Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California
Trying to evict someone who is living on property
A year and 7 months ago I let a friend move himself and his animals onto my small ranch in California (2.5 acres) the agreement was that he was going to live there temporarily till he could find another place. Well it�s now over a year and a half later and he has not moved. He has mostly taken over my horse area. I was going to evict him about 6 months ago. I had a paper that I had printed off of the internet that was an eviction notice. I showed it to him and he essentially threatened me. He said that if I served him the letter that he would fight it in court and do everything he could to stay there. Including taking me to court over other things.. For example, one of my kids flattened his tire on his horse trailer; he said he would take me to court for the damages. This is all just to keep me from evicting him. Because he knows that I work full time. He has time to go to court, I do not. I don�t have money for a lawyer to go to court for me either. The kicker is that he is not even living there legally. I am not allowed to have anyone living in a trailer on my property. What can I do to get him out?
4 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Trying to evict someone who is living on property
Eviction attorneys are surprisingly inexpensive and you will save yourself a lot of frustration by hiring a lawyer. Call the lawyer referral service for your local county bar association and ask for referral to an eviction attorney. Many lawyers handle these types of cases on a flat fee basis that is very reasonable.
Re: Trying to evict someone who is living on property
You MUST commence a civil action to remove the tenant. If you don't do this, his adverse possession may lead to more difficult legal issues. You can not let this person threaten you with counter-actions or anything else. An experienced attorney can easily deal with noxious tenants. I handle all types of evictions and, depending on where you're located, I will be happy to quote you a flat fee for services related to the eviction. I can also provide payment options to accommodate your financial concerns. Good luck.
Re: Trying to evict someone who is living on property
From the facts given, this person at issue would be legally deemed a tenant, and consequently, you would need to file an unlawful detainer suit against him ASAP, regardless of his "threats". If you do not do this, you subject yourself to the ultimate possiblity of him acquiring the land at issue legally under what is called adverse possession. Meaning, he will become an owner of this property if you fail to take action. This is far worse than him threatening or actually taking you to small claims court over a flat tire repair, since land ownership is involved. So, your best option here would be to retain counsel to try to resolve this matter out of court directly with the tenant at issue and/or assist you with filing an unlawful detainer action immediately. Your attorney can also help you with any small claims court threats or actions this immoral person may try to retaliate with. For a free consultation, contact us directly.
Re: Trying to evict someone who is living on property
My office only charges $125 + costs for an uncontested eviction. You should pay about the same anywhere. Since you are going to pay all the other fees anyways, why not have an attorney do it for just over $100?
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