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I asked my roommate to leave and now he is sending text messages that he is going to destroy my career and reputation. He has emailed my employment and has now threatened to call my church and is trying to get me evicted from my apartment by saying that I damaged property. Can I stop this before it goes any further?
State/Country relating to Question: California Already Tried: Printed out all text messages. Spoke with those at work who were contacted. Warned bosses and friends of threats.
If you are the only person on the lease with the landlord, then you can evict your roommate exactly the same as if you were the landlord.
If your roommate has emailed your employer and made any sort of threat, then you can file a domestic violence restraining order, because you are living together (even if not in an intimate relationship). If the court finds that the roommate's actions are sufficiently harassing, then it will order the roommate to vacate the premises immediately.
To obtain a DV order, you can simply go to the local courthouse and ask the family court clerk to help you fill out the forms.
Hope this helps.
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He does not live here anymore because he was not on the lease. He is causing the problems because he does not live here. How do I get him to stop the threats and the slander?
Ah...
You can file for a civil harassment order. If you get it, then the next time your roommate plays games, you can have him arrested.
Will this order stop him from contacting others and saying bad things about me?
Contacting you can be restrained. Contacting others could be more difficult. You can ask for a protective order, but you will need to carefully explain how contact with certain persons directly affects you (employer, landlord, church, etc.).
Beyond that, your recourse is a lawsuit for defamation of character, and that means hiring a lawyer, and it won't be worth much, because your roommate probably wouldn't be able to pay a judgment even if you obtained one. But, this person will either stop once there is a protective order is in place, or he will continue the self-destructive behavior until you have justification for an arrest, and once he is arrested, things will quickly change.
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