A couple who sued their 30-year-old son to force him to leave home have won their case to have him evicted.
Mark and Christina Rotondo first asked Michael to move out of the family home in Camillus, upstate New York, in February, giving him 14 days to leave.
They turned to the court system after the 30-year-old ignored “five notices and an offer of cash to help find new digs”, CNN reports.
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During a 30-minute court appearance on Tuesday, which the local Syracuse Post Standard described as “surreal”, Rotondo argued that he was “not ready” to leave home.
In documents filed with the court, he said his parents had no reason to eject him, adding that he had “never been expected to contribute to household expenses, or assisted with chores and the maintenance of the premises”, where he has lived for the past eight years.
Presiding judge Justice Donald Greenwood urged the defendant to resolve the matter directly with his parents, sat just behind him in the court gallery, but he declined.
Rotondo, who occupies a bedroom in the property, claimed that as a family member he was legally entitled to a six-month notice period.
However, Justice Greenwood rejected the argument as “outrageous” and ruled in favour of Mark and Christina Rotondo.
While letters presented to the court from Rotondo’s parents did not explicitly lay out their reasons for wanting him out, “they do tell him to get a job and move his broken-down Volkswagen Passat”, the Associated Press reports.
The couple and their legal advisers have been instructed to present an eviction notice for the court’s approval.
Rotondo said he intends to appeal.
