Legal advice about property....can anyone help? (1 Viewer)

[Guest]

Well here is the situation.
My grandfather wants to sell me 3 acres. The catch is my uncle is living on this property rent free. He is suppose to pay rent and has on and off in the past, but he hasn't in a while. My grandfather even pays the property taxes.
Question is if I buy this property what kind of rights do I have for evicting him? Is it best for him to be evicted before we purchase? My grandfather just doesn't want to deal with him. He can be a very nasty person sometimes.

What is the best way to handle this?

 

[Guest]

You better get a lawyer. Sound like your Uncle will be one tough cookie to deal with. Of course most people they live rent free are.

 

[Guest]

Can anyone recommend a good trustworthy person?

 

[aggie4231]

disclaimer, i have no knowledge of the laws, this is just common sense.

you can do whatever you want. just give your uncle a reasonable amount of time to be off the property. if it is your grandfather's and he is paying taxes, and then sells it to you, then you can do what ever you want with the land. is there a written agreement between your uncle and grandfather. if their is one, and in it states that he is to pay rent, and your grandfather can prove that he isn't paying, then your grandfather can legally evict your uncle.

 

[BayAreaAquarium]

actually justin that's not correct. regardless of who's property it is you can not just evict someone even if you give that person a "reasonable amount of time". when you stated milo that your uncle stays there off and on. what determines domiscile is whether or not the person has personal items there and and also pays bills for that location and also has access to the property.

there is not just one thing that establishs this but a combination of things. i have a house that i have tenants in...if they don't pay rent for 3 months i can't just go into the house and change the locks (eventhough i own it and i have the right to enter the house). if i were to go and change the locks to prevent that person from entering the tenants can bring me up on charges for that.

here is the best thing to do. make sure that you uncle has no personal property in the house (but don't remove it yourself). if he hasn't been there in a while and he doesn't have personal items then you can change the locks. at which point he has no claim to the property. but, again if you do it with his items in there then your going to get in trouble.

if you would like to evict...that is very simple. go to the local constables office and request for an eviction notice. your also going to have to go to the county (justice of the peace office) and fill for a court date. you may or may not have to go infront of the JP depending on what the tenant does. the constable will post something on the front door showing the eviction and allow for the person to respond if not then it's going to be very easy...if the response is given then your going to have to go infront of the JP and tell him/her.

i wouldn't suggest that you get an attorney b/c it's going to cost you several thousands of dollars for something that land lords have to go through all the time.

 

[Guest]

Well he does "live" on the property. There is an old run down trailer on the property that I am going to have hauled off. He lives in this trailer. As far as paying bills, my grandfather was paying for his electricity and phone bill. I know he stopped paying the phone, but I am not sure if he is still paying the electricity. I figured there is legalities here that is why I asked. I did email Richard Alderman (the People's Lawyer) and he said that I should just have an eviction notice sent from the JP.
So I figure we will tell him we are in the process of buying the property and tell him he has 30-60 days or whatever to find another place to live. If he doesn't then I get my grandfather to file the eviction notice before we actually "buy" the property. That way he is off before anything happens.
How does that sound?

 

[BayAreaAquarium]

that sounds right to me. if you talk to him first he might just leave on his own. and if he doesn't then you can take the legal action. but again an attorney doesn't need to be involved. just go to the JP's office and file if it comes to that. the one thing is that if your uncle has a lease agreement saying that he can be there then that is going to be a problem for you...but i'm going to assume that he doesn't have that.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Minh!
No he doesn't have any type of contract at all. He is just living there, basically a FREELOADER.
My grandfather is visiting with his Lawyer today (that does his will) and he is going to ask what the best way is to handle it and then we will go from there I believe.

 

[BayAreaAquarium]

good luck. hopefully your uncle isn't going to but up any kind of a fight. regardless the actions that you guys should take are easy...really easy without a lease contract.