Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

Evicting a no longer welcome guest/non-paying occupant

I am the owner of my home in SouthEastern Virginia, I invited my girlfriend and her 2 kids into my home to live with me, as they were experiencing financial hardships, on or about April 2006. The relationship since that time has been a roller-coaster, they have left on their own or been moved out at least three times during that time and have only been back this last time since about Jul 2007. They have never been under any lease/contract or formal written tenant agreements and they don't pay any rents or bills related to the home. Now that the relationship is finally over, the atmosphere inside my home is very volatile, I feel I�m being held hostage with no communication on when they will leave. I want to know what form of formal written notice must I present to my no longer welcome guest/non-paying occupants in order to request they vacate my residence? How do I have it officially administered by a local Sheriff? Can I simply file an eviction action/Unlawful detainer through the courts? What grounds would I state for wanting them to leave since the Unlawful detainer basically relates to rents owed or money due? Do I have to give them 30 days; or a minimum? Where do I acq. the proper documents? What am I bound by legally


Asked on 1/09/08, 11:29 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: Evicting a no longer welcome guest/non-paying occupant

This question has already been addressed, and you should not have to file a formal unlawful detainer action in the general district court against these unlawful occupiers since these people who were no more than invitees and now, perhaps, are likely no more than "squatters/ trespassers", legally speaking, and currently have no legal claim of right to be there on your property as tenants or otherwise once you've told them to leave. Consequently, as I've already told you, after telling them to leave and they refuse to do so, you could also simply remove all of their property to the street curb and change the locks on the doors, if necessary. And then call the cops if they attempt to enter.

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Answered on 1/09/08, 12:44 pm


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