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My wife's 19 year old sister (we'll call her Beth) is wreaking havoc in
their family home in Arizona. She shows up for a place to sleep after
several days of being wired on crystal meth. While she is there she is
verbally and physically abusive to others in the home, including her 14
year old brother. She also has a variety of people in and out of the
house at all hours of the day and night. No real mystery as to what is
going on there. We've found a variety of drug paraphernalia stashed
around her room. She has admitted she does drugs and we have read
internet messages she has sent to her drug friends about who she gets
the drugs from, etc. She has been arrested twice in the last 3 months
for possession of narcotics. She missed her court date and had a
warrant issued for her arrest. She went to court on her own and had
the warrants quashed (much to my surprise) and had a new date set. She
was supposed to go to court yesterday. No one has talked to her, so we
don't know if she went or not.
Mom and dad have been hesitant to kick her out because she clearly has
a problem and would feel guilty for putting her out on the street with
no safe place to return (no opinions on this, please). They changed
the locks on the house and didn't give her a key. They told her that
she was welcome to stay at the home as long as she was in the house
before mom and dad went to bed and stayed there all night. She was
told not to have her friends in the house.
It seemed Beth started to get her act together. She was abiding by the
rules set by mom and dad. and registered for school, so it appeared she
may be coming around. Mom and dad left the country on business for a
month. Dad's mother (Beth's grandmother) has been watching over things
at the home, but then Beth started doing the same types of things as
before.....leaving for days at a time, having strange people staying
overnight, etc. Grandma doesn't know how to deal with it.
Grandma got a restraining order for her own home and brother will be
staying at the grandma's house until mom and dad return. In the mean
time, the house won't be occupied and Beth is not welcome to be there.
She breaks into the house when no one is home, but when Grandma got the
restraining order, the judge told her that since Beth "lives" at the
house, it's not considered breaking in.
My wife and I came down for the weekend to try to see what we can do to
help. We decided we would clear her things out of the house and put
them in a storage unit thinking that if there was nothing here for her,
maybe she would stop coming. Is there any legal action that can be
taken to terminate her residence here? Do we even need legal action?
She doesn't pay rent so it's not really a landlord-tenant relationship,
unless there is something about the fact that she is a legal adult
that creates that relationship by default. Otherwise, she is a guest
in the house. Mom and dad have said they do not want her in the house
anymore, but since they are not here, and there is no power of
attorney, we are not clear on how to proceed.
I'd appreciate any advice.
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My wife's 19 year old sister (we'll call her Beth) is wreaking havoc in
their family home in Arizona. She shows up for a place to sleep after
several days of being wired on crystal meth. While she is there she is
verbally and physically abusive to others in the home, including her 14
year old brother. She also has a variety of people in and out of the
house at all hours of the day and night. No real mystery as to what is
going on there. We've found a variety of drug paraphernalia stashed
around her room. She has admitted she does drugs and we have read
internet messages she has sent to her drug friends about who she gets
the drugs from, etc. She has been arrested twice in the last 3 months
for possession of narcotics. She missed her court date and had a
warrant issued for her arrest. She went to court on her own and had
the warrants quashed (much to my surprise) and had a new date set. She
was supposed to go to court yesterday. No one has talked to her, so we
don't know if she went or not.
Mom and dad have been hesitant to kick her out because she clearly has
a problem and would feel guilty for putting her out on the street with
no safe place to return (no opinions on this, please). They changed
the locks on the house and didn't give her a key. They told her that
she was welcome to stay at the home as long as she was in the house
before mom and dad went to bed and stayed there all night. She was
told not to have her friends in the house.
It seemed Beth started to get her act together. She was abiding by the
rules set by mom and dad. and registered for school, so it appeared she
may be coming around. Mom and dad left the country on business for a
month. Dad's mother (Beth's grandmother) has been watching over things
at the home, but then Beth started doing the same types of things as
before.....leaving for days at a time, having strange people staying
overnight, etc. Grandma doesn't know how to deal with it.
Grandma got a restraining order for her own home and brother will be
staying at the grandma's house until mom and dad return. In the mean
time, the house won't be occupied and Beth is not welcome to be there.
She breaks into the house when no one is home, but when Grandma got the
restraining order, the judge told her that since Beth "lives" at the
house, it's not considered breaking in.
My wife and I came down for the weekend to try to see what we can do to
help. We decided we would clear her things out of the house and put
them in a storage unit thinking that if there was nothing here for her,
maybe she would stop coming. Is there any legal action that can be
taken to terminate her residence here? Do we even need legal action?
She doesn't pay rent so it's not really a landlord-tenant relationship,
unless there is something about the fact that she is a legal adult
that creates that relationship by default. Otherwise, she is a guest
in the house. Mom and dad have said they do not want her in the house
anymore, but since they are not here, and there is no power of
attorney, we are not clear on how to proceed.
The parents as owners of the house can sign a power of attorney and mail it
to you or fax it to you or to the grandmother or to their attorney. They
can hire an attorney to do the eviction. That can be done by phone easily.
It's up to them to decide what action to take and up to them to take it.
You and your wife had no right to take the daughter's possessions (that's
theft and conversion) or interfere with her in any way. You could select an
attorney if that's what the parents tell you to do. You could put bars on
the windows or hire a guard service or sell the house if that's what the
parents tell you to do. If the parents are undecided about what to do, or
cannot bring themselves to do what they decide they should do, you can
sympathize and advise. But you must not take over the decision making or
take actions that are not authorized.
McGyver
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Due to the length of my post, I left out some key information. I
neglected to mention that we have been in regular contact with the
parents (2-4 times a day). They requested we find some way to get her
out of the home. When I said "we decided we would clear her things
out..." I meant the parents and my wife and I. Both mom and dad have
said they do not want her in the home anymore. We are acting on their
behalf.
A faxed power of attorney is legally binding? Seems like there would
be a lot of opportunity for fraud in that case. And doesn't a power of
attorney have to be notirized? Is there a way to have something
notarized in a foreign country that would be recognized legally binding
in the U.S.?
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Due to the length of my post, I left out some key information. I
neglected to mention that we have been in regular contact with the
parents (2-4 times a day). They requested we find some way to get her
out of the home. When I said "we decided we would clear her things
out..." I meant the parents and my wife and I. Both mom and dad have
said they do not want her in the home anymore. We are acting on their
behalf.
That's four people rather than two committing conversion, theft and
conspiracy.
A faxed power of attorney is legally binding?
For your purposes, yes, but it doesn't matter, because UPS or FEDEX or
whoever will overnight the original signature.
Seems like there would
be a lot of opportunity for fraud in that case. And doesn't a power of
attorney have to be notirized? Is there a way to have something
notarized in a foreign country that would be recognized legally binding
in the U.S.?
A power of attorney is valid even if not notarized. Generally, people have
the right to refuse to respect a power of attorney, just as they have the
right not to do business with the person who signed it. Some people might
decide not to respect a non-notarized power of attorney. So it's best to
get it notarized, and its easy. Go to a notary in the country in which the
document is being signed.
McGyver
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That's four people rather than two committing conversion, theft and
conspiracy.
This is an interesting point and brings up some questions for me. Say
mom and dad were here and capable of doing these things on their own.
What are their legal obligations then to remove their daughter from
their home?
I hear about parents kicking their kids out of the home all the time.
Are they supposed to be following some sort of legal procedure?
Is the daughter considered a tenant simply because she is a legal
adult?
Does the law differentiate between a juvenile and an adult with regard
to removing them from the home?
Does a home owner have the right to remove a guest at will? If so,
what makes the daughter in this case not a guest?
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That's four people rather than two committing conversion, theft and
conspiracy.
This is an interesting point and brings up some questions for me. Say
mom and dad were here and capable of doing these things on their own.
What are their legal obligations then to remove their daughter from
their home?
I hear about parents kicking their kids out of the home all the time.
Are they supposed to be following some sort of legal procedure?
Is the daughter considered a tenant simply because she is a legal
adult?
Does the law differentiate between a juvenile and an adult with regard
to removing them from the home?
Does a home owner have the right to remove a guest at will? If so,
what makes the daughter in this case not a guest?
]
The parents' attorney will advise on whether the daughter is a tenant or a
guest. The parents can authorize you to select an attorney, or they can do
it themselves by phone. I cannot make the determination because I don't
have the parents in front of me to answer questions and I am not familiar
with the laws of Arizona. If your conclusion that she is a guest is
correct, the parents could put bars on the windows or hire a guard service
or sell the house, or you could do those thing as the agent of the parents
once they give you written authority. I've tried to tell you that stealing
the daughter's possessions in order to influence her to leave is not
something parents can do to guests or tenants. Such actions are theft and
conversion. If you don't want to listen, you don't have to. But it doesn't
make sense to divert the discussion into issues of guest status vs tenant
status because neither status gives you the right to steal her property.
See an Arizona attorney.
McGyver
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If you don't want to listen, you don't have to. But it doesn't
make sense to divert the discussion into issues of guest status vs tenant
status because neither status gives you the right to steal her property.
See an Arizona attorney.
My apologies. I do not want to present the impression that I'm not
heeding your advice. I accept your explanation of the case of removing
the daughter's belongings from the home as theft.
The other questions I posed were legitimate curiosity and intended to
be asked hypothetically from the perspective of the parents in this
case. They weren't an attempt to divert the discussion away from the
heart of the matter. I suppose I should have started a new thread, but
it was related enough to this topic that I failed to see the
possibility of causing confusion.
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If you don't want to listen, you don't have to. But it doesn't
make sense to divert the discussion into issues of guest status vs tenant
status because neither status gives you the right to steal her property.
See an Arizona attorney.
My apologies. I do not want to present the impression that I'm not
heeding your advice. I accept your explanation of the case of removing
the daughter's belongings from the home as theft.
The other questions I posed were legitimate curiosity and intended to
be asked hypothetically from the perspective of the parents in this
case. They weren't an attempt to divert the discussion away from the
heart of the matter. I suppose I should have started a new thread, but
it was related enough to this topic that I failed to see the
possibility of causing confusion.
I get it. Sorry for the reaction. I wouldn't react solely because someone
didn't seem to be listening. That happens all the time and is no bother. I
just wanted to make absolutely sure you would not put yourself in further
jeopardy by skipping past my main point.
I'm relatively knowledgeable about laws concerning what to do about a tenant
and tenant's property, but I'm weak in the area of the law concerning what
to do about a guest, or how to tell the difference. So I'll refrain from
blundering around in that unfamiliar bog.
McGyver
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I get it. Sorry for the reaction. I wouldn't react solely because someone
didn't seem to be listening. That happens all the time and is no bother. I
just wanted to make absolutely sure you would not put yourself in further
jeopardy by skipping past my main point.
Hey, no problem. I could have acknowledged I understood your position.
Thanks for the advice!
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