How Do I Know If I’m a Landlord?

Landlord-Tenant Relationships

Many times, landlord-tenant relationships are obvious. You own a property which you rent to a person who's listed as the tenant on a lease you both sign. Even with an oral lease, you and a tenant can define each other’s basic obligations. But what if you let a friend stay in a spare room in your home for a few months? You may not be sure if you are their landlord. If they pay rent, that probably establishes a landlord-tenant relationship. In general, paying rent gives someone the right to live in a home.

But what if they do not pay rent? What if they agree to pay the electric or water bill in exchange for you letting them stay? Or what if they agree to clean your home or watch your children in exchange for letting them stay?

If the person is doing something in exchange for you letting them stay in the home, it is possible that a judge could find there is a landlord-tenant relationship. Paying utilities, buying groceries, or providing a service is like paying rent. It is compensation for living in the home.

It is important to know whether there is a landlord-tenant relationship if the other person refuses to leave your home. If there is a landlord-tenant relationship, you must use the eviction process to get that person out of your home.

The Eviction Process

Eviction is the legal process of making a tenant move out of a home. The eviction process is only available in landlord-tenant relationships. If you are not sure whether you are in a landlord-tenant relationship, you may want to speak with a lawyer who can help you figure it out. If you have a low income, you may qualify for free legal services. Whether you have a low income or not, you can use the Guide to Legal Help to find lawyers in your area. If you are not able to get free legal services but can’t afford high legal fees, consider hiring a lawyer for part of your case instead of the whole thing. This is called limited scope representation. To learn more, read Limited Scope Representation (LSR): A More Affordable Way to Hire a Lawyer. To find a limited scope lawyer, follow this link to the State Bar of Michigan lawyer directory. This link lists lawyers who offer limited scope representation. You can narrow the results to lawyers in your area by typing in your county, city, or zip code at the top of the page. You can also narrow the results by topic by entering the kind of lawyer you need (divorce, estate, etc.) at the top of the page.

To learn more about eviction, review A Practical Guide for Tenants & Landlords published by the Michigan State Legislature.

I Rent My Home and I Let Someone Move In

If you rent your home and you let someone move in without permission from your landlord, it could be hard to define your relationship with this person. If you want the person to move out, you may need to go through the eviction process. To learn more about eviction, read “The Eviction Process” section above.

If you are a tenant and you let someone else move in, you could be violating your lease if you did not get your landlord’s permission. Leases often say you cannot have long-term guests without permission. If your landlord finds out about this, they could try to evict you.

Because this situation is complex, you may want to speak with a lawyer who can help you consider the risks and benefits of filing a case like this in court. You can use the Guide to Legal Help to find lawyers in your area. If you can’t afford high legal fees, consider hiring a lawyer for part of your case instead of the whole thing. This is called limited scope representation. To learn more, read Limited Scope Representation (LSR): A More Affordable Way to Hire a Lawyer. To find a limited scope lawyer, follow this link to the State Bar of Michigan lawyer directory. This link lists lawyers who offer limited scope representation. You can narrow the results to lawyers in your area by typing in your county, city, or zip code at the top of the page. You can also narrow the results by topic by entering the kind of lawyer you need (divorce, estate, etc.) at the top of the page.

I Sublease My Home

When a tenant rents their home to another person for part of the tenant’s existing lease, they create a sublease. A written sublease details all the rights and responsibilities of the sublessee and the sublessor. Some lease agreements don’t allow subleases. Others list specific conditions about subleasing.

The sublessor could ask the sublessee for a security deposit. If a sublessor asks for a security deposit, they have to follow the same security deposit laws as landlords. Even if the sublessor does not ask for a security deposit, it may still be a good idea to walk through the apartment with the sublessee and have them fill out a move-in checklist to note any damage. To learn more about security deposits and move-in checklists, read An Overview of Security Deposits for Landlords. 

The sublessor is still responsible for everything listed in the original lease with the landlord while the sublessee lives in the home. It might be a good idea for the sublessor to give the sublessee a copy of the original lease because both of them must follow the lease. If the sublessee breaks the sublease, the sublessor could start an eviction case against them.

If the sublessee does something that breaks the original lease, it is possible that the landlord could start an eviction case against both the sublessee and sublessor. If this happens, the sublessor could try to file a crossclaim against the sublessee. This is complex. If you find yourself in this situation, you may want to speak with a lawyer who can help you. If you have low income, you may qualify for free legal services. Whether you have low income or not, you can use the Guide to Legal Help to find lawyers in your area. If you are not eligible for free legal services and you can’t afford high legal fees, consider hiring a lawyer for part of your case instead of the whole thing. This is called limited scope representation. To learn more, read Limited Scope Representation (LSR): a More Affordable Way to Hire a Lawyer. 

Guests Who Overstay Their Welcome

A guest is someone you invite into your home, usually for a short period of time. A guest does not give you anything or do anything in exchange for allowing them in your home. As a result, you can ask a guest to leave at any time. You do not need to go through the courts to get this person to leave. If they refuse, you could contact your local law enforcement agency for help.

Trespassers

One of the following needs to be true for someone to be considered a trespasser:

• They entered the property without permission and without any other right to be there.
• They stayed on or in the property without a right to be there after being told by the owner or lawful occupant to leave. 

A trespasser does not have the same rights as a tenant. Someone who has a legal right to be there, like the homeowner, landlord, or tenant, can probably legally remove a trespasser. They might not have to go to court to do this. They do not need to have the sheriff or a court officer remove them from the home.

If you are not sure whether someone is a trespasser, you may want to speak to a lawyer to get legal advice before removing them on your own. It could be dangerous, and you could violate the law if you remove them and they are not actually a trespasser.

Holdover tenants

A holdover tenant is someone who stays after the lease ends. A landlord must still go through the legal eviction process to force them to leave.  A holdover tenant is not a trespasser. This is true even if the tenant’s legal right to possession has ended, and the tenant stays without the landlord’s permission.

I Have a Problem with My Roommate

Roommates are people who share a rental home together. Often, they are both listed on the same lease. People who have a typical roommate relationship cannot evict one another. This is because the eviction process is only available in landlord-tenant relationships. This means you cannot force your roommate to leave the home, and your roommate cannot force you to leave the home. This is true even if your roommate stopped paying for their part of the rent and utilities.

If someone lives in a home they own and rents a room to someone else, these people are not roommates. The owner of the home is the other person’s landlord.

If your roommate has threatened or abused you, you can ask for a personal protection order (PPO). One of the things a judge can do in a PPO is to order a person to stay away from a place, including a home. To learn more about PPOs, read I Need a Personal Protection Order –Domestic Relationship.  If your roommate is doing something else illegal and your landlord wants to evict them, you may also be included in the eviction complaint.

To learn more about these and other problems people sometimes have with roommates, read I Have a Problem with My Roommate.