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There are four people on a lease contract, and I am subletting from a person who is subletting from one of them. It's a one-year lease, and I started subletting a few months after the lease started. When I moved in, I put down my signature at the end of the lease document. On the front of the lease document, however, the four original people are mentioned as the lease signers. My landlord is aware that I am subletting from a person who is subletting from another person.
One of the original lease signers broke the lease and has unpaid rent. The contract states that the fellow lease holders are responsible for his/her rent. Am I responsible for paying this lease holder's rent if I am only subletting from a person who is subletting from an original lease signer? I pay directly to the landlord, and I have a signature at the end of a lease contract but the contract doesn't mention me as the original Leesee.
Honestly, that is a messy one, and I have no idea where the legality would fall when this made it to a judge.
As a subtenant, your landlord would typically be the person you are subletting from, not the ultimate landlord. So the original name on the lease would be the person who would be responsible for the rest of that tenant's portion of the rent.
But then, normally, subtenants don't sign the lease, they sign a sublet agreement with the person they are subletting from. On the other hand, your signature only on the back page could be construed as a "I've seen this document and agree not to violate the terms in it, even though I'm not a party to it. We usually have that wording in our sublet agreement when we allow tenants to sublet.
So my gut says that the 4 tenants whose names are on the front page of the lease as "tenants" would be responsible for the rent, ultimately, and if one moves out, the other 3 have to make up that portion. That should have nothing to do with you. But since it doesn't sound like you have a sublet agreement in writing, AND your signature is on the lease itself, you could theoretically be held liable.
However, here is the bottom line. If you want to keep living there, someone is going to have to pay this money, or the landlord is going to evict everybody. You may or may not be listed by name on that eviction (In my area, we list the tenants, along with "any and all subtenants", and the courts list them as "John Doe I, II, and III, and Jane Doe I, II, and III). If it isn't listed, you'll just be kicked out. If it is listed, you will have an eviction on your record for life. So you, the other 2 roommates still living there (I'm assuming the person with unpaid rent has moved out), the person you sublet from, and the person THEY sublet from, need to get together and figure this out.
Thank you for your input, Lacerate. My gut also says that the 4 tenants whose names are on the lease are responsible. But, the signature at the end of the document makes this messy... Anyone else ran into a similar situation? Legal aid said my income doesn't qualify me for legal advice. Might lose my deposit since the landlord will likely decide to use it to pay the tenant's unpaid rent
Typical sublease drama. Just another example of reasons why so many landlords don't allow subleasing.
OP, when you sublease, you are assuming the lease and that means you are assuming the responsibilities of the lease. I'd guess that a judge would say that you owe your percentage of the missing rent.
If the fellow who didn't pay is still there, you and the other tenants need to start right now on the procedure to get him out so that he can be replaced by someone who can pay the rent.
The fellow who doesn't pay has been gone for three month's now. He was supposed to give a two-months notice but only notified us a month and a half before leaving. He covered January rent while he was gone and used his deposit for February. March is unpaid. Me and my roommates asked the landlord for help in the search for a replacement back in January, but so far, we have had no luck in finding someone to rent the place and the landlord is not interested in helping us.
Like you said, the Landlord stated that the sublease takes over all the responsibilities of original lessor. The lease contract, however, does not explicitly state that. Additionally, the landlord said that the "lease" reads "jointly and severely responsible" meaning everyone is responsible for that person's missing rent but I looked at the lease and it doesn't say that either. Is that assumed? All it states is that "Leesees expressly understand that lessees are liable to lessor for the entire annual leasehold payment as set froth above." But, I am not one of the lessees that are presented in the lease contract on the first page. After the four names that are listed it states "Hereinafter collectively referred to as Lessees." How can I be liable then? Couldn't one interpret my signature as the signature of one of the Lessees? Does my signature bear any relevance if the document doesn't pertain to me?
So, based on what you are saying, my best course of action would be to pay the rent until the lease is over and give away my deposit to cover unpaid rent? Can I take the guy to a small claims court? It is still very hard to believe that I am responsible for something that I signed but I am not mentioned anywhere on the document as the Lessee and nowhere does it mention that I assume Lessees responsibilities.
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