I have a friend who moved into an apartment 6 months ago with her boyfriend. Things didn’t work out and after 3-4 months she moved out.
The lease is 12 mo’s.
She continued to pay her share for a couple of months and asked the ex-boyfriend to find a roommate. He refused and has taken the position she will continue to pay her portion of the rent even though she no longer lives there and for the next 5 mo’s or so until the lease ends.
She has offered to pay for a newspaper ad to help her ex find a roommate or even a new apartment. He refuses to do either of these.
Her part of the rent is $300 per mo.
Does anyone know what legal options she may have to resolve this situation?
Does she need to go to small claims court?
Does she have legal grounds to break her lease and walk away?
Thanks for any help.
.
-Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain-
Replies
She's probably on the hook.
happy?
the terms of the lease should spell all of that out without question. typically, lessees and mortgagees are independently responsible for 100% of the obligation no matter if there is one or ten people on the document.
small claims court is typically where a rental issue is resolved.
Dave
Did she sign the lease?
For our building here in NJ, one person signs as the lessee, or person responsible. If that ain't her, quit wasting her time and tell him to work some OT or get a roomie.
But, things could be different there in the heartland.
Yes she signed the lease. Her position is that the boyfriend has a responsibility to "mitigate damages" meaning he has a duty to try to resolve this by either moving into a his own place, getting a roommate, or paying the rent himself.She's also considering that she will stop paying her rent and asking the landlord to go ahead and evict her and the roommate. She could then pay for a newspaper ad to find new tenants..++++++++++++++++
-Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain-
If she sighned a lease, she is wrong to break it and not pay the landlord. It is not the owner's fault that she changed her mind about her romance
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Mrfixit, residential leases are easy to break. Most landlords would be fine with a voluntary moveout if the tenant decides to stop paying and force an eviction.
If she signed the lease and the boyfriend moved in, that might be construed as a sublease. He might have rights. If the lease contained a clause that prohibited subleases ( most residential leases would prohibit sub leasing), then maybe he wouldn't have any rights because it would breach that contract.
Personally, I'd stop paying and let him pay it all or I'd get him evicted and stay there myself. It sounds like the ex is taking advantage of her and likes having a two person apt alone. Don't enable him.
blue
Piffin is right.The landlord has nothing to do with any agreement that they had between themself. He will go after them BOTH.She can't use the landlord to settle her dispute with the x-friend.Same thing happens all the time in divorces.One is suppose to pay the credit card debits or pay the house mortgage.But if they don't and account is in both name the bank will go after the other spouse. The divorce only affect what goes on between the two. It does not affect the relation that they had with the bank.
Does she have legal grounds to break her lease and walk away?
From what I've gathered while living in a few different states it's fair to say it varies all over the place as to who gets screwed in the end if things go bad.
What does her lease say? She's signed a contract that probably spells out a few things such as the who, what, when and how of breaking the lease.
Can she put it all out on the table for the property manager and simply ask for their guidence and direction on how to both fulfill the current financial obligation to the owner and get out from subsidizing the ex boyfriend? A few friends of mine with rentals would probably side with her and pressure the boyfriend to sign a new lease reflecting the fact that the conditions have changed with only one person habitating the apartment.
Going to small claims court is quick and easy so she wouldn't have much to lose, although the judge probably won't let her get out of the lease. She may be able to get some relief from the boyfriend if he's the cause of making the living situation unworkable. Just don't go to judge judy or we all know she'll get chewed out and thrown out the door. :-)
I can't begin to imagine that she would have any basis for a claim in small claims court. How has she been deprived? or Defrauded? She is the one looking to deprive somebody else of what is due them.The way for her to end up in court is to quit paying the rent and let theem come after her. She has no leg to stand on either way, based on what is presented here.I understand that there are extenuating circumstances on a personal and maybe even moral level, but that has nothing to do with her legal debts and dues that she already made promise on. The guy isprobablyu a twirp and she is better off away from him, but his twirpiness does not release her bond.
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I can't begin to imagine that she would have any basis for a claim in small claims court. How has she been deprived? or Defrauded? She is the one looking to deprive somebody else of what is due them.
As far as the lease with the property manager goes, we both agree that there isn't much the girl can do to change those terms.
It's not so much that she wants to get away with something for free, but that she entered into an agreement to occupy a rental in return for $xxx. If it is impossible for her to recieve the benefit of occupying the space do to the actions of another then there is a chance, however small, that the judge would consider it reasonable to expect the boyfriend to compensate her for the loss of use--essentially her half of the rent.
This situation is far more common than you realize. Frankly unless the guy did something really violent I imagine most small claims judges would pass on the situation. Going under the theory of: you got yourself in the mess, pay to get out of it and you will learn something.
I have landlorded for 20 years and have seen this situation at least 6 times. My stance has always been I don't care who pays, but someone has to. In our state the list of evictions that is public record is a powerful incentive to work it out among yourselves as most landlords don't rent to someone that has had an eviction. Although some will after 5 years. DanT
Well, I understand the other factors, and agree with others that as a practical thing, the landlord might be willing to ease off onher if the place can be sublet again, but as long as the guy is ion there and the rent paid, he can't be evicted and she has a legal obligation that I doubt the judge would let her skip on.
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She will think twice before shacking up with a new boyfriend again. :-)
on all my leases i get as many people as i can to sign for them... if one doesn't pay then one will... then they need to fight each other, i didn't pick their partner or friends...
if her name is anywhere on the lease the last thing she wants to do is not let the rent get paid.... if dude is an #### and doesn't care about his credit and has nothing to sue for... he might pocket her half of the rent not pay the rent at all ride it out as long as he can... and she'll still have to pay.. plus all the fees lawyers evection ect... they will sue the one who they can... A. find and B. collect from so she might end up... pay'n double.... the flip side to that is... if both names are on the lease and he cares about his credit she could stop paying him anything and if he cared at all he'd need to find a way to pay... that or as long as she is pay'n half the rent and her name is on the lease she should spend alot of time there... really do if he has dates... or invite some homeless people to spend the nite in her room... or move back in with her new boyfriend... lots of options... but in the end she still has to pay half... her bad choice...
p
All the advice above is good basic information and wonderful moral lessons. The fact is however it simply depends on your state laws. Each state governs tennant/landlord relationships differently. Either go to the library, google it or if you know a landlord in your home state give them a call. They can let you know what is possible and what is not. DanT
Thanks to all for the excellent advice.I don't know if I made it clear or not but both names are on the lease. Also, the apartment is two bedroom. Also, she paid two months rent in deposits prior to moving in.I didn't go into a lot of detail previously but the woman I'm refering to had handled the difficult situation responsibly. She contacted the property management company and talked with them several months prior to moving out. They were very understanding of her circumstances and situation.She did not leave because she didn't like the color scheme of the apartment. She was incompatable with the boyfriend and when the relationship ended she had become so distraught she ended up in psychological counseling to deal with her emotions - sadness, etc.It was pretty rough on her.The property management company is fully aware of the situation and will gladly work with her as she pays the costs of finding either a new roommate or new tenant. What's interesting is her new apartment is with the same property management company. It's in a different building though.I would like to see her go to small claims court and get it resolved. If she wins that's great. If she loses she can continue to pay and maybe start getting some use of the room she's paying for. Mayber she could do something good for humanity and let homeless people start staying there. I guess another option for her to sublease the apartment. Maybe she could rent it for more than what she's paying.I was talking with a friend last week. He owns rentals and he suggested she offer full cooperation for a month or two and if the ex-roommate won't be reasonable she should simply stop paying.He indicated her worst case scenario is to lose in small claims court and then either pay or have a judgement against her. He commented it likely would never go that far as she would just lose her deposits and then it's over.He indicated as a general rule most landlords don't go to court as it's too costly and time consuming. They just keep the deposits, find new tenants, move on.Thanks again and I appreciate all the comments and suggestions. There is a wealth of knowledge here on this message board..++++++++++++++++
-Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain-
Can the idea of doing good for humanity and letting homeless people stay there unless she wants to shoulder the cost of damages to the apartment and possibly her reputation.From my experience in managing property in this state, (new england area), if you signed a lease, you are liable for your portion, or possibly the entire rent remaining whether you decide to move out or not. Most landlords will usually charge a month or two until they get the place rented again, plus any cost incurred in preparing for the next rental (repairs, cleanup). Since she paid two months deposit and also assumed the responsibility of continuing to pay her share once she left, I think she'd have a hard time arguing in court that she should just up and decided that she paid enough and won't be responsible for the remainder.As for boyfriend, if he's a deadbeat and not paying his share, owners will probably and can, boot him anyway. You should be able to get a copy of tenant/landlord laws at your local library or by talking with someone at the small claims court in your district.
He indicated as a general rule most landlords don't go to court as it's too costly and time consuming.
Your friend is exactly right. I owned a rental for 13 years and did the same thing. Early in my rental "career" I took a few folks to court, and quickly realized that even if you DO win, it's a hollow win because either a) the judge gives you a lot less than you deserved, and/or b) it's virtually impossible to collect from people - nor is it worth the time. If I were her I'd send a certified letter to the ex and CC the property manager, laying out what she's already offered, how much she's already paid for a place that she's not utilizing, etc. Then I'd give him 30 days to find a new tenant, and after that she stops paying her half of the rent. She's probably going to lose her two months deposit, but I guess that's life.
Given her emotions it might be wise to let someone else write this firm letter (YOU?).
- Rob
> He indicated as a general rule most landlords don't go to court as
> it's too costly and time consuming.My son had a landlord who didn't go to court because no one could ever find him to serve him with a summons. (My son and his roommates were trying to get their deposit back after the building was condemned.)
If ignorance is bliss why aren't more people
happy?
I was living in Columbus Ohio with my dad. He had a 12 month lease on an apartment with only three months on the lease. He got transfer by his company to corpus christi tx. They would not break the lease. We ask if they could renyt it out. There reply was "why ,you got pay 12 months" We lost we had to pay for 12 months. No way out.. 2+3=7
The other thing is make sure she is paying the landlord directly for her share and not her ex. Which I am guessing she is. Also since the LL is already aware of the situation might see if she can get them to do some sort of walk through to see the condition of the place now. In 5 months her ex-boyfriend may trash the place and have her on the hook for that, but that is what the two months deposit is for.
heck I've all but never found anyone who had enough money for a 2 month deposit... 1month if i'm real lucky
p
Sounds like she might be able to mount a case for mental abuse or something, but that has no bearing on this rental.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
As others have said, I, too, believe she's on the hook for the rent. But since she's talked to the management company and they've been willing to work with her and get her another apartment won't they work with her to get the old lease re-worked, i.e., get it in the ex-boyfriends name only? As a negotiating point, it might be worth it to let them keep the security deposit in his name just to end it.
Even though they weren't married it's just like a divorce - 'taint easy nor cheap to get out of it and move on.
-Norm
I agree Norm. The lady needs to discuss the options with the landlord. If the landlord is good to her, he'll probably win a customer for a very long time. If you were a landlord, who would you want to keep happy, a guy that wants to live free, or a woman who just wants to pay her own way through life.
I'd want the woman for my long term customer.
blue
My friend has applied for assistance with state funded legal services and she'll know more in a week or two. Right or wrong and legal or not, she simply doesn't have the money to pay rent in two places.It's going to be interesting to see what transpires over the next month or two..^^^^^^"and that's all I've got to say about that"
Again she needs to check on state law .
She should have already filed against her room mate and let a judge hear it .
If she doesnt pay the landlord , one of two things will happen.
1. The boyfriend will pay the rent
2. The boyfriend will be evicted and it will end the costs what ever they may be . In my state if I rented the place a remaining 3 months of the lease I could not recapture double . Its against the law. If I had an empty place I would rent it becuse as others have said I dont stand a good chance of getting paid by the previous tennants. If I was unable to rent it for the remaining 3 months then they would certainly owe me .
In my lease which doesnt count here ;
When it rents again thats stops charges.
She needs to know that .
Tim