Are guests overstaying their welcome?

What happens when a houseguest has overstayed his or her welcome and refuses to leave?

This was a problem Sebring resident Joan Verdi recently faced.

In a letter to the editor published in Wednesday's Highlands Today, Verdi talked about letting a man stay in her home a few days to rest up before he "continued his journey."

The man offered to do chores around the house as reimbursement for Verdi's generosity. The day finally came where he was asked to go on his way.

He refused.

Verdi said she then called the sheriff's office and a deputy came to talk about the problem. She was told that by allowing the man to stay, it was not trespassing and she would have to file the matter in civil court.

A homeowner's rights

What is the answer here? If the man had become violent, Verdi could have sought protection through a domestic violence injunction.

"If they shoved you and you can swear under oath that you're in imminent danger of them, and you want to stop the violence, the judge has the authority ... to exclude them in the body of the protection order," said Cyndi Dassinger, probate manager with the Highlands County Clerk of Courts office.

Bob Germaine, clerk of courts for Highlands County, called it a fine line between listing the person as trespassing and having to go through the eviction process.

"If you had a friend and you let them stay a couple of days and they didn't want to leave, you could file trespassing charges against them through the sheriff's (office)," Germaine said. "If you let them move in (and) they're going to stay there, you would have to file the eviction."

Germaine added that the eviction packet costs $15 and there is a $270 filing fee. On July 1, that fee will drop to $185.

He said in the past people have indicated they would just offer their unwanted guest the $200 to leave.

No matter what the situation, Germaine advises anyone faced with this type of problem to call the sheriff's office and have a deputy do an investigation.

"He would have to make an interpretation," Germaine said.