Eviction

questions & answers

Question: I told my roommate that she has too much to of the house because she is smoking marijuana and I have kids inside of my house does she still have to pay rent for those 3 months that she still staying in the house

Answer: It is unclear if you are the landlord or a co-tenant of your roommate. Either way, the answer to your question will depend in large part on whether your rental agreement specifies that your roommate should have access to all the common (shared) areas of the house. If your roommate is supposed to be able to use and enjoy parts of the house to which you have decided to limit her access, and your roommate never agreed before her tenancy began that she would not smoke inside the house and/or possess and use illicit drugs on the premises, then your decision to limit her access to parts of the house may give her a couple of options. If you are the landlord, she might claim that you are “constructively evicting” her by limiting her access to parts of the house in violation of your rental agreement. She might ask for a reduction of her rent in proportion to the diminished value of her living arrangement. Depending on how much of the house she can no longer access, she might even successfully argue that she should be able to move out without penalty. However, unless she moves out, she will need to continue paying rent; the only question may concern whether or not she should be able to pay a bit less for the next three months. Whether you are the landlord or a co-tenant of your roommate, if you believe that her smoking is posing a threat to the health and safety of you and/or your children, you would be within your rights to ask her to stop or at least limit her smoking to (for example) her bedroom or one other ventilated room or somewhere outdoors. The best course of action for both you and your roommate would be to try to come up with a mutually satisfactory arrangement.