I just moved out from my previous rental to another. I was going to give my landlord a month notice but we got into an arguement and she told me to move out early. She's trying to make me still pay for that one month the but as far as i can recall, i never even signed the lease. She sent me a text saying that she had a copy of the lease ready and to bring a rent check this afternoon. Is it unreasonable for me to ask (demand) to see the original lease, with my ink on it, not a copy, before i give her any payment? I'm 99% sure it is, i just want to make sure.

Personally if it were me and I was told to move out over an argument, I wouldn't pay and see what happens.

Worst case is she tries to take you to small claims court and it may affect your credit rating (if she has the resources to get it on your credit report that is).

It wouldn't hurt your case to see the original lease and have a copy of it for your records. I would suspect that even if your signature is on the lease, she would be the one who is breaking the lease by kicking you out early.

Chances are it won't go anywhere and if it does, you have the counter argument that she kicked you out for unjustified reasons.

Please note that these are my personal opinions and are not based on anything other than what I would have done in the same situation.

John

Keep in mind that even if its in the lease, its not necessarily legal for her to just kick you out and make you pay for the month of rent. There are all sorts of laws set up to protect lessees. I don't know about Seattle specifically, but I have lived in places where the lessor was legally required to give ample prior notice before actually evicting, regardless of what the lease said.

Long story short: Get a copy of the lease and, if appropriate, consult a lawyer. Of course, a lawyer may end up costing you more in time and money than just paying up the rent.

Like it has been said, the laws vary based on location. I know that in Indiana the renter was required to provide at least 30 days for you to move out. If your landlord is kicking you out, then they are terminating the terms of the lease, relieving you of obligation.

Google says:

It looks like Seattle has a 3-day pay-or-evict policy, where they can evict you for any or no reason provided they give you three full days of notice. There are additional requirements.

If the landlord wants to change or cancel the lease, it seems they must give you notice 30 days before the end of the lease period.


The site with those links looks like they have some lawyers around to answer questions. Call them and see what they say.

I appreciate all the good info, which will come in handy should i have signed the lease and forgotten. But if i hadn't signed the lease, there's no way it can have like a secret clause that says "by living in this house you automatically agree to these terms" or something like that right? I mean that wouldn't make any sense, she could then change the lease details at any time without requiring my signature, on the basis that i was already moved in.

Quote: Original post by bzroom
I appreciate all the good info, which will come in handy should i have signed the lease and forgotten. But if i hadn't signed the lease, there's no way it can have like a secret clause that says "by living in this house you automatically agree to these terms" or something like that right? I mean that wouldn't make any sense, she could then change the lease details at any time without requiring my signature, on the basis that i was already moved in.

You can't be held to a contract you didn't sign. Although, if this is the case you may want to check with a lawyer, just to be sure there are no laws that she can get you with. Chances are, though, if you are renting a place then you did sign a lease, as pretty much all landlords require a lease (it would be foolish not to). I think its more likely that you forgot signing it. But yes, its best for you to at least get the lease and re-read the relevant parts.

Quote: Original post by Rycross
You can't be held to a contract you didn't sign.

Yes you can. A verbal agreement is both valid and legally binding. The OP has lived in the apartment and paid rent and as such a clear contract exists. Of course the landlord would need to convince the court that the OP did indeed agree to the particular terms the landlord is claiming. Failing that the court would most likely decide that industry standard terms should apply and rule accordingly.

Personally I doubt that industry standard terms (which are in turn usually defined by applicable law) would allow someone to charge rent for a period of time, while denying use of the property for that time. The landlord would indeed have appeared to terminate the lease and may well be in breach of the contract for doing so.

As others have said - talk to a lawyer.

Either you didn't have a contract and she can evict you, in which case you should not pay rent for any period of time where you are not living there (like the remainder of the month).

Or you did sign a lease and you have the right to stay there until the lease period ends. If she wants to evict you, she needs to serve you with an eviction notice and give you ample time to prepare.

If it were me and I had a place to go, I would make it clear that I was leaving but would not pay the remaining rent as she is kicking you out. If you really wanted to stay you could ask to see the lease you signed and force her to evict you, but then you'll be stuck living with a landlord who doesn't want you there and that probably would not be fun.

Sounds like she is just threatening you because you are obviously ignorant of your local laws. Eviction is a long, time consuming, costly process and in almost every state favors the renter and not the landlord. Go to findlaw.com and look up your state's renting laws.

I actually moved out about two weeks ago, the day after we had an arguement. I think she's threatening me because shes low on cash (which i can understand) and because her mom is a lawyer, the one who wrote the contract in the first place.

I didnt make it over to her place last night. But she's a very negligent person. It would not suprise me in any way if she completely spaced having me sign the lease. She texted me and said she had a copy, and when i texted her back and said at this point i want to see the real lease, not a copy, she never responded. Hopefully i can make it over there tonight and get this whole thing settled.

Thanks for the input. I dont want to go to court, i dont want to get "evicted" and of course i dont want to pay. But i'm definitely willing to comply with what ever i need to legally.