Manchester, TN asked in Landlord - Tenant for North Carolina

Q: My stepson turned 18 in April. How do we go about evicting.

He pays his car insurance until this month and partially pays his cellphone.

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1 Lawyer Answer
Amanda Bowden Johnson
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Answered
  • Jacksonville, NC
  • Licensed in North Carolina

A: Unless he has a valid lease with you, if you tell him to leave and he does not, he is likely committing the crime of trespass. For that, you simply call local law enforcement and they should come arrest him and remove him from the property. However, law enforcement typically does not like to get involved in domestic situations like this so if you call them they could very well tell you that because of the family relationship, they can not determine if there is a valid lease or not and refuse to do anything citing that it is a civil issue and that you would need to evict him the way you would a tenant. One way around this, is to go to your local magistrates office, explain the situation to the magistrate and see if the magistrate is willing to issue a warrant for trespsss. If so, law enforcement will come and execute the warrant and you will not have to be embarrassed by officers coming to your house only to tell you that they refuse to enforce the law. If the magistrate refuses to issue a warrant you will need to evict him. To properly do that, you would likely need to contact a local attorney. Best of luck.

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