Asking a friend to move out of my home, Ohio
landlord tenant attorney Idaho Jul 27, 2026
Location: Ohio I've had a friend living with me in my house for the last 3+ years. During this time, they have not paid any rent, given money towards utilities or contributed to any repairs either financially or through physical labor. There is no written or verbal lease agreement between us. The home is my primary/only residence and I am the only person on the mortgage/deed. They do get mail sent to the house/the address is on their state ID. I told the friend in last year (2025) I wanted them to be moved out by the end of this year (2026) and it has been 6+ months since that conversation. They asked about flexibility for the date and I said we could discuss it, but we have not further due to stressful life circumstances. Recently they have mentioned a few times on them having until spring (2027) and I've not made any comments either way other than "we'll see" until the other day when the conversation came up and they "joked" that if they had to move in winter I would have to evict them, and that if I did evict them they wouldn't move anyways. So I flat out said that was something I had been meaning to discuss with them and said that the end of the year for them to move out was the deadline, regardless of if that meant they had to move in the winter. The conversation soured there and we made an agreement we would have an actual discussion at a better time. So my questions are what are my legal obligations and what steps do I need to be taking in the worst case scenario that I do have to formally evict my friend? I have read a bit on some tenant/landlord rights but since they've never paid rent and we have no agreement either in writing or verbally, I'm not sure what does or doesn't apply to our situation. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
