Do I need an attorney? Landlord issue...

[busy mom]

In a nutshell: My daughter and 3 friends signed an apartment lease 1 week ago. The apartment technically has 5 bedrooms but the 5th room is the size of a closet. This was discussed with the Landlord and he agreed that the 5th room would remain vacant. The girls made it clear that they did not want a 5th roommate, and he agreed. Well...

My daughter arrived yesterday with her boxes, and was greeted by a stranger. Said stranger stated that she signed the lease over a month ago. She was totally surprised that my daughter was not aware of the arrangements. Ugh.

While my daughter will welcome the new girl, she is quite upset and concerned that this scumbag will continue to be dishonest (he promised snowplowing, lawn care, sofa for living room, among other things). She is considering getting out of the lease.

Do we need to hire an Attorney? Opinions welcome.

 

[SharonZ]

Are the things that the Landlord promised written in the Lease that she signed? Honestly, I would be concerned too. Your daughter and her friends signed a lease for an apartment for four occupants. Did the stranger sign a separate lease? If it were me, I would probably consult an attorney to see what her rights are in regards to breaking the lease.

 

[ImDMous]

It doesn't really matter what he said. What does the lease say, regarding the 5th roommate and the lawn care, etc? If none of that is mentioned, then I wouldn't be expecting it. Are there legal options for getting out of the lease stated? If the leases are individual and per room with nothing mentioned about the others, then what he said is irrelevant, although it does give a feeling of mistrust.

 

[wilkeliza]

How was the apartment rented? Were the girls each renting a room in a 5 bedroom apartment or were they renting the whole apartment?

One things to do is check the wording of the lease and then possibly take it to a lawyer to determine if that is even a legal lease for your area.

 

[busy mom]

Thx for the replies. I will get ahold of the lease to confirm the details.

When the girls did the final walk-thru, there was a bed and some boxes in the "closet". My daughter inquired, and this jerk said he was letting a friend store them for a few days. What the heck is wrong with people??? Really makes me wonder...

 

[TwoMisfits]

Agreed - until you read the lease in its entirety, we can't really give you good advice.

 

[Thing 1]

We have rental property and we spell EVERYTHING out in the lease to protect everyone. It is so going to depend on how the wording is on the lease. Is it in a collage town?

 

[Sagginit]

First thing I would do is review the terms of the lease, did they each sign their own or was it one lease with all four of them (in that case it would be hard for him to argue the entire apartment wasn't rented to them)? The second thing I would do is try to look up rental laws in your state to see what legal action could be taken and what the laws are. Also what is the agreement for paying it? When I had apartments with roommates the landlord would collect one check from us, not one from each person as it was one lease and one payment for the entire apartment.

This is a sticky situation as either your daughter will need to get out of the lease with her friends and find a new place, or you will need to force the landlord to evict the other person. It sounds like he was renting it out per room rather than the whole apartment. If they signed a lease for a room but only had a verbal agreement the room would remain empty then it will be tough as he could in fact do what he did. When I was roommate hunting a few years ago there were a few people I called that had listed they were looking for a roommate. I quickly found out they were landlords that rented the apartment by the bedroom and in this type of situation you only have a lease for your room so you agree to not have a say in the rest of the apartment. Before you say anything to the landlord I would have a clear strategy in place and make sure your daughter and her friends understand their options. They most likely will need to find a new place and leave this place, then try to get their money back. Chances are you could end up in small claims court so they may not see that money for months.

 

[madhavok]

Read the lease before hiring an attorney. Verbal promises are not adequate and these items should have been written in the lease.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

Like others said if it's not written in the lease then you probably can't rely on it happening. Judge Judy always says changes to lease have to be in writing.

Second is your daughter slums probably have to deal with attorney unless you co-signed lease. Contract is between her and landlord.

Hope things work out for you all sounds horrible!

 

[HM]

OP, please come back and let us know what the outcome of this is.
So sorry the girls are dealing with this.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Interesting that an apartment with 5 bedrooms was allowed to be individually leased like that. Meaning that the 1 girl signed a lease early and then 4 other girls signed a lease for the same place later on but neither group had the other one's permission/authorization to do so. I guess it depends on how the apartment is legally deeded and/or defined by the OPs area's housing. Makes me wonder how the utilities are handled..at least where I am at only one person can be on a utility bill (I guess perhaps in the OPs situation maybe all utilities are included?).

Verbal agreements really don't go far. Sometimes they have a bit of leway in small claims/civic court but that's not something I would count on. I would def look over the lease but no matter what (even if your daughter is ok with the 5th girl) I would complain to the appropriate entity regarding the business practices of the landlord. It is def. shady renting 1 bedroom out without disclosing this to other potential renters (don't know the legalities of it though). If you can I would also have a legal person look over the lease as well and describe the situation.