English
EspañolV wants A out of home (UNMARRIED, V is sole owner of home)
Although I cannot provide advice on your specific situation, I wanted to provide some general information on what options a person may have for getting an abusive partner to leave a home that both parties live in. First, if a person qualifies for an order of protection, s/he may be able to apply for one and ask that the abuser be removed from the home and that he/she stay away from the victim, i.e., the person remaining in the home. Depending on the facts of the case, a judge will make a decision as to whether or not this should happen. Here is a link that explains restraining orders in more detail in your state: LINK
Another possibility for getting someone out of a home may be through the housing court system. If someone is the sole owner of a home in which both people are living, s/he may be able to take the other person to housing court to evict him/her. However, even if the other person is not listed as a tenant on a lease, s/he may be considered to have tenancy rights if s/he was paying money to live in the home and/or acted as a “tenant” in other ways. If someone is not considered to be a tenant but rather was staying in the home with the consent of the owner, the person living in the home may be considered a “licensee” - which means that the person was invited (given “license”) to live in the home by the owner. When an owner wants the other person out, it’s as if s/he is revoking (terminating) the “license” to live in the home. In these situations, the eviction procedures may be slightly different than those for evicting a paying tenant. You may want to get legal advice from an attorney to figure out exactly how the law in your state would consider the legal relationship between you and the person who you want out of your home and the proper eviction procedure. Alternatively, the court clerk may be able to direct you to the appropriate forms.
I also wanted to mention that although I am not specifically familiar with your state’s housing laws, generally, in most states, a person cannot just “kick out” another person and change the locks once that person has lived in a location for more than a certain amount of time. If someone locks another person out, depending on the state’s laws, s/he could face criminal and/or civil penalties for “illegal eviction.”
Since it may help you to contact an attorney, here is a link to lawyers, some of which may be free or low-cost if you qualify: LINK
Anyone who is trying to remove an abusive person from the home may want to make certain to consider his/her safety. If you may want help to think through how to try to accomplish your goal in a way that allows you to try to stay safe, you may want to connect with a local domestic violence advocate - here is a link for local organizations in STATE that help victims: LINK
Here, too, is some information on safety planning: LINK
