Parents sue 30-year-old son who refuses to move out of home

Most parents dread the day their adult children decide to fly the coop and leave home, but one American couple have gone to drastic measures to get rid of their son.

Mark and Christina Rotondo have a 30-year-old son, who they’ve been forced to sue in an attempt to get him to move out of the family home. According to an ABC news report in America, the parents gave Michael five written notices to move out. Unfortunately for them, he ignored all the messages and refused to budge.

The first, issued in February, gave Michael two weeks to vacate the property, with his parents telling him they would “take whatever actions are necessary” to have him removed. When he ignored the notice, his parents were forced to issue a second letter.

The second note was issued several weeks later and informed Michael he was evicted. When he ignored that message, his parents offered him US$1,100 (A$1,451) to help him get on his feet and to remove his belongings from the house. They even offered their son help finding work. Like the previous notes, this message also fell on deaf ears.

Read more: The rotating door, the problem with adult children who keep coming home

Another note was issued in March, where again, the parents warned Michael that they would need to take further action because he’d shown no intentions of moving out.

When that failed, they were left with no other option but to sue their son and take him to court. The Rotondos took Michael to the New York Supreme Court. 

While a number of different circumstances can see adult children living at home, it is believed Michael returned to the family home eight years ago after losing a job. He doesn’t pay rent or do any chores and is reportedly disrespectful to his parents. Michael claimed while his family provided him with accommodation, they didn’t feed him or do his laundry. 

An article by Syracuse that the only way to have Michael removed from the family home was for the Rotondos to file an ejectment proceeding. A judge ordered Michael to leave the family home. Michael is believed to have been upset by the decision, labelling it as “outrageous”. He will appeal the judge’s decision and said he wasn’t given enough time to vacate the property – despite being warned several months ago. He asked for an additional six months to move out, but the court told him family members don’t get special treatment.

While families may not always go to these lengths, it’s a common trend for adult children to live at home longer. According to recent findings by Domain, the number of Australian adults aged 20 to 24 still living at home with their parents jumped from 41.4 per cent to 43.4 per cent between 2011 and 2016. Furthermore, numbers increased from 15.7 per cent to 17 per cent for people aged between 25 and 29.

What do you think? How old were your kids when they moved out of home? Would you ever sue your children if they refused to leave?