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Old 06-01-2013, 03:32 PM
 
2 posts, read 3,335 times
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Hi,

Was planning on moving into an apartment that a friend said I wouldn't have to sign a lease for (his roommate is just out for the summer, and I would be in his room). The conversation where I said I would stay with him was through social media, so it is written. I also agreed to the monthly lease amount, and said I would stay until August. The lease's term begins in four days, and I found I will not be able to stay. He wants one month's rent to cover the cost for the room and claims I must pay because of the fact that the notice is too late and he and his roommate were banking on me to pay the rent. He says they will use the 30 + 4 days to find someone else to start in July. This is in Virginia.

1) Am I liable to pay the rent to him?
2) How much of that rent?
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Old 06-01-2013, 04:31 PM
 
16,376 posts, read 22,379,928 times
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you would need to have signed a lease to owe any money. Social media doesn't count as 'written'. To be legal, it needs to be written in a lease and signed(signature) by all parties.
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Old 06-01-2013, 04:33 PM
 
35,095 posts, read 51,005,673 times
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I don't think social media counts as legal documentation when it comes to a lease. Drop your friend and let him take you to small claims court and see how far it gets. I would think if both of them are on the lease that they both would have to sign off on a "new" lease with you as a sublet anyway but I am just guessing on that one.
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Old 06-01-2013, 04:40 PM
 
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Right. They had told me that I didnt have to sign a lease, which concerned me for liability reasons should I move in and something went wrong.

I understand that I am not liable for payment technically because the lease was not signed by me and they didnt even show it to me. I am talking about between myself and my friend/ roommates.

What am I at risk for in small claims court?
My argument is that if I owe anything, would I really have to pay the entire months rent because they were too lazy to get someone to take the bedroom spot during that whole time?
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Old 06-01-2013, 06:45 PM
 
16,376 posts, read 22,379,928 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Monrserrat View Post
Right. They had told me that I didnt have to sign a lease, which concerned me for liability reasons should I move in and something went wrong.

I understand that I am not liable for payment technically because the lease was not signed by me and they didnt even show it to me. I am talking about between myself and my friend/ roommates.

What am I at risk for in small claims court? My argument is that if I owe anything, would I really have to pay the entire months rent because they were too lazy to get someone to take the bedroom spot during that whole time?
I dont see them winning in court because they would need a signed lease agreement or sub-lease agreement from you. They still need that. Besides, since they weren't planning on a written lease, i bet it's illegal. The lease is between their landlord and them. Their lease probably doesn't allow sub-leasing, which is what you would be doing. that's why they didn't want it in writing, because it's not allowed.

So they wouldn't win in court if they were subleasing and it was not allowed anyway. But since you have nothing in writing, you're good.

If they take it to court, they're going to lose. There is no rule that says you owe one whole month...any state law which requires paying rent until it re-leases applies for folks that signed a lease and broke the lease. They are trying to apply the rules that are for signed leases. They can't do that. You don't have a signed lease.
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Old 06-01-2013, 07:32 PM
 
Location: Kailua Kona, HI
3,199 posts, read 13,351,780 times
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"Right. They had told me that I didnt have to sign a lease, which concerned me for liability reasons should I move in and something went wrong. "

There is your first clue. They are likely subletting illegally so of course they don't want anything in writing that their LL can use to evict the whole bunch.

If you are old enough to live on your own, you are old enough to spend a little more time securing housing in a legitimate fashion. What are they going to sue you for, changing your mind on a purely verbal conversation? Be glad you dodged a bullet on this one. And find some better friends.
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Old 06-01-2013, 11:26 PM
 
13,077 posts, read 20,754,125 times
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Technically, in Virginia so long as they can show that an ‘agreement’ was reached, it’s a legal rental agreement. Virginia's landlord tenant regulations specifically allows for verbal and nontraditional written leases so long as they don’t violate state laws. I seriously doubt it would be worth it to sue and I doubt a hearing officer would interpret the law as strict as written.
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Old 06-02-2013, 12:58 AM
 
2,845 posts, read 5,992,955 times
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So they are going to sit around and not look until July? No sorry, that doesn't work. They need to find someone now, and you can pay for the few days of rent they lose. I'm sure they'd find someone instantly on Craigslist. heck, even you can advertise it.
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Old 06-02-2013, 06:56 AM
 
16,376 posts, read 22,379,928 times
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To the poster that mentioned verbal leases. Lots of states have default rules that apply when someone rents and there is no written lease .In this case, the standard state law for leases applies. However, paying money and/or moving in and living there is the starting point for the such non-written leases.

But you don't have such lease because you never moved in and didn't give any money for rent or security deposit. Heck, one of the reasons that you didn't move in was because there was no written lease. This is your right. You didn't have a lease. you were within legal rights to change your mind before you moved in or paid any money.
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