{"id":7517,"date":"2023-10-27T15:32:02","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T15:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/portal.bluetogold.com\/?p=7517"},"modified":"2026-09-17T06:40:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T13:40:21","slug":"long-term-stay-eviction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/portal.bluetogold.com\/?p=7517","title":{"rendered":"Long Term Stay Eviction"},"content":{"rendered":"

LONG TERM STAY EVICTION<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hello again.\u00a0 This is Anthony Bandiero, attorney and senior legal instructor for Blue to Gold Law Enforcement Training, bringing a question from the great state of Idaho, which is going to be my future residence one day.<\/p>\n

This question is, \u201cCan police evict tenants or occupants from a long term stay motel?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is this area of the law that is really underdeveloped.\u00a0 We certainly have a lot of cases from evicting people from motels and hotels, and of course, we have lots of cases from trying to get people out of apartments and houses.<\/p>\n

Then in between those two is the long term stay; the extended stay America type of situation. And let’s go through it.\u00a0 This is good stuff here.<\/p>\n

So here’s the scenario. A local hotel, it was a Motel Six, and now it’s called the Extended Stay.\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, extended stay.\u00a0 I would love to live there.\u00a0 It just sounds like a beautiful place.\u00a0 So the cop gets requests by the staff to evict people<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, while we’re on the subject of evicting people, the questioner is also asking other questions:<\/p>\n

\u201cDo we have to?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cDoes the manager have to give the notice to evict?\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cCan we do it for the manager?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cCan we walk right in through the door?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cCan we use the master key and just walk right in?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Can a motel evict a guest without an eviction order?<\/h2>\n

I’m telling you, this is going to help you because this issue comes up all the time.\u00a0 Okay, let’s first start with the premise of dealing with true hotels that are your stereotypical night-to-night type of scenarios.\u00a0 The law is pretty clear on this one.\u00a0 Hotels and motels have a common law right to evict people for cause.\u00a0 These are what the courts refer to as transient lodging.<\/p>\n

The person knows that they’re not going to be staying there forever, and that if they break the rules, it’s not unreasonable to expect to get the boot.\u00a0 So the law is pretty clear.\u00a0 If the management calls you and says, \u201cHey, we need help,\u201d then this person, because of partying, drugs, smoking, breaking stuff, whatever; the law’s pretty clear that they have to leave.<\/p>\n

What about if they\u2019ve paid for the next week?\u00a0 That’s a civil issue. The money that’s owed is a civil issue. That’s not your problem.<\/p>\n

The next thing is, of course, apartments, houses and rented rooms.\u00a0 We know that those are homes.\u00a0 You cannot go in there and evict people from those tenancy relationships, whether it’s a verbal contract or written; it doesn’t matter because that is their home.\u00a0 The law has an interest in not putting people on the street from their home.\u00a0 Does that make sense?<\/p>\n

How do you tell a long term stay occupant from a hotel guest?<\/h2>\n

So those are your two different situations, and we get to meet in the middle with the long term stay.\u00a0 So here’s my advice.\u00a0 If you’re dealing with an occupant of a hotel, or whatever it is,\u00a0 you may have to inquire about, \u201cIs this their long term stay?\u00a0 What\u2019s this guy’s deal?\u00a0 How long has he been here?\u00a0\u00a0 Did he tell you when he’s leaving?\u201d<\/p>\n

If it seems to you that this long term stay is their home, that this is their plan to stay for a long time\u2019 they’ve been there for a long time, they’ve paid for the room in advance for a while and you\u2019ve been asked to evict them, you’re making case law, right?\u00a0 I can’t find any case law that’s really decided these issues yet.<\/p>\n

If it was me and I believed that this person, the occupant, really believed that this was his new home, and he planned to stay there for a while, I’m going to tell the manager, \u201cGet eviction orders.\u201d\u00a0 That’s just what I would do. \u00a0I’m not looking to make that case law.<\/p>\n

But if I believe that this person is essentially the same type of person that stays at transient lodging like motels, they pay for one day or two days at a time and we’re unsure when they’re leaving, I’m going to treat them like a hotel guest.\u00a0 And therefore they’re subject to immediate eviction.<\/p>\n

Does that help?\u00a0 I’m not trying to confuse this issue.\u00a0 But I think that you should inquire on these situations and see who they are.\u00a0 Are they tenants, or are they a mere transient occupant of a hotel?\u00a0 So that’s what I’m looking for.<\/p>\n

Does staying 30 days make a motel guest a tenant?<\/h2>\n

Some states, like Illinois have a 30 day rule that really helps cops.\u00a0 If they’ve been there for more than 30 days, they definitely get treated like a tenant.\u00a0 So you have to get eviction orders.<\/p>\n

If a person in Illinois hasn’t been there for thirty days, but they paid up for 30 days and intend to stay longer, does that mean that they cannot be evicted at two weeks? The answer is, \u201cI don’t know.\u201d\u00a0 If the court believes that they are tenants and have a reasonable expectation of long term stay, I think you’re going to still have the same problems I’m talking about.<\/p>\n

Does the manager have to be the one who evicts the occupant?<\/h2>\n

Alright, let’s move on to who has to do the eviction.\u00a0 Does the manager have to be the one at the door?\u00a0 The answer is, \u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0 Should they be the one to do it if it’s safe?\u00a0 The answer is, \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Can police walk into a motel room to evict someone?<\/h2>\n

The next question is, \u201cCan we just barge right in?\u201d\u00a0 The answer is, \u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0 Knock and announce applies here.\u00a0 This is a Fourth Amendment issue.\u00a0 We can’t just barge in there and tell them, \u201cHey, you’re out of here!\u201d<\/p>\n

You want to do it professionally.\u00a0 Reasonably give them notice and tell them, \u201cHey, you guys are being evicted.\u201d<\/p>\n

What if they say, \u201cI don’t want to answer the door.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then you say, \u201cYou don’t have a choice.\u00a0 You’re being evicted.\u00a0 Your occupancy ends now.\u201d\u00a0 And then you go from there.<\/p>\n

It’s a very good question.\u00a0 The big takeaway here is to use good judgment.\u00a0 If under the totality of the circumstances<\/a>, the long term stay occupant seems to believe that this is more like an apartment than a hotel, I would get eviction orders.\u00a0 That’s what I would suggest to my cops.<\/p>\n

Alright, I hope it helps you guys.\u00a0 I want to teach as many cops as possible search and seizure so we’re making good case law.\u00a0 Until next time my friends, stay safe.<\/p>\n

Thank you for the question, and keep them coming!<\/p>\n

Related from Blue to Gold<\/h2>\n