Dear tmg39det,
The short answer is that the police are correct - until your
ex-girlfriend is lawfully evicted from your home, you can't simply
lock her out. Your legal solution lies with evicting her from your
home, as if she is a tenant.
The quitclaim deed, if properly executed and then filed with the
Register of Deeds, would resolve questions of title as to the home.
Assuming everything was done correctly, the quitclaim deed gives you
all interest your ex-girlfriend had in the property. While arguably a
quitclaim might also convey to you any leasehold interest in the
property, Michigan's law of tenancy complicates the issue of eviction.
Whether or not your girlfriend paid rent while she lived in the home,
there is no dispute that up to the point the quitclaim deed was
executed she had a right to live there. That being the case, even
though the quitclaim deed terminates her interest in the property, in
the eyes of the law she is in the position of a tenant who has
overstayed the end of a lease - sometimes called "a tenant at
sufferance".
Michigan does not permit self-help evictions. I am sorry that the
following process is somewhat cumbersome, but it is the means by which
you can evict your ex-girlfriend under Michigan law.
EVICTING YOUR EX
The procedure for evicting such a tenant is to serve the tenant with a
thirty day notice of termination of tenancy (A "Notice to Quit -
Termination of Tenancy"). That form is available on the Michigan State
Court Administrative Office (SCAO) website, in PDF format. An index of
landlord-tenant forms can be found at:
http://www.courts.michigan.gov/scao/courtforms/landlord-tenantlandcontract/ltlindex.htm
The specific form you would use is Form DC 100c:
http://www.courts.michigan.gov/scao/courtforms/landlord-tenantlandcontract/dc100c.pdf
These forms are also available at the local District Courthouse, which
is where you will be filing your eviction action. The address of the
District Court serving Roseville (the 39th District) is 29733 Gratiot
Ave., Roseville, 48066. There may be a small fee for each form you
need, but you will get the advantage of having carbonless multi-part
forms.
Given the circumstances, I would not suggest that you serve this on
your ex-girlfriend yourself, but have somebody else serve it for you.
Service can be made in person or by first class mail. If you have
somebody you know mail the notice to her, I suggest you choose
somebody who will be viewed by a court as "neutral" if she disputes
that she received the notice. If you wish to use a professional
process server, the District Court may be able to provide or recommend
a court officer who can provide service for a reasonable fee.
If your ex-girlfriend does not move by the end of the thirty day
period, you may file an eviction action at the District Court. The
forms you need to file the eviction action are also available through
the SCAO website, linked above, or at the courthouse as described
above. To proceed with a termination of tenancy you would need:
Form DC-102c: Complaint, Termination of Tenancy, Landlord-Tenant
http://www.courts.michigan.gov/scao/courtforms/landlord-tenantlandcontract/dc102c.pdf
Form DC-104: Summons, Landlord-Tenant/Land Contract
http://www.courts.michigan.gov/scao/courtforms/landlord-tenantlandcontract/dc104.pdf
When you file your action, you should ask the clerk if the court will
prepare a judgment for you if you secure an eviction. If the clerk
says you have to prepare your own judgment, you will also need:
Form DC-105: Judgment, Landlord-Tenant
http://www.courts.michigan.gov/scao/courtforms/landlord-tenantlandcontract/dc105.pdf
(If you have to prepare your own judgment, you will want to leave the
portion labeled "The Court Finds" blank for the judge to complete at
the end of any hearing. Keep track of the fees you pay the court, and
the fees you pay the process server - these are your "costs".)
In most cases, tenants will move out based upon the original "notice
to quit". If you are lucky, your ex-girlfriend may well move within
the thirty days. If she does not, you would file your eviction case at
the end of the thirty-day period, and have a court officer serve a
summons and complaint on your ex-, returning proof of service to the
court. When you file the case, the court will assign a date for you to
appear in court. If your ex-girlfriend does not show up, you will
ordinarily be able to secure a default judgment at that time. If she
shows up and she contests the eviction, the court may schedule a
trial. In many cases, the tenant shows up to court, but agrees to
vacate the premises.
Assuming you secure a judgment, unfortunately you are still not able
to automatically change the locks. Your ex-girlfriend will have ten
days to appeal the judgment. At the end of that ten day period, you
will be able to go back to court and obtain an order of eviction:
Form DC-107: Order of Eviction, Landlord-Tenant/Land Contract
http://www.courts.michigan.gov/scao/courtforms/landlord-tenantlandcontract/dc107.pdf
You can then get assistance with the actual eviction of your
girlfriend from a court officer or Sheriff's Deputy. There is
typically a fee for this service. Fortunately, most tenants don't wait
for a court officer, but instead voluntarily move after the judgment
is entered.
Make sure you keep copies of all of the court papers in a safe and
secure place (that is, somewhere your ex- can't get to them, if she
continues to live in the house).
You may be wondering why I haven't suggested that you use a "7-Day
Notice to Quit" for nonpayment of rent, instead of the thirty day
notice. As there was never an agreement to pay rent, it is unlikely
that a court would permit eviction under a 7-day notice. And if a
court rejects the 7-day notice, you will have to then serve a thirty
day notice, and wait through that entire thirty day period before you
can again go to court. (This means you would wait seven days, file
your complaint and pay a filing fee, obtain a court date about two
weeks later, pay a process server to serve the papers, go to court,
and be told by the judge to start over - essentially giving your ex-
an additional three or four weeks of rent-free living.)
There is a brief guide to the Michigan eviction process online on the
Rental Housing On Line website (but please note that it is a bit
out-of-date):
http://rhol.org/rental/miguide4.htm
If you wish to use a lawyer to assist you with the process, you may
wish to call some real estate lawyers in your area. You may also wish
to ask to see the "docket" for the next day when landlord-tenant cases
are being heard at the District Court, and get the name or names of
attorneys who are handling multiple cases on those days. (Those
attorneys are more likely to represent landlords with large numbers of
housing units, and thus to be very well-versed with the eviction
process.)
Research Strategy:
In the past, I handled evictions for a large landlord in Michigan. As
a lawyer, I am familiar with the SCAO website and approved court
forms, referenced above.
Google search for "michigan how to evict tenant"
* ://www.google.com/search?q=michigan+how+to+evict+tenant
I hope you find this information helpful,
- expertlaw |
