Roommates can be beneficial in helping pay expenses and assisting with household chores and duties. However, if your roommate's actions begin to cause you difficulty and you cannot resolve the issue through negotiations or compromise, you may need to know how to evict a roommate. Although evicting a roommate should be a last resort, there are cases when it becomes necessary. If your roommate has become abusive, violent, stopped paying rent or utilities, or engaged in criminal activity, eviction may be the only solution to protect yourself.

Check Your Lease

Before taking action, carefully review your lease to understand your rights and obligations. Terms for eviction will always be outlined in the lease. Depending on your situation, you’ll have different options:

• If you’re the landlord and your roommate is a tenant, you are in a better position.
• If you’re co-tenants, your roommate’s lease violations could also jeopardize your tenancy.
• If your roommate isn’t on the lease, and you allowed them to move in without the landlord's permission, your situation is more precarious.
• If you’re not on the lease but your roommate is, you likely have limited options for eviction.

What Constitutes Cause for Evicting Your Roommate?

Often times, you can’t just evict a roommate because you don’t like the person anymore. You have to actually have a legal cause that is covered in the lease agreement that the person signed. If there was no lease agreement, then you need to have sufficient legal cause to evict the person. Causes might include:

• Your roommate is no longer paying rent under the terms of the lease.
• Your roommate has been engaging in illegal activities at your home. This could include drugs or violence.
• Your roommate has caused damage to your home and has not taken action to fix it.
• Your roommate has broken other terms spelled out in the lease agreement and has taken no action to fix the problem.

Speak to Your Roommate

After you’ve taken a good look at your lease and know you’re position, you should talk to your roommate about him or her leaving. Most rational people will respond to this approach and leave, if they can. If you initiate eviction without talking to your roommate first, you’ll likely upset them and they might dig in just to spite you.

• Ask your roommate to talk. At an opportune and calm moment tell them you have "something serious to talk about."
• Instead of telling them you'd like them to get leave, explain to them your feelings and your position. Tell them that whatever they've done or is doing has put you in an "uncomfortable position" and that you are unhappy.
• Avoid accusations and talk in terms of your feelings. Never make unsubstantiated charges.
• Be polite and do not insult them. Tell them you'd really appreciate it if they would respect your position and help you remedy the situation. And explain to them that vacating them would be better for both of you. Talk in terms of a "mutual benefit."

Write an Eviction Letter

Write an eviction letter if you've chosen to go through with the eviction on your own. Put together an eviction letter to formally give notice to your roommate to vacate the property. This letter will serve as a legal and official representation of your intent. There are several things your eviction notice must say:

• It should include the grounds for eviction and specific lease violations.
• It should outline the amount of time your roommate has to leave. This is typically 30 days depending on the laws of your city or state.
• The eviction notice must include your name and the roommate's name.
• The eviction notice must include the address of the home and a room description he or she used (i.e. "2nd bedroom on right, 2nd floor").
• It should include the date the notice was given and the date the roommate is to be out of the house.

Serve the Eviction Notice

As a landlord, you’ll now have to serve your roommate with the eviction notice. This means you’ll present the eviction notice to them. Depending on the local laws, you can do this in several ways. They might include:

• Hand the notice to your roommate.
• Post the notice on your front door or on your roommate’s door.
• Send your roommate the notice via certified mail.
• Some states may require hand delivery of the eviction notice and that you get a written acknowledgment that the roommate has received it. Check your local jurisdictions before serving the notice.

Never Overstep Your Authority as a Roommate or Landlord

All tenants of a residence, whether they are on the lease or are not, are afforded some rights. Most jurisdictions protect people from being thrown out of their residence or being denied use of their residence without proper review by the judicial system. In many cases there are a number of things you should not do:

• Don’t change the locks. While it might seem like a good idea to simply change the locks, there is a good chance that this will be interpreted by the law as an illegal activity.
• Don’t mess with their stuff. You might be tempted to just throw all of your roommate’s stuff into the street. Don’t do this. It’s illegal in many jurisdictions.
• Don’t turn off the utilities. You may want to try to force them out by turning the power and water off. In many jurisdictions this is illegal.
• If you are in doubt about what you should not do, consult local laws and regulations and/or call an attorney.

Important Notice

• It is also possible to enlist the services of an eviction company. These companies handle all aspects of roommate eviction, including the eviction notice and removal of the personal belongings on the day of the eviction.
• If your roommate causes any damage to the home between the time he or she is served the eviction notice and the day he or she is to leave, be sure to record the damage with photos or videos so you have indisputable proof.
• If your roommate becomes violent, you may be able to speed up the eviction of your roommate. Contact the police and file a report any time your roommate damages property or becomes confrontational. This will create a record that you can take to the courts to speed up the eviction process.