I hired a caregiver for my Mom, who has dementia. Mom needs 24 hour care. The caregiver was given an apartment with utilities as part of the arrangement plus a weekly pay. I had to terminate this person as she always had excuses as to why she wasn't doing her job. Most recently she overslept and Mom was found wondering the streets in her pajamas at 10:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning. The caregiver believes she's a tenant, which she is not. She had an occupancy arrangement as part of the job. When the job was terminated so does the living arrangement. Now she won't leave and my Mom's safety and well being is in jeopardy. I need someone in the apartment next door (which I do have a new much more qualified person) to take that position. Any suggestions on how to get this person out. She claims she's a tenant and I have to give her 30 days notice to vacate. Thanks for all of your help on this.
If you don't have this in writing, she's a tenant. Your state may have squatter rights too.
This caregiver you hired has probably worked this scam before. She knows the ins and outs of housing rights. Your best bet is to take pictures of the place then serve her with eviction.
I've been a caregiver for a long time. Mostly for elderly and many with dementia. I find it's never the best idea to have only one caregiver who lives in a residence who is responsible for the elder with dementia seven days a week.
You say you've found another caregiver to take over. Hire a second and have the two split the week. This way no one actually lives there. Have them stay in your mother's apartment then rent the next door to an actual rent-paying tenant. Use that money to pay for the two caregivers. Believe me, this will be a better care arrangement all around.
Most homecare agencies will hire anyone.
Since she's resisting, I think it's time to involve a landlord-tenant attorney to file and carry out eviction. After the case is started, a LEO or private server would serve her with eviction papers, and depending on state law, law enforcement would likely carry out the actual eviction if she fails to comply. Her possessions would be moved out and put on the curb for pickup.
And if you don't have documentation, including a police report, of your mother's wandering, do get a copy of that report, and document any other inappropriate activities, in the event this woman becomes belligerent and/or sues.
BTW, did you give her formal notice of job termination?
I'd have as much as possible done by LEOs as they have more power than an individual, and you don't want this person harassing you or your mother.
There's also the possibility of getting a TRO (Temporary Restraining Order) with eviction request pending the actual time running for forced eviction. One basic issue for a TRO would be the danger she's creating for your mother.
They tell them they are fired and usually the employee leaves. Sometimes they don't even let the employee finish out the day.
Myself and three other caregivers were fired from our care case and not even told we were fired. The client's daughter told us we were all getting a two week vacation and that a respite caregiver was going to work.
The respite caregiver was actually a live-in that she hired to replace all of us. By saying we were having a two-week "vacation" this gave the new live-in hire replacing us time to test the waters. So in the event that it didn't work out, the four of us come back to work after our two-week respite none the wiser.
This is how it works in the caregiving field. A caregiver is lucky if they even get told they don't have a job anymore.
That's the life of a homecare worker. We're "like family" until cheaper help comes along and we get kicked to the curb.
I would check with eviction court. Really, more and more people are hiring live-ins there must be some kind of president.