Room mate night mare

[Julian Buick]

I have a friend that has a roommate. At first she got along great with him, in fact maybe got along too well. As you can imagine things have not worked out well and she would like to get rid of him. He has stopped paying rent and refuses to leave. What recourse does she have? I’m assuming there was never a lease agreement or anything like that. Since it’s her house and there is no contract can she just throw him out or does he have some kind of squatters rights or something? This is in Savannah, Georgia. Thanks in advance for any advice. 

[Gail K.]

And now for the legally correct answer...

Since he has stopped paying rent (and they have, I'm assuming, an agreement where he has paid rent in the past), she provides him with a 3 Day Pay or Quit notice IF her goal is to obtain rent from him.   If he does not remedy the situation within that time period, she marches her self down to her local Clerk of Court office on the 4th day and files for what is known in Georgia as a dispossessory affidavit (our version of an eviction).

IF her goal is to simply get rid of him and there is no written lease between the two of them, he is considered to have a "tenancy at will" in Georgia (i.e., a month to month tenancy).  As his landlord she must present him with a 60 day...NOT a 30 day...notice terminating this type of tenancy.   If he remains in the rental unit after this time period, then she files for the dispossessory as above citing he is now a "holdover" tenant.

The other option she might consider is a "cash for keys" deal where she simply pays him some money to go away.

Gail