[aviva_dawn]

My brother has been using illegal drugs in the apartment that my Mom, him and I share. This angers my mom and she wants to kick him out because he won't stop using drugs and refuses to go to counseling. One of my friends says that she has to evict him since he has lived here more that six months after his 18th birthday. My Mom says that she can simply put all of his belongings out on the patio and tell him to leave. Which is right? Can she kick him out just like that, or does she have to evict him?

The Pertinent Information:

My brother is 18 (will be 19 this October)
I am 21
He has always lived with my Mom.
We live in California
We live in an apartment and my Mom pays the rent. Neither my brother or I are even mentioned in the lease, although the management, landlord and owner knows that we both live here.

Personally, I don't like that my brother is using drugs and I want him to stop. But I don't feel that I have a say in the situation being that we're living in my Mom's house and as such, we need to follow her rules. Since my brother broke the rules, there are consequences that he has to pay.

[amberlily]

Well my thoughts are, he's not a "tenant", he's not paying rent, seeing how the lease is in your Mom's name and she's not subletting to him - she can evict him though eviction really only applies to when you're kicking out a tenant. Parents kick out delinquent kids all the time, it's not breaking any law if they're not a minor.

[HokeyReligions]

Put his stuff out, inform management, change the locks. If there are gate cards or something besides keys, make sure you (or your mom) get them from him--or tell management that he still has them and they can deactivate them. Put the name and phone number of a treatment center with his stuff -- maybe it will be the blow he needs to get his life together.