Does someone getting mail at your house give them a right to live there?

Attorney Tom Olsen: I want to cover this mail issue, because over the years I've had a lot of people say, "Oh, Tom, they're getting their mail at my house. That means they actually have a legal right to live there." Some kind of rights are generated, simply by the fact that somebody's getting mail coming to your home. Does that have anything to do with it?

Attorney Caleb Maggio: It does not give you an absolute right. Now, for certain instances, one of the things they consider in determining whether you have a right to stay somewhere is, do you get your mail there? That is not a determinative factor. That's one prong of a many prong test. Simply just because you're getting mail somewhere, that doesn't give you any rights to live there, or squat there. It just may be evidence that you do live there, if there is a good faith dispute whether you do.

Tom: Would that be a situation, where you would advise somebody that, "Okay, you can let somebody stay at your house for a few days, but don't ever let them, allow them to start having their mail forwarded to your home address."?

Caleb: Exactly, Tom. In fact, in the unlawful detainer statute, which would govern a situation like that, one of the things the court is required to look at when determining whether you can kick somebody out of your house is, does the guest get their mail at that premises? Because that's evidence that they do, in fact, reside there, and they're not just a transient occupant, is what we call someone who's only been there for a few days, or weeks.