Q: As the owner of a home I live in, I have a roommate who's not paying their rent, what steps do I need to take to evict?

A: As long as they are supposed to pay rent, then you need to move forward immediately if you want to "cure" the problem. You have to legally serve them with a lawfully worded 72 Hr. Notice to pay their rent in full or get out. Do NOT accept partial payment of the rent or you will likely lose your right to evict until at least next month. Do NOT include any amount other than true rent owed in the 72 Hr. Notice demand - no late fees, utility bills, etc. IF they pay within the 72 hrs., great, all goes on as usual. If they do not, do not accept any rent after that and proceed to file in court. Once that happens, you will have the first court appearance within 7-14 days and, depending upon what happens at that first appearance, any trial would occur most likely within an additional 7-14 days. Do understand that a landlord must exactly comply with all the laws and procedures or risk having their eviction case tossed out of court and their owing the tenant's court costs and attorney's fees. So you may well be best served by at least reviewing everything with a local landlord-tenant attorney and probably by simply retaining him/her to handle the matter for you. It maximizes your chances of getting everything right the first time around and given that you can owe the tenant's attorney's fees if you do anything wrong, it can really save you money, time, and stress in the end. Plus it is likely the fastest way to actually get a non-paying tenant out so a new, rent-paying tenant can move in. Good luck.