Dealing with Excessively Drunk Tenant

[April Dagonese]

I've been renting out rooms in my house for about 9 months now, on leases ranging from 3-12 months at a time. The experience has mostly been great so far, but at the beginning of May a new tenant moved in who has really started to scare me. He seemed very nice, quiet, and professional at first. But right after moving in (~3 weeks ago), he began drinking to excess, and has already been taken to detox once via ambulance once. He openly admits to being an alcoholic, but says his recovery is struggling after being laid off and because of the pandemic. He hasn't overtly endangered the property yet, and he is never violent or unkind. But almost daily, he can't stand up straight or maintain a conversation because of how drunk he is. I am scared both for the property and for my liability if he were to injure himself.

I am very new at this, so it didn't even occur to me to write anything into the lease about excessive drunkenness. It doesn't appear that I have any grounds to evict on the basis of the lease (it's a Colorado lease, if that matters), so I am planning to offer cash for keys.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions that I'm not thinking of? Is there a strong way to screen for drug or alcohol abuse prior to signing a new tenant? Thanks for any words of wisdom you can share -- this is scary.

April

[Nathan Gesner]

I wouldn't tolerate it. Fair Housing Law probably doesn't apply to you as an owner-occupied, so I would play hardball and I would do it immediately.

I would tell him he has 24 hours to be out or I will bring a few burly friends over and we will escort him outside and leave him and his stuff at the curb. If he's not out in 24 hours, I would follow through without hesitation.

Change the locks and be done with it.