Can I Cut Off My Hopefully Soon To Be Evicted Roommate's Internet Access?
I've looked everywhere I can think of for a straightforward answer to this, but I keep coming up with mixed answers. I'm probably going to have to break down and try and find an attorney in my area that might be willing to do a free consult, but anyway. So, we live in Ohio. It is a single home residence, and is a rental. In late October my wife and I let a friend who was allegedly down on his luck move in with us. He has MS, is on disability, and had recently moved back to the area only to be allegedly screwed over by the people he was supposed to stay with. We had a verbal agreement that he would pay the rent in full each month and we would pay the utilities. There was nothing written, and he had not lived up to the verbal agreement made, regardless (he has given us half rent last month and a few twenty dollar payments here and there, as well as a few contributions to food purchasing that I would guess total about 200 dollars)
His behavior became increaingly mpre erractic and agressive (though not overtly violent) over the course of him staying here. When my wife and I decided in mid-November that we were going to move out of state this summer, we told him we would discuss with the landlord the possobility of him taking over the lease when we leave so that he wouldn't have to find a new place to stay again. It became more and more clear through his domineering behavior that he took that to mean the house was his now and we were guests in his home instead of the other way around. I'm skipping a lot but I think the most important thing to note is I have PTSD from being a dv survivor, and his behavior was constantly tirggering me to the point I recently went for a grippy sock vacation.
On Monday things came to a head after an incident in which he claimed he was calling for help for half an hour after falling, and no one heard him (he did not, the house is less than 800 sq. ft, we hear him when he farts too loud) and he was berating and screaming at us for not coming to help him.
We told him to get out. At first he flat put refused, then he said he would leave but he isn't going anytime soon because he isn't leaving until he finds a good place.
We called our landlord (who full disclosure, is also my mother) and confessed all. She has started the process of evicting him on the grounds that we did not ask her permission to move him in in the first place (so score one for us being dumbasses, I guess) and as of yesterday he has been served with his thirty day written notice to vacate.
So now that the long winded context is covered, here's my question: He's the type of guy who LIVES online. He's not making any effort to leave (I believe he thinks because he is disabled that he has some kind of protection from being evicted, which my reading of Ohio indicates is not accurate, but I could be wrong. Gods I hope I'm not) and is continuing his daily habit of watching YouTube videos and playing games all day. Since he never paid anything towards utilities and didn't even live up the agreement that was made about his level of financial support, can I cut off his internet access? The service and the equipment are all in my name, and the bill comes out of my checking account. And if I can cut it off, what is the best way to go about retrieving the modem, as it is currently in the room he's staying in because that used to be my office when I worked from home, and we never bothered relocating it after I left that job.
Like I said, I probably am just going to call a lawyer so my ass is covered, but I could use some advice in the meantime.
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