Expert: Sylvia Bergthold - 12/5/2006

Question
I went to court to get rid of a parasitic roommate that was not on the lease.  The court gave her a date to leave.   After waiting the three months that the court gave her to find a place, the roommate went to court to get an extension on the day she was to leave. She got and order to show cause, claiming that her apartment was not ready and that their was renovations to be made as well as lead abatement. The girl is filthy, does not respect anyone, and does noting but entertains her houseguests and disturbs other working tenants.  Furthermore, she's causing me a lot of expense.  This was the biggest mistake of my life.  I will to go to court to fight this extension.  Can you give me some suggestion of how I can get her out quicker?  

Answer
Hi Shawn

What a nightmare.  How about getting written statements from all your neighbors regarding her behavior? How about taking pictures of the messes she leaves?  How about taking pictures of all her "guests" that she entertains on your dime?

And why did it take three months? Especially if she was not on the lease? Why did the court give her three months? And yes, I definitely would fight this "extension".  Tell the court you cannot afford to have this roommate living with you.  

Aside from that I haven't a clue. What state do you live in? Did you originally have an eviction service do the paperwork? And if you did, I would assume her name has been added to the "flake" database that all landlords use when renting apartments. Her credit report should show this eviction.   

Having roommates Shawn is a business okay?  And it seems like this was NOT handled properly from the beginning. If you want to keep having roommates, please purchase my Roommate Survival Guide BEFORE you get your next roommate.

Good Luck.
Sincerely
Sylvia Bergthold
www.aroommatesurvivalguide.com