Ugh. Troublemaker family members. Advice, please?

I was a landlord for many years, so I'll answer from that perspective.

One tenant, "Gloria," informed me that her two teenage nieces would be moving in with her and her husband and their baby. The lease was written specifically to accommodate Gloria, the husband and baby. It was a furnished townhouse, and I'd moved out one bedroom's furniture so they could put baby furniture in there, so I'd been an easygoing landlord. BUT. Two teenagers (sleeping in the den, which had no closet and didn't qualify as a bedroom) would up the water bill, and I paid for water. It would mean more people in and out of the house as they entertained friends, and more wear and tear on my carpet, my furniture, and more noise in a quiet neighborhood. Also there was the issue of whether the teenagers would have proper supervision when there alone; I'd never met them and had no idea why they needed a home, whether they'd be partying or what. Gloria wanted me to provide beds for the nieces, and the girls had a dog - but mine was a no-pet unit due to problems I'd previously had with pets. She wasn't willing to pay more rent. So I said no and didn't renew the lease when it was up a month or so later.

Landlords have to protect themselves and their property. Some tenants are undesirable for various reasons. I'd expect the landlord in this post to take the same viewpoint.

If your grandparents get evicted, they will have a terrible time finding another apartment. Landlords don't have to rent to anyone, they are very likely to say no to anyone with an eviction.

This will mean going through a private individual and those are usually scumlords.

Talk to the landlord and ask their help to get these squatters out now. I would say that the vulnerable seniors are scared and won't say anything for fear of retaliation. Give them permission to involve law enforcement.

You DO NOT want them evicted,it will create more problems then you can imagine.

One way or another, the landlord is likely to receive complaints about loud dogs & loud music coming from your grandparents apartment, and either ask them to STOP the noise or move out. I think you're better off, as their 'caretaker', to address the issue head-on with the landlord and ask that these squatters either be added to the lease (which grandparents can refuse), or asked to vacate the premises as they are in violation of said lease. I'm sure the original lease that grandparents signed was for TWO adults and not more.

So, while grandma won't make them leave, the LANDLORD can make the squatters leave by forcing the issue of the original lease.

In reality, the bottom line is it's up to the GRANDPARENTS to put their foot down with the squatters. Otherwise, even if they get evicted from this place, the squatters can follow them to their new place an squat THERE b/c there are no boundaries being set down as grandma is too meek to do so.

You may want to have a Come to Jesus talk with Grandma before you do anything else. If no luck, then go to the landlord. But basically, you can't save the grandparents from themselves.

It's not your problem. You don't control who your grandparents let stay with them.
You should most definitely tell the "office" about your grandparents' illegal "tenants" before someone else in the building does. This way the management will probably give your grandparents a chance to make them go and they won't get evicted.
Please go and talk to the management. Don't even tell your grandparents that you are speaking to the management.
In the meantime, do not listen to a second of your grandmother's complaining. Let her sit and be upset. She allowed these people to move in.

If the visitors are adults over 18, they should be added to the lease. If your grandmother as lease holder does not do so, she’s most likely in violation of her lease. It’s up to the landlord whether they’d prefer to have your grandmother add them to the lease or they’d evict her for having unauthorized occupants. Either way, the landlord will sooner or later figure out that they are living there. It will be better for grandma to be honest with landlord now

So not much has changed since you last posted in December, right?

If your grandmother is not abiding by the terms of the lease (letting other people live there w/loud dogs, noise complaints, etc.), then what happens if she and your grandfather get evicted?

Will you make that your problem?

I don't mean to sound rude, but it sounds like the family squatters are either drinking and/or doing drugs! Either way, they aren't on the lease! I hope you have other family members who can help you with this, but whether you have help or not, you need to go there early in the morning to catch them off guard, and tell them that they aren't on the lease and need to leave immediately and that the manager(s) are probably calling the cops! Bring garbage sacks with you for their crap! Tell them you got a motel room for them for a week (I'd just get it for a day)! As soon as you drop them off, get back to your grandparents apartment, change the locks and then drop extra keys off with the office! Make sure ALL the windows and entryways are locked up tight, and then call Adult and Protective Services! If they've been living there free, eating the grandparents food, and using ANYTHING that costs the grandparents money, APS will most likely consider that a form of elder abuse! Also, if the dog scares them or the people scare them, that's abuse! If APS sees any drug paraphernalia, they'll also write that in their report! You could also meet APS at your grandparents apartment after explaining what's going on, especially the late hours, loud music and possible eviction! Let them know that you don't know why, but neither grandparent will say anything to the family squatters! After APS helps you, or you get them out yourself, with or without the police, then I'd explain to the apartment manager what was going on and that it's been handled! These family squatters don't care about what happens to your grandparents, so please don't hold back or feel sorry for them! Like I said, it sounds like they're using alcohol and/or drugs! Please don't hesitate to inform APS and/or the cops about that! God bless you and I will pray for you! 🙏

If you were awarded GDN ( guardian) by the courts, you can evict them, at least in my state (MI).
When I realized that my mother was having memory issues, losing her drivers license more than once, which started in 2016.
My mother was befriended by a young man, who cones her into her letting him move in. Then all of a sudden she started showing up with bruises( of course she fell ya know) always injuring her left eye. I then realized he was beating her. And I really started being at her house everyday only to find out she hadn’t taken her meds since 2019, then found unopened meds from 2016. All of her legal documents were missing from her old file box( her bread box) I had to take action. After receiving GDN I evicted him. After I had him evicted I found a copy of a life insurance policy that mom owned, with the young man named as her beneficiary, I found credit cards that were opened in moms name ( she couldn’t remember doing) of course they were run up to $1,600 or more. Moms birth certificate, marriage license, home purchase receipt gone. He was up to something but legally I couldn’t do much as moms memory was failing, and the man explained to the courts they were lovers.
Its important if your her GDN start eviction, if not apply for GDN, then evict. Don’t let them be victims!

This happens all the time - apartments everywhere are full of people not on a lease. And in almost all cases are in violation of the lease. This happened to a woman and her family near where I lived. She had several additional reckless people living there and when they got caught defacing the property I heard that she was charged thousands of dollars and had to move out immediately.

There was also another case where the tenant who lived below reported hearing a basketball being bounced on the floor through the night. The office found there were a number of people living there not on the lease. They were thrown out asap.

Can grandma understand that?

The lease should state how many people are allowed in the residence.
Ask the office to write a formal letter stating the 'new' people were not authorized. by the owner of the property to move in and therefore, they must leave.

You / someone needs to have legal authorize over decisions your grandmother makes. She cannot do this herself 'if' she is deemed incompetent. If she is considered competent, there likely is nothing you can do in making decisions on her behalf, legally.

Yes, I would presume if the 'uninvited guests' do not leave that there is a risk of your grandmother being asked to leave.

I would hire an attorney or check with a tenant's union or legal aide non-profit and find out what your - and your grandmother's - rights are.

Gena / Touch Matters