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a friend called me yesterday.he recently ended his engagement with his fiancee.she used to live with him in his house,he asked her to leave but she won`t.so he told her he will change the key locks and she came with the police and they hold him she can stay.my question now is can she stay there? he is the owner of the house.he is in california and the police told him it is her right to live there.they are not married or something and i never heard such a thing.any advices or experiences?
thanks
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your query.
Please note that the police is not the relevant authority to judge if this person has a legitimate legal interest to the property or not. Only a Court can decide if she is occupying the property unlawfully. The enforcement agents can only execute a judgment ordering that she is evicted from the property or in very specific scenarios (none of them probably applicable to this case).
What probably happened is that after the police's visit to the property, they were not 100% satisfied that she was occupying the property unlawfully. Having all her personal belongings inside the property and even a copy of the keys she must have argued that she has a verbal lease contract with the owner, any other kind of agreement, etc and this would be enough for the police to refuse to act.
If he wants to recover possession, he needs to file a claim for eviction (should she have a lease contract, which can even be verbal) or for wrongful occupation.
There are times when even the threat of legal action is enough to deter the occupant from staying in the property (specially if she is reasonable and aware that her possession is unlawful). If she didnt do, her claim is likely to be dismissed at Court and the judge might issue an order on costs against her.
This being said, I'm afraid that if she is unwilling to leave voluntarily your friend will need to take proactive steps in order to recover possession.
If he would like to discuss this matter further or is considering instructing a Lawyer, please do not hesitate to contact us via info @ lawbird.com
Kind regards,