Can I be forced to move out right now

candydeems · #1 12-06-2011, 10:16 AM

I have been with my boyfriend for 4 years now and we live in a house he purchased prior to our relationship. We also have a 3 year old son in the home. Recently he consulted counsel and was advised he can have the police remove me at any time from the home. Is this true?

aardvarc · #2 12-06-2011, 10:22 AM

Only if police have probable cause to arrest you for something, like domestic violence. Short of that, police will tell him that he needs to go to civil court and get an eviction order.

Once there is an eviction order in place, a sheriff's deputy (because sheriff's are officers of the court, while most city police are NOT), can forceibly remove you.

candydeems · #3 12-06-2011, 10:32 AM

Is it an eviction since I do not pay rent or anything? I am just so scared that he is going to try to have me removed without notice.

aardvarc · #4 12-06-2011, 11:03 AM

He can try. But he cannot LEGALLY evict you without the eviction process, which includes notice to you to appear in court to challenge the eviction. If there is no lease outling your rights as a tenant, then the "default" is that you're a month to month tenant, and he shouldn't have any problem getting an eviction with a 30 day notice to vacate, which would start counting down on the day the court issues the order. If you're still there after the order specifies, in violation, THEN you can expect to be forceably removed by law enforcement. If he doesn't understand how this process works, police will be able to explain it to him if he calls for this type of police service without a court order in his hand. Unless there is something ELSE going on, such as a criminal matter, they will wave goodbye and tell him to go GET one.

The down side is that just because something isn't lawful doesn't mean that someone won't DO it. He could skip the whole court process and simply change the locks and put your stuff out in the yard (this is a "do it yourself", unlawful eviction). At that point, it won't matter if the eviction was legal or not, you'll need to deal with the crisis at hand, and THEN you'll have grounds to sue him for wrongful eviction. The value of any law, whether civil or criminal, is the extent to which people are willing to obey it, and enforcing rights that are violated doesn't happen automatically, you would have to take the steps to sue him over such an eviction if it occurs. If you were married, the rights and responsibilities of both sides would be different, but if you are only living together, and are doing so without the legal protections of a lease, you have really left all the power in HIS hands to ask the court to treat you like a month to month tenant and boot you out - and to expect the court to order that since there is no legal agreement to the contrary.

The bottom line is that no, law enforcement isn't going to remove you under circumstance of eviction without an order from a judge. That doesn't mean your ex can't still attempt to "lock you out". If that happens, law enforcement won't be much help here either, because it's a CIVIL matter, not a criminal one. They can ASK him to let you in, but he can lawfully tell them "no" and there's really nothing for law enforcement to do at that point except tell you to sue him for unlawful eviction.

Either way, if he wants you out, he WILL get you out. It's just a question of how fast. Doing it the "right" way will take several weeks. Doing it the wrong way could happen by tomorrow. Start making plans.

moderator · #5 12-06-2011, 05:43 PM

I agree with aardvarc. Have you browsed through the information in LawInfo's Free Legal Resource Center to learn more about your issue yet? See: http://www.lawinfo.com/consumer.html and http://resources.lawinfo.com/en/index.html. You can certainly try to speak to a lawyer to determine what legal options may be available. In the meantime, you may be able to learn more on your own. Search the "Free Legal Resources" tab, or browse the Consumer Resources. Good luck.