Female roommate wants me to sign contract

[muscleman]

So it's your place and you let her live there without a lease? Are you in the United States? If you are and she lives with you, then you can't kick her out without going through a formal legal eviction anyway. It would actually be easier to kick her out for non-payment if you had a signed lease. Obviously, change the 90 day's notice to 30. It would take at least 30 days to evict her right now, anyway.

Or do it without a contract and all cash. That way she was 'just crashing with you for a while' and now time's up. Change the locks and boom, you're done. There's a psychological aspect to it. Every roommate I've had I always went over the ground rules, told them up front there's no contracts (easier for both parties) and we never had any problems. Minor skirmishes were quickly resolved.

This is a business transaction, treat it as such. She's welcome to decorate her room as you see fit, but if it's a general living area and she's trying to do a makeover, shut her down.

Also - is it a place you own or are you renting from someone else? This is kind of important.

 

[Bible_Belt]

Change the locks and boom, you're done.

That only works if she goes away and does not know her rights, which is probably what would happen. However, the worst case scenario is that she does understand that you have to go through the formal legal eviction process before you can legally throw her out. That means having her served with papers and waiting for a court date. Until then, your couch is still her legal residence. You can't have someone arrested for trespassing in their legal residence. I don't know if the cops would help her break back in after you threw her out, but I would expect them to take her side, especially if the cops are men and she is attractive.

Because you still have to legally evict anyone living in your house, regardless of whether or not they have a lease, you might as well get a lease. Just make it for 30 days at a time a renew on the 1st of each month, instead of a typical one year lease. Keep records of the rent payment and issue receipts for cash. These things all make it easier to kick her out when the time comes.

 

[muscleman]

^ This is true, BUT why handicap yourself from the start? If she ****s up and wants to play hardball, sure she might have to sleep on your couch for a month, but you can make it unpleasant. She'll be out before you know it.

In a world where laws favor women by default, the only solution is to play on psychological turf.

If you want to play it safe, yes get a lease with a 30 day clause. May want to do some landlording homework before you commit.