Not sure how serious he is but my dad wants to sell the house again and kick me out. I would be homeless as I have no friends or family to stay with. Generally speaking do I have any options?

If you need to know my state to check the laws DM me and I will tell you where I am, otherwise I'll keep that blank since I don't want it to be public. Is there anything I can do having lived here all my life? I'm not a tenet so I don't pay rent but idk if there's any protections for people like me at all, if any. Gah I'm fucking scared, it seems like this time he's got something cooking when in the past it was just all empty threats.

Please have some good news for me.

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comrade we are of course here for you. Rather than you giving up where you are why dont we teach each other how to find this information for ourselves so if it happens to another one of us we will all be more prepared. it looks like tough times are coming.
It may be that you do have some sort of tenants rights and it's best to know and most states have that stuff online. I'm certain someone has made a list of each states State Code and if they haven't we can make one. I'm going to go search around.
- Thank you, I found a number online to speak to I think a service worker so I texted them.
- okay i searched in firefox for 'list of state laws by state' and the first non ai result looked promising but it was not helpful. i skipped the similar looking sites in the results and found a very promising texas government page:
  https://www.sll.texas.gov/law-legislation/laws-of-other-states/
  i'll figure out my own rights and then give a step by step and if it differs for you we can suss it out
  
  Thanks
  
  i searched for 'tenants rights' at the legislative .gov site holding my states code and couldn't find anything useful.
  I grabbed the name of my states laws from the site and then searched in firefox for 'what part of [my states code] covers tenants rights'
  This got a nice result summary from [mystatete]tenants.com that gave me the chapter of my states laws that covered this subject. (looks like a number like 100)
  I searched for the chapter from the search box on the main page of my .gov site but that didn't return anything useful. the site did have navigation that took me directly to my states code though.
  The search engine on the home page for my states code did return the chapter referenced on that other site and now i'm going to read it and see if it's decipherable.
  if anyone else tries this and wants any help lmk

In the states I'm familiar with he'd have to evict you, or sell the house and let the new owners evict you. Not paying rent doesn't mean you don't live there legally. Generally speaking police won't remove you without an eviction order as long as you have some proof that you live there, such as belongings inside or mail addressed to that address.
You probably don't have a defense for eviction, but at the least you could buy time to figure things out. How long that is definitely depends on the state and the local court with jurisdiction.
Check out your area's legal aid website. They generally have self-help resources for evictions, and they usually have some kind of open consultation hours where you can talk to someone for legal advice.
If you want to DM me your state, I'll look into the specific laws for you.

Not a lawyer but no, nothing you can really do. Some states have protections for tenants but you aren't a tenant. Your best move would be to start searching proactively and move before that happens.
- Some states have protections for tenants but you aren't a tenant.
  There's functionally very little difference between occupants and tenants when it comes to eviction protections. If the situation escalates to bridge burning-level stakes (i.e. you're being kicked out and will be homeless), in most places you can force them to go through a formal eviction process. That will buy you some extra time.
  
  Are you sure about that? I've worked in tenant advocacy in the past and am under the impression that most states don't even have tenant protections, yet alone for guests on what would be considered private property. The owner has the right to trespass anyone on their property.
- Great. I'm gonna be homeless.
  
  Sorry bud, I've been homeless several times so I know how stressful it is. Any chance to find a room on Craigslist and work some shit job to pay for it? Are you already on food stamps and informed about food banks in your area?
  Happy to talk things through and try and help strategize but if this type of housing insecurity with your family is consistent, figuring out how to be on your own is going to be your greatest gift in the long run. It's a hard transition but the freedom of not having that anxiety hanging over your head goes a long way to make up for it

Depends on the jurisdiction but I believe that he might have to go through a formal eviction process. But I think it's legal to evict someone if you are selling the house. And you really don't want an eviction on your record if you ever plan on renting anywhere else.

Sorry this is happening to you. Bad living situations are awful and I understand the threat of homelessness too well. Are you a legal adult? Are there any citizens advice organisations where you are? Do you have any medical conditions because there are often support organisations for people with medical conditions who could advise and help you.
- I'm waiting to hear back from an org rn, won't probably be until Monday by this rate. I get medical assistance and suffer from mental health problems, so maybe that would be something.
  
  Perhaps you might be entitled to sheltered accommodation?

I lived in a house with very unfriendly dynamics where I was stuck in a cycle of dependency on my parents, who would lord their position over me, threaten to kick me out, or to demand rent (that I had no job to pay for, or to belittle me for being a "leech to society".
Getting out of there (and staying out of there) was one of the best things I ever did. It slashed my depressive symptoms, it made my suicidal ideation go away entirely, within a year I got 3 different jobs and made good grades at junior college, and I was able to manage myself pretty well.
I know that 3 years ago there were valid reasons why you may have wanted to stay. Is there anything really keeping you there still? Asking because there is a big, wide, diverse, rather permissive, and often friendly world out there (that's the good news), and it aches to think about you not experiencing it. The best outcome is probably for you to leave on your own terms.

19 comments