New York Parents Go To Court To Get 30-Year-Old Son To Leave Their House

A New York couple cannot get rid of their 30-year-old son, no matter how hard they try. In fact, they may wind up needing the signature of a judge to get rid of the adult man who refuses to leave the next.

As MSN reports, Christina and Mark Rotondo of Camillus, New York, want their son, Michael, out of their house. Normally, this type of thing involves some discussion and, in rare cases, the parents putting their feet down, with the evicted adult child reluctantly striking out on their own.

Not so Michael Rotondo: he straight refuses to leave.

That’s not for lack of his parents making their wishes clear. Back on February 2, the parents put their eviction notice down in writing.

“After a discussion with your Mother, we have decided that you must leave this house immediately. You have 14 days to vacate. You will not be allowed to return. We will take whatever actions are necessary to enforce this decision.”

A fortnight later and Michael was still there. Mom Christina wrote another eviction notice.

“Michael Joseph Rotondo, you are hereby evicted from [address] effective immediately. You have heretofore been our guest and there is no lease or agreement that gives you any right to stay here without our consent.”

Days later, Michael still hadn’t left (are you seeing a pattern here). This time, his parents tried to bribe him, offering him $1,100 to leave the nest. You can imagine how that worked out.

As it turns out, evicting someone in New York is harder than you might have imagined, even if – especially if – that person is a family member.

Long story short: it takes a county court decision to evict a family member. So the parents have filed suit in Camillus County Court against their son, submitting their multiple eviction notices as evidence.

In his own court filings, Michael cites 2006 case that says a tenant must have six months’ notice before being evicted. He also claims that his parents’ attempts to evict him are “retaliatory,” although he doesn’t specify how or why. And finally, he says that none of the written notices he’s been given are an official eviction notice.

You may be surprised to learn that evicting an adult family member is not simply a matter of asking them to leave, and then filing trespassing charges against them if they don’t. According to Legal Beagle, getting rid of an adult child requires a legal process, which varies by state.

As for Mr. and Mrs. Rotondo, they may very well get some relief this week. Their hearing is scheduled for tomorrow, after which Michael may very well find himself either evicted effective immediately or given a period of time to vacate. Or the judge may very well find in his favor and require the parents to allow him to live there indefinitely.

The moral of the story: think twice (and three times and four times and five times) before opening your door to your adult children.