How to Get Former Occupants to Remove Property After Taking Ownership of a House

[cmmarie]

My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: North Carolina (sorry, don't choose this state willingly)

My husband's grandmother decided to deed us a house and it was recorded on public records as official starting on 6/19 of this year.
The house was trashed by her daughter for twenty plus years that decided to abandon the property and left it unsafe to live in and cluttered. She is finally in NC from another state after weeks of contacting her to get her things left behind.

My father in law also kept personal items on the property and in the house for over thirty years with no lease agreement previously to store the items and never lived there since he was a kid, to the point its taken up an entire carport and basement filled with his junk. We told him via phone when we were deeded the house that he needed to make arrangements to get his stuff out asap. Apparently he didn't take us seriously, and when we called Friday, he ignored us. Called today and left a message saying he had 15 days to get his items out, or we would remove them.

He called us back very quickly saying that we couldn't touch his stuff, but he refuses to get his items out and is now saying he is going to sue us and that we should hear from his attorney this week and if we remove the property he will press charges for theft. He actually said he thought he could keep it as long as he wanted on the property even though we had told him from the start it needed gone.

What options do I have here? Aside from the personal stuff of this is a crap move to do to someone, especially "family," he has no lease and he had been made clear from the start of the house belonging to us, he was not welcome to keep his stuff there and needed to make arrangements. When he failed to do so, we placed a date on him to get it out and now is saying that he can keep his stuff there as long as he likes and a judge will make it legal. Do I evict when he's never lived there or do I go on an abandoned property thing here? 30 years and never bothered to get his stuff, not even to use it, but now that I am demanding that it needs out, he insists that it's still his property and he has all rights to keep it FOR FREE with NO LEASE AGREEMENT in my house?

Sending certified, notarized mail saying he has until the 15th to get his stuff out, plus a notarized letter via regular USPS mail at 0800 this morning, calling lawyer as well, but could really use some other opinions to make sure I'm not paying for a long legal battle for something that is not worth my time.

We decided that due to his sister trashing the house, we have to sell it ASAP via an investor because we can't keep up the house and our rental at the same time financially. Could this mess from my father-in-law actually stop the sale to an investor?
HELP!!!

[llworking]

You need to get an attorney to send him a formal letter saying that he has to get his stuff out by a certain date. No judge is going to make orders that he can keep his belongings in someone else's property.

However, what was grandma's intention when she deeded the property to you? Did she know that you were going to sell it or was she expecting you to live in it?

[Mr. Knowitall]

If there is a plausible case that the father-in-law is a tenant, paying rent, then summary ejectment proceedings can be followed to remove him. But it sounds like he was not a tenant and never paid rent or made contributions that a court would regard as a form of rent, in which case North Carolina's ejectment laws do not apply and (now that he is no longer welcome on the property) he would normally need to be removed as a trespasser. It would make sense to consult a lawyer to discuss the details and your options.

[adjusterjack]

Yeah, either way, you will need a lawyer and probably a court order allowing you to dispose of his stuff.

Looks like Granny didn't want to deal with it and palmed it off on you.

[cmmarie]

I was going to ask why was it necessary if my grandmother knew if it was to be lived in or not when deeded to me? Honestly she didn't care either way, but I ask to see what does that make of my case now.
Grandmother is in her late 80's in a nursing home three hours away, there's no way she could take care of it.
I did do a certified letter stating for him to come get his stuff or we would pursue an eviction against him. He never paid rent in 30 years to that place, and certainly hasn't done it to us.
I'm ready to just sell to a buyer that has given me a cash offer on it if I decide to take it and we close in 30 days. I just want to make sure I'm not going to get screwed trying to sell the place if he refuses to get his crap out.
His hoarding issues and using my property as an extension of it is not something I should have to put up with. I want to make sure I can sell this nightmare house without more hassle and if he refuses to remove his property, then its the new buyer's nightmare. (which they are aware of and said they'd just put in a dumpster if he refuses to get it in 24 hours)
Family can be the worst legal nightmares to deal with right?
Thanks for you guys help!

[budwad]

Did your grandmother ever loan this guy money that was repaid or not?

[cmmarie]

No, she never loaned him money. Why is that pertinent to this situation? He shoved a ton of stuff in the house when she decided to move to a condo and she never forced him out. Now that I own the property, I told him since day one we want him out.

[budwad]

No, she never loaned him money. Why is that pertinent to this situation?

I have read cases where the owner of property that was disposed of (such as in your case) claimed it was security for a loan and therefore, should not have been disposed of even when it wasn't true.

[cmmarie]

Ah ok. Makes sense now. He is pushing a full on lawsuit (he's threatening) and is demanding that we send his attorney our buyers information. We are refusing and sending one more demand for him to remove his items before the sale of the house. Its under contract and slated to sell in two weeks. The buyer is fully aware of the situation and doesn't feel that we should be concerned. (investor group, I'm taking a huge loss in value, but the daughter did 50k worth of damage to the place and its not worth our time fixing it) They already said once they buy the house, they are tossing all his stuff in the trash, we have given him ample notice and time to get his things out since there never was an agreement between us to keep his items in the house anyways.
I'm telling you, family is the worst to deal with legally. Never will we take any family property ever again. Not worth the nightmare.