How to Evict a Roommate in Vermont (and Other Household Situations)
What Vermont law says about roommates who are not on the lease, guests who won't leave, family members, renting a room in your own home, and tenancies at will — each with the statute or official source.
Short answer: A tenant is a person entitled under a rental agreement (written or oral) to occupy a residential unit to the exclusion of others. Vermont recognizes subleases between a tenant (sublessor) and a sublessee, and 'landlord' includes a sublessor. A landlord may condition or prohibit subleasing in a written rental agreement and may require the tenant to give written notice of any sublessee's name and contact information; with no written agreement, the tenant must give that notice. A person occupying a unit without right or permission who is not a tenant is outside the landlord-tenant chapter. 9 V.S.A. §§ 4451(4), (8)-(10); 4452(a)(9); 4456b
| Roommate not on the lease | A tenant is a person entitled under a rental agreement (written or oral) to occupy a residential unit to the exclusion of others. Vermont recognizes subleases between a tenant (sublessor) and a sublessee, and 'landlord' includes a sublessor. A landlord may condition or prohibit subleasing in a written rental agreement and may require the tenant to give written notice of any sublessee's name and contact information; with no written agreement, the tenant must give that notice. A person occupying a unit without right or permission who is not a tenant is outside the landlord-tenant chapter. |
|---|---|
| Removing a roommate or subtenant | A roommate who is the tenant's sublessee is a tenant under a sublease, with the tenant as sublessor/landlord, so the chapter's notice and court eviction rules apply. If the written lease prohibits subleasing, the landlord or the tenant may bring an ejectment action against a person occupying without right or permission and may file a motion for immediate possession; the hearing may be held after 10 days' notice, and if the court grants judgment the sheriff serves a writ of possession and restores possession no sooner than five days later. Sublease rules: https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/09/137. |
| Guests who won't leave | No statute sets when a guest becomes a tenant. Occupancy of a dwelling unit without right or permission by a person who is not a tenant is excluded from the landlord-tenant chapter; the owner's remedy is a court ejectment action, with the expedited motion for immediate possession available where the written lease prohibits subleasing. |
| Renting a room in your own home (lodgers) | Vermont has a 'shared occupancy' rule: when a person rents one or more rooms in their own residence to another individual, with shared use of common living spaces such as the living room, kitchen, or bathroom, either party may end the arrangement by actual notice of the termination date, at least 15 days after notice if rent is paid monthly or at least 7 days after notice if rent is paid weekly. This shortens the notice period; it does not by itself authorize removal without a court order. Source: 9 V.S.A. § 4467(h) |
| Tenancy at will | Vermont's statute does not use the term 'tenancy at will'. Without a written rental agreement, a landlord may end a tenancy for no cause by actual notice: if rent is monthly, at least 60 days for tenants there two years or less and 90 days for more than two years; if rent is weekly, at least 21 days. The termination date must be stated in the notice. Shared occupancy of the landlord's own residence has shorter notice periods (§ 4467(h)). Source: 9 V.S.A. § 4467(c), (f) |
| Hotel and extended-stay guests | Transient occupancy in a hotel, motel, or lodgings is excluded from Vermont's residential rental chapter only during the time the occupancy is subject to a tax levied under 32 V.S.A. chapter 225. Once the stay is no longer subject to that tax, the exclusion no longer applies. Separate exclusions cover transient hotel stays funded by General Assistance or Emergency Assistance housing and certain stays paid for by a hospital or designated agency for health care treatment or recovery. Source: 9 V.S.A. § 4452(a)(4), (8), (10) |
Never remove someone by changing the locks or taking their belongings: if the person has become a tenant, only a court can order them out. If there is violence or a threat, call 911 and ask about a protective order.
Templates
Vermont eviction laws · Free legal help in Vermont · Roommate rules in other states
General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.