Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Oregon
I live in Portland, OR. I moved in with a coworker (who happens to not be on this lease) and her partner (who has lived here for 5 years with various roommates) three months ago. Upon moving in I paid a deposit to the old roommate that was renting my room and was told that the next roommate would have to pay me the same amount, which I didn't question too much. I also paid a deposit directly to management after my application was approved. When I moved into the room I noticed there were fair amounts of damage -- holes/cracks/marks/scuffs on the wall and ceiling, loose or broken fixtures in the restroom, a wobbly door, a closet door that doesn't close and a bent out of shape window screen, plus the window doesn't stay open because the mechanism was broken. These were all things I noticed once I'd moved in. I have not done any damage to the room during my stay here.
Yesterday, May 15th, my roommate called a house meeting and informed me that the two of them would be moving in with one of her friends, closing out the lease here, and that they were moving in there on June 12th, but that there would most likely be some overlap between the two places while they moved everything. This makes things complicated for me -- I have no money for a deposit or rent anywhere else, because I wasn't expecting to move. I told them okay and contacted a friend of mine who is going to let me stay with her for awhile. So I decided that I would be moved out by June 1st. This way, all my bills and rent will have been paid and I won't be facing prorated charges along with trying to find a new place and coming up with money for that. When I talked to my roommate about it today, she said that wouldn't work because I was legally obligated to give her a 30 day notice and that the notice to her technically started yesterday, since that's when she told me about it. She said that her and our other roommate "couldn't afford to do the last month on their own." I also asked about getting my deposit back since the room was damaged before I moved in, I have only been here for three months and she has been here for so long. She said that she hopes the management will give "a little bit of the deposit back" but "isn't sure." She was also talking about the deposit for the entire townhouse - not my room that I paid the deposit for, nor did she mention the I deposit paid to the last roommate.
My questions are:
1. Am I correct in thinking that I am not obligated to give her a 30 day notice when she is the one who surprised me by saying she was moving out in less than a month, closing out the lease, etc.? She is the one that decided to move, I wasn't looking at other places. How is it giving notice to someone if they're leaving and I had no idea about it until now? She said that her telling me about the move was my notice -- that doesn't make sense to me, plus she is saying my notice started May 15th, making June 15th my earliest move out date, when she's apparently moving June 12th... which is later than a 30 day notice to myself.
2. Am I legally supposed to get my deposit back, since I have caused no damage to the room whatsoever and have only been here 3 months?
I really would like to be out by June 1st, and I would like to go to management and tell them what's going on and ask about my portion of the deposit, I just want to know the laws on this first so I know what I'm doing when I talk to my roommates again. Sorry for the long post -- just wanted the details to be there.
She didn't give you proper legal notice but told you she was leaving. Check your rental agreement (if you have one) to see if it addresses the issue; if not see this link:
She apparently knows little about the law where rentals are concerned.
Next time around, familiarize yourself with the law so you know what questions to ask and what documentation you need before committing yourself - and always take a set of dated photographs when you move in as well as photos showing how you left the premises when you move out. Good luck!
Sounds like you were taken advantage of alittle by your roomie who probably had an 'exit strategy' in place from the day you moved in and paid deposits / rents etc ...
Look around for a home owner who rents out rooms in a nice home in your area.
Most likely will be a cheaper price and a much nicer place to stay as well as far more lenient deposits / lease etc ...
This was a learning experience for you ... be wary in the future as this scenario happens quite often.
You aren't on a lease....Ignore her. She is leaving you in the lurch....and it sounds like she wanted you to cover expenses there while she was moving.
I suppose your deposit went to help her move...I think you've been used, and you owe her nothing...imo
If you didn't sign a lease you can come and go as you please. As for refunded deposits the whole situation is odd. Because of the situation I would take it as a learning experience and cut my losses, no way you are getting the "deposit" paid to the old roommate back. It is very sketchy that you had to pay another deposit to the management that doesn't normally happen. You get screened and accepted and the previous deposits should be sufficient.
If you are on a lease then you have to abide by the terms therein and we can't really make suggestions or give advice. Don't pay deposits to people, only to landlords in the future. And don't pay deposits on a space you haven't inspected before. If you did pay deposits and are on a lease, in Az anyway, you are supposed to be given a move-in checklist in which you are given 5 days to fill out which lists any damages and have returned.
I'm a landlord, and I would want the house back by whatever date the tenant gave in their notice. I'd expect it to be clean and undamaged. All damages, fees due, and rent due would be taken out of the deposit and whatever was left (and it sounds like there won't be any left) would be returned to whatever person gave it to me in the first place.
Whatever the roommates paid to each other in deposits, or whatever rental agreements they made with each other, are not my problem, and I am not going to accept them as my problem.
OP, if you have any sort of agreement with the landlord, and by the landlord, I mean the owner of the house, not the primary tenant, you give the landlord your written notice that you will be vacating in 30 days. That doesn't really get you off the hook, but it helps, because maybe the landlord will be generous with you and not hold you responsible if others in the house hold over (which he could and he might and it is legal for him to do so).
You owe a 30 day notice that you are vacating. Your roommate/ sorta landlord owes you a 30 day notice to vacate because you've been there for less than a year. Yes, you are legally obligated to pay rent until the end of the thirty day period. If you don't have any written agreement, then by Oregon law, you are a month to month tenant and all the landlord tenant law that applies to every month to month tenant applies to you.
It sounds like you didn't properly report the damage to the room immediately and preferably before you moved in, so you are going to get charged for it. The fellow who should have paid for it, you gave him his deposit back and he is long gone, never to return that money to you.
The landlord doesn't return any deposit money until he has his house back, which means everyone out and the keys returned to him.
Just a suggestion: if you like living there, contact the landlord and see if you and the other newly homeless roommates can rent the house from when when the primary roommate moves out. Either the owner of the house has been deceived, or else he doesn't care who is living there as long as he gets his rent. Normally, landlords don't like the tenant carousel with who knows moving in and out all the time, so maybe he'd be happy for you to take over.
If you do that, get a proper lease and have a thorough written agreement with any tenant you sublet to.
Just a suggestion: if you like living there, contact the landlord and see if you and the other newly homeless roommates can rent the house from when when the primary roommate moves out.
There are three people sharing the unit and the other two are moving out together.
My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Oregon
I live in Portland, OR. I moved in with a coworker (who happens to not be on this lease) and her partner (who has lived here for 5 years with various roommates) three months ago. Upon moving in I paid a deposit to the old roommate that was renting my room and was told that the next roommate would have to pay me the same amount, which I didn't question too much. I also paid a deposit directly to management after my application was approved. When I moved into the room I noticed there were fair amounts of damage -- holes/cracks/marks/scuffs on the wall and ceiling, loose or broken fixtures in the restroom, a wobbly door, a closet door that doesn't close and a bent out of shape window screen, plus the window doesn't stay open because the mechanism was broken. These were all things I noticed once I'd moved in. I have not done any damage to the room during my stay here.
Yesterday, May 15th, my roommate called a house meeting and informed me that the two of them would be moving in with one of her friends, closing out the lease here, and that they were moving in there on June 12th, but that there would most likely be some overlap between the two places while they moved everything. This makes things complicated for me -- I have no money for a deposit or rent anywhere else, because I wasn't expecting to move. I told them okay and contacted a friend of mine who is going to let me stay with her for awhile. So I decided that I would be moved out by June 1st. This way, all my bills and rent will have been paid and I won't be facing prorated charges along with trying to find a new place and coming up with money for that. When I talked to my roommate about it today, she said that wouldn't work because I was legally obligated to give her a 30 day notice and that the notice to her technically started yesterday, since that's when she told me about it. She said that her and our other roommate "couldn't afford to do the last month on their own." I also asked about getting my deposit back since the room was damaged before I moved in, I have only been here for three months and she has been here for so long. She said that she hopes the management will give "a little bit of the deposit back" but "isn't sure." She was also talking about the deposit for the entire townhouse - not my room that I paid the deposit for, nor did she mention the I deposit paid to the last roommate.
My questions are:
1. Am I correct in thinking that I am not obligated to give her a 30 day notice when she is the one who surprised me by saying she was moving out in less than a month, closing out the lease, etc.? She is the one that decided to move, I wasn't looking at other places. How is it giving notice to someone if they're leaving and I had no idea about it until now? She said that her telling me about the move was my notice -- that doesn't make sense to me, plus she is saying my notice started May 15th, making June 15th my earliest move out date, when she's apparently moving June 12th... which is later than a 30 day notice to myself.
2. Am I legally supposed to get my deposit back, since I have caused no damage to the room whatsoever and have only been here 3 months?
I really would like to be out by June 1st, and I would like to go to management and tell them what's going on and ask about my portion of the deposit, I just want to know the laws on this first so I know what I'm doing when I talk to my roommates again. Sorry for the long post -- just wanted the details to be there.
To answer your questions:
1. No. You are not required to give her notice, because she gave you notice first.
2. Yes.
These guys intend to take you to the cleaners, in my opinion. I just read Oregon's law regarding security deposits, and this is what I would do.
You can move out any time. What happens then, is the landlord can then take out any rent you owe from your security deposit. I'm confused about you paying a security deposit to both the manager and the roommate, but here's what I believe you should do.
1. Give written notice to both your roommates and the manager saying you will be out by June 1st. And be sure and put your forwarding address on both of them. Make sure you have a copy. An email would be fine.
If either of them say anything about you moving out at that time, just say, "Well, just take anything I owe you out of my security deposit." If they say your security deposit won't cover it, or any other excuse, just say, "Well, I'll have to deal with it after I move out." They can't make you stay.
Don't tell them anything you learned about OR law regarding security deposits. Because, if it was me, I'd wait to see if they screw up. If they do, then you can sue them for twice your deposit. This is true for BOTH the roommate and the landlord.
It's true for the roommate, too, because it says so right in OR law. If someone is taking your rent, they must follow the laws for landlords. That includes the roommate.
Then, count 32 days from the day you move out. In OR, they have 31 days from the day you move out to send you your deposit refund and/or an itemization of deductions. If they don't do that, they lose all right to any of it.
And if they did not send you an itemization, or they kept it in bad faith, they have to give you twice the amount of the deposit. Even if you moved out owing rent. They can't deduct for anything, if they don't follow the law correctly in the time frame allowed.
So, move out as soon as possible for your own sanity. And just use this mantra - "Just take it out of the security deposit." I also wouldn't even bother to clean it.
They are going to go nuts, probably, because they were expecting to keep your deposit AND collect rent from you at the beginning of June. Too bad. So sad. Don't let them bully you.
Now, the manager will probably comply on their end regarding your deposit. But, they still can't deduct for a bunch of stuff that isn't allowed. So, see what they do and decide if it's worth suing the manager.
But, the roommate will probably not follow the law, then you can sue her in small claims court, and ask the court to make her pay your court fees, too. You don't need a lawyer to do this.
She'll probably try and say that you paid the last roommate, so you have to go after her. I disagree with that idea. Because you gave that money to the old roommate on the direction of the roommate you'd be paying rent to. She told you what to do with the deposit. She's the one you paid rent to. She has to give it back to you. And she'll probably have to give you twice what you gave her. And it serves her right.
But, I advise you to not give anyone a clue that you know the law or what they're supposed to do. That will be your best bet on getting your money back.
Good luck. And enjoy giving them a consequence for their bad behavior, that they never saw coming.
Last edited by NoMoreSnowForMe; 05-18-2015 at 09:16 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
