Desperately need help pertaining to tenants rights!?

[seager]

my friend has been living with me for the past eight months, and his girlfriend moved in four months ago.
he's been telling me he has tenata rights (I have no idea, but it sounds like he does), so I've been approaching this from a legal standpoint.
on Feb. 28, I told them they needed to leave by April 1. that's fai, right?

yesterday (03/06), I locked my apartment door because they've both already been paid had refuse to give me the $800 they they owe me.
he's threatening to call such and such authorities (I'm not withholding their stuff, they can come get it, but I also don't think it's fair they think they can live here for free). they owe last months utilities, and this months rent.
so he's using the law, and then choosing which parts to abide by, because it's not legal to refuse to pay your landlord.

can anybody tell me what to do? or how to handle this? what rights he does and does not have, and if he refuses to pay me, what I can do to get that money?
I'm so in over my head, and don't even know why I'm going through this. he's being a complete jerk about the situation, continually telling me he's not going to let me screw him over, but I'm not even trying. I'm asking for money they owe. period. he's completely screwing me over if he doesn't pay me.

[han]

If he is on the lease he has a legal right to enter the apartment but she does not have the right to live there, your state landlord/tenant laws will tell you how many days a visitor can stay and then they must move out.}{

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[albanwr26]

IF a person has been living there and paying rent, they are (by definition) a "tenant". Tenants have various rights, including the right to enter until they are evicted or otherwise excluded through a court procedure.

It is quite possible that you can be sued for "illegal eviction" if you locked the door or changed the locks. Some jurisdictions can also charge you with "disorderly conduct" and slap you with a fine.

The day after his rent was due, you could have given him notice of intent to evict for nonpayment. At the end of the required waiting period (varies from state to state) you could sue for eviction, if he hadn't paid yet. That is all you can do. He's not trespassing -- he's a "tenant" until a court orders otherwise. As a fringe benefit of using the court, you can also ask for a legal "attachment" on all of his valuable property (including salary, bank account and tax refund) as a security for his payment.