Can my roommates kick us out if we are on the lease?
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Can my roommates kick us out if we are on the lease?
My roommates told my husband and I that they are going to kick us out in a week because we don’t “help out”. We are on the lease with them it won’t end for a year. We haven’t broke the lease. I don’t think they can but I want to be sure they can’t. They say they already talked to the real estate lady about it and have a replacement roommate lined up can they legally kick us out on those terms.
Asked on August 29, 2011 California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Roommates, like the ones you describe, have no right to kick out their roommates. If you are all on the lease together, your right to reside there is equal to your roommate's rights. Only the landlord can evict you, and only if you are violating some lease term or doing one of the few things that allow eviction without a lease violation (e.g. threatening or attacking landlord; deliberately destroying landlord's property) can you be evicted.
Once your lease is over, it may be that the landlord will choose to not renew your lease or rent to you, especially if he has been talking to your roommates; but until the lease is up, as long as you don't violate the lease and don't otherwise provide grounds to terminate your tenancy, you cannot be evicted by the landlord; and, as stated, other roommates on the lease with you can never themselves evict you.
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