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Roommate question

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Roommate question

Postby gaspasser » Mon Sep 09, 2013 8:23 am

I am one of two primary leaseholder in my current apartment. We have a roommate who is not on the lease but has signed a roommate agreement with the other primary tenant. I never signed that agreement. That primary leaseholder recently left & sublet his room to another person, leaving me as the only primary tenant living in the apartment. Does this roommate who is not on the lease still has the right to keep his room, now that the person he signed the agreement with left?

I want him out of the apartment because we've been having a hard time getting the rent from him on time. He gave me notice by email that he is moving out at the end of this month and I accepted it but then today he told me he is not sure if he is moving out by the end of the month, and that the notice he gave me is not valid because he made the agreement with the other roommate. I don't know what to do. Do I still need to go to court to have him evicted or can I have building management ask him to leave/remove him from the apartment.

He also gets drunk at least 3-4 days in a wee and smokes secretly in the room. He didn't disclose this beforehand. I feel this is a fire safety issue esp if he passes out from drinking while smoking.
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Postby TenantNet » Mon Sep 09, 2013 9:23 am

It's possible that the original roommate agreement might not be valid without your OK (and actually, the landlord is supposed to agree as well). But if you didn't object, that might be considered tacit approval.

I'm assuming he pays rent to you, and then you pay the total rent to the landlord, correct? That might not matter, but it keeps things simpler.

For the move-out notice, does the agreement say anything about form of notice? Chances are it does not. His claim that the agreement was with the other tenant, well that's baloney. Assuming your original roommate really moved out permanently, then you're the sole remaining tenant on the lease.

You can give this person notice as well. The only question if he's considered a month-to-month tenant (a 30 day notice would be required) or a licensee (then a 10 day notice would be required). His status depends on a number of things and it's a subjective interpretation IMHO.

Practically, I would say he already tendered his notice, you already accepted it. In our opinion, he can't just rescind the notice. Without getting into all sorts of legalities, you can tell him the notice is valid and he will be expected to leave, or you will consider legal action.

Before making threats you can't keep - or do not intend to keep - I would get some legal advice from a tenant attorney. Mind you, we don't condone or help with evictions, and we favor the tenant. Here, you are acting as a landlord. And we haven't heard both sides of the story.

We do understand that roommate situations can be personal and difficult. We do advise you to follow the law and do not attempt to evict without a legal court order. That could get yhou into trouble.
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Postby gaspasser » Mon Sep 09, 2013 1:30 pm

Thanks for the info. The agreement that they had with the other primary tenant according to that person was already materially breached when he failed to join the lease in June. We later found out that he has a bench warrant of arrest in another state for DUI, and most likely would have trouble with the background check (that I'm not sure).

I am planning on moving out and look for people who can take over the lease from us for the remainder of the lease. What are the rules in regards to this matter to the said roommate? Will he be forced to leave the apartment before the new tenants assume the lease and what will happen if he refuses to leave the premises when the new tenants come.

Need clarification on this. Thx
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