Q: What tenant rights does my ex wife have or her roommates have after I buy her out?
My ex wife is living in the family home and reimbursing me for the mortgage. She has two roommates that have been there for over a year. One pays weekly rent. The other may be some kind of trade. I don’t think there is a formal rental agreement either.
I am planning on buying her out in the coming months (as she couldn’t make that happen) and plan to move back. But I need the roommates out and I need her out so I can move back and reclaim my property.
But I am concerned about them potentially squatting or generally taking their own time to go. If it comes to that, do they have any right to do so? What options do I have to remove them? Is a no fault eviction for all three of them appropriate and am I exempt from paying relocation fees?
A: Your concerns are likely justified. If she is a part owner, she is not a tenant and has no tenant rights (at unless you give them to her by allowing her to stay past the statutory period. The others sound to be valid tenants - but whose? If you co-own the house, then yes you already are a landlord and may be financially liable for whatever she does. And depending on the details, you (and she) might owe relocation assistance payments. One course of action for you might be to make her getting rid of the tenants as a condition of your buying her out. She created the mess, make her at least share in having to clean it up.
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