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Sat 29 Mar, 2014 04:41 pm
I have a friend who I've known since October. About 2 months ago he moved in on the couch for an unspecified amount of time (paying a bit of rent). It's necessary for him to move out asap even though he has nowhere to go. I'm giving him 30 days notice and as his "landlord" am legally required to do it in writing. If I only give verbal notice there's an off chance that, at the last minute, he will ignore it and refuse to move out (I don't know him all that well). Then I will have to wait 30 more days.
So I've looked up a written legal notice template. It sounds kind of harsh and unfriendly. I would appreciate some advice. Do you think I should give him this notice or be friendlier and risk it by doing it verbally instead? As a friend, would you be upset if I gave it to you instead of doing it verbally? This is what's on the document:
TO: ___xxxxx____
You are hereby notified that your tenancy of the following premises, to-wit: ____xxxxxx_______
situated in the City of Chicago, in the County of Cook, and State of Illinois, will terminate on the __5th_ day of _May_, _2014_ and you are now hereby required to surrender possession of said premises to the undersigned on that day.
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this ______day of ________, 20_____
__________________________________
Landlord
STATE OF ILLINOIS, SS. AFFIDAVIT OF SERVICE -- When served by a person not an officer
County of Cook
I, __xxxxx____, being duly sworn, on oath deposes and says that on the
_____day of ___________, 20____ he served the within notice by delivering a copy thereof to the within named tenant, _____xxxxxx_______
Subscribed and sworn to before me
this _________day of ________, 20______.
___________________________________
Notary Public
Did you have a WRITTEN lease? If not, then he was couch surfing, and you have just been a temporary stop. Tell him you are having lots of family company and he MUST get out by next week.
However, I have heard that IF they get mail at an address, then an eviction notice is needed.
@PUNKEY,
No. I've been to legal forums about this and researched the Illinois law. In Illinois at least, I'm required to give him notice despite him not being on the lease.
@Tenmakk,
Michigan, we have to give a Notice To Quit (that simply tells them they are being evicted) and then a served Eviction Notice (which gives the court date) and then a judgement is made by the court. I doubt if you will have to go through all those steps.
Maybe your friend needs some help to get into a shelter situation so he can get stabilized. Is he depressed, substance abuser?
No, everything is good with him. I think he may be able to temporarily move in with his brother. He does have a job (which he would lose if he had to move out, but he definitely does need to move out). I'm just worried about his feelings and our friendship. If this notice would ruin or hurt our friendship, I may just decide to start out with verbal notice, but I'm just wondering if giving this document to him is kind of a harsh thing to do to a friend. Or if maybe it isn't. That's what I'm concerned about.
@Tenmakk,
Laws differ from state to state so recognize that.
If Illinois law requires this, then do it. It isn't nasty to exercise your rights. It's just you exercising your rights.
And next time, be a bit more formal when someone needs to stay on your couch for more than, say, a week. If it's couch surfing he's doing, there are sites for that - and get on them and go through their procedures and forms and make them the bad guy if he (or whatever mythological future couch surfer knocking on your door) balks.
Protect yourself. Landlord/tenant and tenant/subtenant cases are a pain in the patoot for everyone. Cross the t's and dot the i's.
@PUNKEY,
PUNKEY wrote:
Did you have a WRITTEN lease? If not, then he was couch surfing, and you have just been a temporary stop. Tell him you are having lots of family company and he MUST get out by next week.
However, I have heard that IF they get mail at an address, then an eviction notice is needed.
No I wouldn't make up an excuse to get him out. He might think he can come back after the family are gone.
If you like this person, I would do it verbally. I know it sucks, it's awkward and not very friendly. But there are ways of handling it where both people are respectful. But handing a piece of paper over that says you have 30 days to get out, is cold, shows that you really don't have any respect to face him directly.
Get up the nerve. If you have to practice going over the points you want to make in your head so you don't get unnerved during the actual conversation.
See the point is, you have reasons for wanting to give him notice right? You don't think he is trying to make arrangements or better himself right? Or that he isn't living up to his agreement with you? ect.. examine the reasons why you want him out. There is always a nice way of explaining this to him.
It sucks, it isn't fun but it's what you should do.. good luck with it.
@Tenmakk,
"I'm sorry to say, you must completely move out before the day after tomorrow. I can't put this up for discussion, you must leave now, and that's all I can say about it." Repeat as often as necessary.
The first chance you get after midnight the next day, change the locks.
Anything he leaves behind - you fold, pack, stack, and leave outside protected by no more than a tarp (if necessary).
I recommend you do not say anything that isn't fully supportable; actually, the less said the better. If he
is a friend, he will comply. If he refuses to comply, he's
not your friend and act accordingly. Give him your regrets - all of them, (to make sure you don't have any).
Good luck!
Not knowing anything about the way your laws work over there, I am loathe to give legal advice, but if it were here (UK), I would avoid giving him a written notice, because it basically formalises the arrangement and gives him a form of evidence to possibly demonstrate that he was indeed a formal tenant in some way, rather than someone who was passing through and needing a temporary pillow.
Be straight and be precise, so there is no confusion. If he ends the friendship because of this, then I say that it was a one way friendship anyway, and therefore no loss.
You then learn by it and move on....
@Tenmakk,
Why don't you re-word that form, which is chock-full of fancy and formal legal-speak, and restate it in normal, less-formal language, which conveys the same unambiguous meaning? (e.g., change "
undersigned" to "
me".) Just make it a letter, addressed to him, telling that he must move out, and the date he must move out. Date your signature. You probably can eliminate the jurat at the bottom. Keep a photocopy of the letter, and make a handwritten notation in the corner of your copy of the date you gave him the letter, and sign/initial that notation. Should work.
@Tenmakk,
I would serve him this notice, in writing, as Illinois law requires. If its language sounds too harsh to you and you want to take some of the harshness out of the situation, say some friendly words when you hand him the eviction notice.
Saying these conciliatory words would be something you can do verbally. The legally-required notice is not.
@Ticomaya,
That is a good idea to soften the language. I'll reword it and see how it sounds.
@Tenmakk,
I'm curious.
Why would he have to lose his job if he had to move?
No buses in the area?
@chai2,
I believe he would have to stay with his brother temporarily which is a suburb 50 miles away.
@Jack of Hearts,
Under Illinois law, I am his landlord and he is my tenant.
I would tell him verbally that he has one week to get out. if he did not get out on time i would then write the paper up and once he was finally gone never speak to him again.
@Tenmakk,
Tenmakk wrote:
Under Illinois law, I am his landlord and he is my tenant.
that only matters if he insists upon his legal rights in that nutty state. If he does then he is out of my life if this were me.
@Tenmakk,
Just out of curiosity, why do you need him out?
@hawkeye10,
Just having him here distracts me regarding my classes, and it's important that I stay focused. Although I want to keep his friendship, school is a priority, and this situation is not working.
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