Illegal Subletting (Need Advice) (Santa Clara: sublease, sublet, apartment)

[lecnlc15]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here. I was away for the Summer so I had subleasers stay in the apartment for the Summer. I didn't know subleasing without permission was illegal so I just had them move in. I had no idea that things in the apartment were getting dramatic and now my subleasers are demanding a refund since they moved out early. Now, they're threatening to tell the apartment manager that I've been illegally subleasing and trying to finesse refunds from me.

I know I messed up, but what should I do? What would happen if the apartment manager finds out? Any legalities I should know? I've been losing sleep over this and would like some advice. Thank you all.

[RosieSD]

I'm not an attorney, so this is not legal advice, but I have been a landlord and a renter. Here are three things that I would do in your place.

First, do you have a written lease with your landlord? What specifically does the lease with your landlord say about sub-leasing or having people stay in your apartment for extended periods of time? Is that grounds for eviction? Get a copy of your lease and read it carefully.

Again, I'm not an attorney, but If you have no lease, or your lease doesn't have a specific clause about sub-leasing or guests staying for extended time, then your landlord probably can't, and won't, take action against you. (However, if the sub leasers caused any damage to your apartment while living there, you are still responsible for that, and the landlord can deduct it from your deposit when you move out)

But, this needs to be your first step: determining with certainty what your legal agreement with and responsibility to your landlord is, whether you violated it, and what the consequences of violating it might be.

Second, did you have a written contract/agreement/sub-lease with your sub-leasers? If so, what did it specify about giving notice before moving out? Was it a month to month agreement (i.e., they were free to move at any time, just as you were free to tell them to leave) or was it an agreement for the entire period (i.e., no refund if they moved out). Let your written agreement determine what should be done about the refund.

However, the lease you have with the landlord supersedes any subsequent agreements. If your lease says you can't sublease or have guests live in the apartment for extended periods, then I'd be inclined to give your sub-leasers their deposit back and be done with it.

Otherwise, in addition to squealing to your landlord, they could take you to small claims court.

Third, if you did NOT have a written agreement with your sub-leasers and your lease with your landlord specifically prohibits sub-leasers and/or guests staying for an extended period of time, I'd be inclined to give your sub-leasers their deposit back and be done with it.

Otherwise, in addition to squealing to your landlord, they can probably take you to small claims court. (and yes, I repeated that sentence twice for a reason)

Chalk the cost of the refund up to a lesson learned for the future.

[lecnlc15]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

I'm not an attorney, so this is not legal advice, but I have been a landlord and a renter. Here are three things that I would do in your place.

First, do you have a written lease with your landlord? What specifically does the lease with your landlord say about sub-leasing or having people stay in your apartment for extended periods of time? Is that grounds for eviction? Get a copy of your lease and read it carefully.

Again, I'm not an attorney, but If you have no lease, or your lease doesn't have a specific clause about sub-leasing or guests staying for extended time, then your landlord probably can't, and won't, take action against you. (However, if the sub leasers caused any damage to your apartment while living there, you are still responsible for that, and the landlord can deduct it from your deposit when you move out)

But, this needs to be your first step: determining with certainty what your legal agreement with and responsibility to your landlord is, whether you violated it, and what the consequences of violating it might be.

Second, did you have a written contract/agreement/sub-lease with your sub-leasers? If so, what did it specify about giving notice before moving out? Was it a month to month agreement (i.e., they were free to move at any time, just as you were free to tell them to leave) or was it an agreement for the entire period (i.e., no refund if they moved out). Let your written agreement determine what should be done about the refund.

However, the lease you have with the landlord supersedes any subsequent agreements. If your lease says you can't sublease or have guests live in the apartment for extended periods, then I'd be inclined to give your sub-leasers their deposit back and be done with it.

Otherwise, in addition to squealing to your landlord, they could take you to small claims court.

Third, if you did NOT have a written agreement with your sub-leasers and your lease with your landlord specifically prohibits sub-leasers and/or guests staying for an extended period of time, I'd be inclined to give your sub-leasers their deposit back and be done with it.

Otherwise, in addition to squealing to your landlord, they can probably take you to small claims court. (and yes, I repeated that sentence twice for a reason)

Chalk the cost of the refund up to a lesson learned for the future.

Thanks for the reply, Rosie. We do have a written lease with the our landlord, but their website is no longer valid and the contract link is broken.

I do have a written contract with the sub-leasers. It's a 2 month contract saying that they must pay monthly with a specific move out date.

We're planning to give back the deposit, but they're trying to finesse more money by threatening that they won't give the gym keys back, etc.

Once again, thank you for taking your time to reply!

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by lecnlc15

Thanks for the reply, Rosie. We do have a written lease with the our landlord, but their website is no longer valid and the contract link is broken.

I do have a written contract with the sub-leasers. It's a 2 month contract saying that they must pay monthly with a specific move out date.

We're planning to give back the deposit, but they're trying to finesse more money by threatening that they won't give the gym keys back, etc.

Once again, thank you for taking your time to reply!

You don't have a signed, PAPER copy of your lease? That's nuts.

Regardless of all the other stuff going on, you should have a paper copy of the lease you signed for your records. Call the management company, explain you lost the lease you signed, and ask if they can make a copy for you. You should have that for your records as long as you live there, otherwise you can't prove diddly squat if your landlord takes you to court, refuses to return your deposit, or evicts you.

As for the gym keys, tell the landlord that you lost them while you were out of town and pay to have them replaced. Depending on the replacement cost you *may* be able to sue the people you let stay in the apartment in small claims for the cost of replacing the keys, but the danger of that is that may trigger a counter suit if you haven't fully refunded their money.

So, just chalk it up, give them back the money, and pay to get the keys replaced.

The best way out of a hole is to stop digging.

If you can't work this out on your own, there are mediators and attorneys who can work with both parties to resolve situations like this. I'd recommend getting some actual legal advice. The money you might have to spend for it, might be well worth it in the long run if it helps you avoid ending up being the subject of a small claims court suit or getting in trouble with your landlord.

A good starting point for finding that help might be: Free and Low-Cost Legal Help - The Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara

And, finally, for future reference, you might want to print out a copy of this booklet, which tells you about your rights and responsibilities as a tenant (and landlord) under California law. It includes a section on subleasing.
http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/l...k/catenant.pdf

Good luck!

[lecnlc15]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

You don't have a signed, PAPER copy of your lease? That's nuts.

Regardless of all the other stuff going on, you should have a paper copy of the lease you signed for your records. Call the management company, explain you lost the lease you signed, and ask if they can make a copy for you. You should have that for your records as long as you live there, otherwise you can't prove diddly squat if your landlord takes you to court, refuses to return your deposit, or evicts you.

As for the gym keys, tell the landlord that you lost them while you were out of town and pay to have them replaced. Depending on the replacement cost you *may* be able to sue the people you let stay in the apartment in small claims for the cost of replacing the keys, but the danger of that is that may trigger a counter suit if you haven't fully refunded their money.

So, just chalk it up, give them back the money, and pay to get the keys replaced.

The best way out of a hole is to stop digging.

If you can't work this out on your own, there are mediators and attorneys who can work with both parties to resolve situations like this. I'd recommend getting some actual legal advice. The money you might have to spend for it, might be well worth it in the long run if it helps you avoid ending up being the subject of a small claims court suit or getting in trouble with your landlord.

A good starting point for finding that help might be: [url=http://www.scscourt.org/self_help/legal_resources.shtml]Free and Low-Cost Legal Help - The Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara[/url]

And, finally, for future reference, you might want to print out a copy of this booklet, which tells you about your rights and responsibilities as a tenant (and landlord) under California law. It includes a section on subleasing.
[url]http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/catenant.pdf[/url]

Good luck!

Nope, everything was done online.

Will do! Thanks for all the help!

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

If your subleasers have moved out, and you've moved back in, I'd just call their bluff.

If there were no issues with them and your landlord, I don't see any reason to pay any bribe.

What's the worst thing that can happen? They tell your landlord you sublet the apartment. Will your landlord care? Let's say he/she does care and they contact you. You say, "Oh really? I wasn't supposed to? Woops, sorry."

Your subleasers will have to sue you and show some out of pocket loss. I don't see that happening. They contracted for a place to stay and they got it.

What would the landlord have to sue you for? If the landlord kept getting his rent, and there weren't any problems, the worst he/she could do is say you breached your lease and terminate your lease. But, again, if there haven't been any problems, why would the landlord do that, and go through the hassle of finding a new tenant?

I say call their bluff. Tell them, well, if you feel the need to contact my landlord, that's up to you. If you feel the need to sue me, that's up to you, but if you do sue me, I'll counter-sue and if I win you'll have to pay my court costs, and I really doubt any judge will say you should have been able to stay in my apartment for free or not live up to your end of an agreement, or that it was okay for you to try to bribe me. But, hey, you're welcome to see if the judge agrees with you.