Tenant will not leave my parent's home. What do I do?

You should contact the office for abuse against the elderly or abuse to a person over 65. Since he claims he steals their food, yells at them and unlawfully got service cable under your mother's name. If eviction in California is so difficult, then try criminal charges against him. Hope this works.

I was in a similar situation with a home I owned 50% of. My aunt owned the other 50 %. We had tenants who were damaging the space they rented and causing problems for the other tenants. I went to a lawyer and he informed me of all of the legal details and how it would take time and money. The other owner, my aunt all of 5 feet tall and about 125 pounds, banged on their door and told them to get their s**t out in three days or she would have it all put on the curb on the 4th day and the locks would be changed.
I was so worried that we would be in such legal trouble but they were out in 2 days and never heard from again.
THROW ALL OF HIS STUFF OUT ON THE CURB AND CHANGE THE LOCKS. Enough with this persons rights. He can't afford an attorney and his biggest problem will be finding another sucker. That should keep him busy.

Wait a minute here---despite everything everybody else is saying in their posts, you nor your parents should be afraid of this guy!! If he is going to file for bankruptcy to avoid paying rent, then throw his stuff on the street, change all the locks on the doors (and put a couple of new dead-bolts on the outside doors, too) & keep this loser out of their home. Let him hire an attorney to prove that he is being wrongfully evicted---if he's filing for bankruptcy, then he'll have no money to retain an attorney. Even if he did, it's his burden to prove that he was wrongfully evicted. Then your parents can put into evidence that he didn't pay rent, committed fraud by opening a cable account with your mother's social security number (how did he get her social security number, anyway?) & was not wrongfully evicted. They can say that he was threatening them as well. Neither your parents or you should be afraid of the system & what "could" happen. Move forward immediately, and worry about crossing bridges when you get to them. If your parents throw him out of the house tomorrow, change all the locks & he can't get in, he'll need money for a retainer fee for an attorney, then it will take a while for the attorney to file suit against them, a while for the judge to rule on a motion........it will take so long to move through the court system that by the time anything happens, it won't pay for the guy to bother fighting it because he'll have to find someplace else to live. And if he tries to break in, have your parents call the police & have him arresting for trying to break in to their home. I doubt the guy carries a copy of the lease--if there is one---on him at all times, so it would be rather impossible for him to show on to the cops, and your parents shouldn't show it to the cops either. Have him arrested, let him post bail & find somewhere else to stay.

Not for nothing, but they should have gone to the police about the fraudulent cable account----that's identity theft & it is a felony. Your mother wouldn't have been charged a $500 cancellation fee if they did this before they cancelled the account, either. She would have had to file charges against him, which is what she should have done.

Another thing is this: Is there a written lease agreement? If there isn't, your parents can do whatever they want. They can throw the guy out today & he can't do anything about it.

Don't be afraid of this guy or the system. Even though the system may seem to protect the perpetrator, if your parents throw the guy out, it will take a while for him to get a lawyer, file a lawsuit, have a judge rule on a motion, etc. He probably can't afford a lawyer anyway. Throw him out & worry about it when you have to cross that bridge.

Put a skunk in their apartment. Deny all knowledge of how he got in.

I see by your profile that you live in CA.

California landlords seeking tenant eviction must file an unlawful detainer lawsuit in Superior Court. Unlawful detainer suits are summary court procedures, meaning they move quickly. Once a California landlord files, a tenant usually has five days to respond to the landlord's summons and complaint. In California, if a tenant disputes a landlord's unlawful detainer suit, the presiding judge will usually set a trial date within 20 days, deciding for or against the landlord. As per homeguides.sfgate/tenant-not-leave-30-days-notice-41499.html.

Since the cable was opened in your Mother's name, she can very easily cancel it.

Did you contact the cable company to explain that it was fraudulently set up? Have your lawyer send them a letter.

Does your parents' house have enough space for you or another family member to go and stay with them? While that would make things a little more crowded, of course, they might feel safer.

Seriously? Here I would put his crap on the road and change the locks. Let the impetus be on him to show he was illegally put out. Be sure to point out the danger to your parents.

I agree with the other posters who said it is time to downsize and move into something where the mortgage payments are more affordable, where your parents wouldn't need to find a boarder.

Janet1999, is there a written lease between your parents and the tenant? What is the break lease clause, if any?

My suggestion is to move your parents out of the house and have them live with other relatives or friends, and put all their household goods into a storage unit. Then call in a Realtor to put the house on the market For Sale, assuming there is no lease, otherwise the new owners will have to honor the lease. The electric and water have to remain on. With no food in the house, the tenant will decide it is time to squat elsewhere.

It will be expensive, but a lesson learned to screen the tenant.... with my rental properties I always used a Realtor to find my tenants and everyone was great. Shady people won't go to a Realtor to find a room to rent in a house, because they need to have good credit background check and good recommendation from their current or past landlord.

After reading other responses, I agree that fraudulently using your parent's Soc. Sec. # is grounds to press charges against him. You could also notify the cable company immediately about that who might will sue him. I had an experience with illegally evicting my nephew. He is bipolar and refused to take his medication. He smoked marijuana, destroyed furniture, harassed my elderly mother for money, etc. I tried to help him for a year. One day when he threatened to kill me, I phoned the police who then took him to the hospital. While he was hospitalized, I wrote a letter to him, his social worker and doctor informing him that he could no longer live here and detailed my reasons. I put his property in storage and paid for 3 months. About 4 months later he appeared at my door with the police who informed me that he be could continue living here. I stood my ground refusing to admit him. Three squad cars showed up and I told them to they could take me to jail but I would not let him back in. My neighbors appeared yelling to the police to leave me alone. The police captain showed up, took me inside and asked if I wanted to press charges against my nephew. I did not want to do that. I showed him the damage my nephew had done to the house. He asked me again if I wanted to press charges. Finally I got it! He'd been trying to tell me that was the only way I could keep my nephew out of the house. That's what I did. FYI, in NYC the penalty for an illegally eviction (meaning without going through landlord tenant court) can cost the landlord three times what the amount of rent. Bottom Line: I'd press charges for fraudulent use of the Soc. Sec. #. I would take the risk of tossing this guys things on the street. If he goes to the police or social services agency, I'd swear that he threatened my parents lives, too. (From experience I know that social workers are trained to advocate for their clients and do not care about the landlord and will advise the client of their legal rights.) Still I would risk it to protect my parents. Good luck. Please let us know the outcome.