Subletted temporarily without a lease and now she wants to leave (sublet, how much)

[Sunnyinthecity]

Hi all!

So here's the 411. My roommate who was on my lease abruptly decided to move out. I got a new roommate and had her move in before signing a new lease, though one was in the works (slow management) so the goal was to have her in legally. New roomy paid first and last to me. She has been here one month and a half and we finally got the new lease paperwork to start her in for Jan 1st. However, before signing it she just told me she wants to move to NYC at the end of the month instead (basically giving me a week and a half in the middle of the holiday season to find a new roommate). I have her last months rent. Can I keep that to cover January's rent or do I have to give it back because it was an illegal agreement? I dont want to do anything illegal, but i dont want to get screwed either. Any thoughts would help!

[MikePRU]

I'm no attorney so don't take my advice too seriously in this matter, but my understanding is that without a lease your roomate would be considered a tenant-at-will. I believe a TAW only owes to the landlord 30 days notice. You should be able to keep her last month's rent or at the very least half of it. I'm sure there's some resource on the state's website that can give you a more firm answer though.

[SuperSparkle928]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

I'm no attorney so don't take my advice too seriously in this matter, but my understanding is that without a lease your roomate would be considered a tenant-at-will. I believe a TAW only owes to the landlord 30 days notice. You should be able to keep her last month's rent or at the very least half of it. I'm sure there's some resource on the state's website that can give you a more firm answer though.

I am not an attorney either, but I have a couple of places where the people that live there are TAW's.... my lawyer told me they only have to give 30 days notice, but he also said the polite thing for them to do is give 60 days notice. I would guess you would be able to keep a pro-rated amount of the last month's rent.

[xS☺B☺s]

Hey what's the penalty for not giving back the deposit promptly? How much hassle will it be for her to come back for court and foot all the court expenses? You could hold that money for a while if you want and get away with it for quite a long time if you like. I doubt the sheriff will come. Hey if she's walking out leaving you hold the bag, hold her ough a little while till you fix the problem she's creating.

[lumibird]

Do you have a written sublet agreement for the period of time she was living there informally? And if so, does your lease allow you to sublet? If not, I don't think either of you are protected if there was no written agreement between your roommate and the landlord for the period of time she was living there before signing a formal lease agreement. Also, a security deposit and last month's rent are legally different things.

I think you need to work this out informally. When does her current rent period end? Did she pay December 1 for all of December? Is she leaving after January 1? Another question: did you give her a receipt for the last month's rent payment to you?

I don't think she is a tenant at will since she did not have a legal agreement with the landlord to be living there. You may see if she's willing to work this out informally, and perhaps refund her 1/2 of the last month's rent. But if she asks for all of it back, I'd give it to her to protect yourself, since it seems from what you said that she was living there informally. I don't think she has legal recourse to get it back from you, especially since she has nothing in writing (and perhaps not a receipt?), but if she goes to your landlord, the landlord could take recourse against you.