Is a House Sitter a Tenant? (Big Lake, Eagle: sale, real estate, 2013)

[sduggins]

Hi, I have a question.
I have a house sitter that is just not working out. She signed a House Sitting Agreement in August 2013 for a year. She would get to live in my house, providing she paid the utilities, (in her name) and kept up with the snow removal as needed.
She has continually broken all the rules set out in the HS Agreement and finally I had to tell her she needed to find a new place. She took the utilities out of her name prior to getting final meter reads and such done, and is going to stick me with the bill.
But! That isn't my question. "Is she, under Alaska law a tenant?" I found some legal advise for a California man that was having the same issue, and they said that under CA law, the tenant was not a tenant because they did not pay rent.
Does anyone know if this is true for Alaska or not? If she is a tenant, I will have to go through the eviction process. If she is not, I think it then just becomes a civil suite in small claims court. I would just like to find out how to proceed.
Thank you for any insight, I have read the Alaska Landlord Tenant Act right-side up, upside down and sideways about 3 times, and searched the Alaska statutes for any clear indication of a definition.
They all say that a tenant is someone who occupies a dwelling at the consent of a Landlord, but they all mention rent or rental/lease agreements. And I don't charge rent. And it is a House Sitting Agreement, and she signed it that she would pay utilities and keep up with the property maintenance (snow removal).
Thank you anyone that has any insight to this.
The Hapless Home Owner in Big Lake, Alaska

[AADAD]

Give her a date make sure she leaves change the locks. Handle all the bull**** (if it arrives) at that time. Pay the utility bill and arrange for security cams front and rear. End of story. Make notes how the agreement was violated. You are giving her far to much control in this situation. No judge is going to rule in her favor is she violated the agreement she signed and you can prove it.

[Frostnip]

I suspect you headed into murky territory as soon as you had her put your house's utilities in her name. That goes a bit beyond someone sacking out on your sofa for a few weeks to water the plants and clean the catbox while you're on vacation.

[sduggins]

Thanks for the advice. I already have one security cam in the front, and anyone who pulls in the drive goes right by it. The reason for having a long term house sitter is that I am a DOD contract worker and can be gone months/year at a time. My partner that I bought the house with moved this summer to warmer climates and we decided not to sell in this market. With the cost of rent especially if you have pets so high, having someone that wants a place to live, enjoys freedom and quiet, (the house is kinda off the beaten path, but there is a road), and can bring their doggie or kitty or whatever, just for the cost of paying the utilities and removing snow in the winter (I have a snow blower, nice one), and riding my lawn mower in the summer, I didn't think was too much. $600.00 is the utility avg, and if the person(s) are industrious they can cut wood for the wood stove on the 80 acres behind my 5 acres. It will cut at least 200 off the utilities. Of course if they run every light in the house all winter, it will show on the bill. That is why I wanted someone to have the utilities in their name. I don't even have any pets or plants for them to take care of.
Sorry for the long explanation, but what I really need to know is if a house sitter is classifies as a tenant under the darn Landlord Tenant Act in AK. In California it isn't.
Question: In CA tenant-landlord:

Question: If someone is "housesitting" a property, paying the utility bills directly to the utility company and no rent to the owner, is that person considered a tenant, with the rights a tenant has? There is not a formal written agreement, and the offer made to the sitter was that he would "sit" or "stay" at the property until its sale or disposition is determined (the property would otherwise be vacant), and that he need pay only the utilities.

Response: No, because the house sitter does not meet the definition of a tenant as defined by California Department of Consumer Affairs

[AKStafford]

To really get a question to your answer, you need to contact a lawyer who specializes in rentals & real estate. Us yahoo's on this forum or just going to give our best guess or grief for not doing something different.
In 24 seconds on the Googles I found the Alaska Bar Association's Lawyer Referral page: https://www.alaskabar.org/servlet/co...rral_serv.html

[sduggins]

Thank you for the reply, I figured I might have to go the lawyer route. I was hoping maybe someone had seen something about this somewhere else, like where I found it for CA.
My problem is lawyers cost money. And have nada allocated for this at this time. If I have to do the small claims with all that jazz, it is going to cost me money also. I have put in a request with the Alaska Law self help to see if they can talk with me about this. I was also going to call a couple of Real Estate folks I know and see if they had any experience or could point me in the right direction. It seems like a pretty straightforward matter, but, for the life of me, I cannot find it in black and white.
But, thank you again, contacting a lawyer is usually for grey areas the way to go. I just don't know any cheap ones!

[AADAD]

There is a property management company in Eagle River Partners Properties which may be able to help you if you do decide to rent it or may have connections to keep your home in shape while you are not there.

[Dakster]

Have you tried just asking the person to leave? What do they say? What is the length of time on the contract that your sitter signed?

I have ZERO AK landlord tenant law experience - but common sense says there is a contract in place. It has been breached by one person not doing what they promised, if the other person doesn't want to just pay THEIR bills, pack up and leave, then the matter is in the courts hands. The reason they put the utilities in their name is so that the utility company goes after them, not you. The next person coming in should be able to just start at "zero" and go from there. Again, not sure if AK has a weird law about the property owner being responsible and not the person that agreed to pay for the services.

Just like CA Law and AK Law are different, my experience in another state can't be applied here either. So I am going by common business practices.

Good luck with your issue and I hope it gets resolved soon.

[sduggins]

Hey Guys! I was steered to a link by a Lawyer in Texas and found that the United Way in AK sponsors a free real estate attorney on Thursdays from 6-8pm. You just call in and ask your question. This is what he said.
Alaska does not have a cut and dried difference between House Sitting contracts and The LT Law. If your HS contract looks like a lease, they are going to rule it comes under the LT Law. He said that all things considered (just like you all were saying) that it basically comes down to a breach of contract. I would have to file in small claims court and try to get my money back. So! Since she already came and retrieved her belongings, I will have to wait until the 3rd of February to see if she is going to pay for the utilities. That is what the original email to her stated. After that, court time! Guess I better find some clean clothes!
Thank you all for your answers. You all were right on!

[Dakster]

Gotta a question, how are you out money on the Utilities if they are in her name? Did she never move them over?

Either way sounds like you have a good plan now.