and if they'll work with his ancient computer, etc. At this point I'm not even nice, which is extremely uncharacteristic of me, and I just don't think it's fair to him or myself.

This is what I came up with for a document. Does it check out okay?

NOTICE TO TERMINATE TENANCY

TO: John Doe
OCCUPYING THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT:

123 fake street

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that your tenancy of the premises is terminated on March 1, 2012-
and on that day you will be required to surrender possession of the premises to the Leaseholder.


DATED: _____________________

except you cannot terminate his tenancy March 1. That is 3 days away. You have to give him at least 20 days before the end of the month you wish to end his tenancy. The soonest you could demand he be out is Apr 1 and you have to give the notice no later than March 11.