Didn't sign a Lease, authorized subtenant, can I leave?

[NealIRC]

Originally Posted by ChicagoMeO

so wait, are you a renter that has not had to sign a lease? if so, how can that be?

I'm in my 10th apartment, and didn't have to sign a lease. Well except for 1, which I was never given a copy, but I moved out anyway. They threatened me to not give me my security deposit back, but I threatened them that I will report them to the IRS that they are "cash only."

Places that are cash-only don't tend to have leases.

[JacksonPanther]

Originally Posted by ChiGuy2.5

Am I the only one who thinks that is a BS move on the OP's part if she did?

Look. YOU signed up to sublease this apartment. Just because you aren't on the landlords lease doesn't mean its morally justifiable for you to just leave. You owe an explanation and a chance for the person you are sub leasing from to find a new sub letter who will take your place. If you leave, all you're doing is making it their problem.

Do you believe what you wrote, or is this stuff you say on the internet but wouldn't do if you were actually in the situation?

First of all, OP didn't sign up for anything - she never signed a lease. Your concept of "moral justification" has no basis in contact law, which are the only rules that apply here. You want moral justification, go to church. She doesn't "owe" the leaseholder anything except what was agreed to in the contract, and since the is no contract, she owes nothing.

This is why we have contacts, because in your version of right and wrong, the OP would be forced to stay in the apartment until the leaseholder decided to find another sublet tenant, something the leaseholder has 0 financial incentive to do if she knows the OP is trapped.

[Tom Harner]

You do have a lease, it's just not in writing- it's an oral lease. The statute of frauds in Illinois requires leases for more than one year to be in writing in order to be enforceable. So you may be in luck, in a legal sense, if you've been there for more than one year.

If you've been there for less than a year that be prepared for the possibility of being sued by any aggrieved party. Let me know how it goes when you tell the judge that you were living in the property without a lease.

[squishy506]

Originally Posted by ChicagoMeO

so wait, are you a renter that has not had to sign a lease? if so, how can that be?

They're called "squatters."