Evicting an Unwanted House Guest

Michael Rotondo is 30 years old, and he still lives with mum and dad. He doesn’t contribute to household expenses, doesn’t help with household chores and doesn’t have a job. His long suffering parents eventually had enough and sought the help of the court to get him to move out of their home in New York.

His parents told the court they had offered Mr Rotondo $1,100 to help him move out, and sent him numerous letters asking him to leave, to no avail.

On 22 May 2018, the Supreme Court of New York State ordered his eviction, despite Mr Rotondo’s reported “outrage” and claims that he was at no point a burden to his parents, who he said were “bad people”.

After a 30 minute argument with the judge, during which Mr Rotondo refused to have a direct conversation with his parents, Mr Rotondo was ordered to leave the house where he had been living without paying rent for 8 years.

The story has stretched worldwide and Mark Cummings, partner at Samuels Solicitors LLP gives his view about what would happen if a similar issue was presented in England. Mark says: “This is clearly an unusual case, but the usual landlord and tenant rules would apply here in this country. If there is not a tenancy agreement then the tenant is a squatter. If the tenant refuses to vacate the property after a 2 month warning, the tenant can be forcibly evicted, with the assistance of the court”.

At Samuels, we have a specialism is helping with both landlord and tenant issues. We have assisted many landlords with problematic tenants, and we regularly help tenants with difficult landlords. 

For a free initial discussion about how we can help, contact us today. 

Credit: Cassius Lay