Is this a lease? Residential vs commercial - Renting a

[harassedrenter]

I have one of those deals where I rent one room in a person's house, with limited bathroom/kitchen privileges. Unlike most of these situations, he asked for a year long lease as well as the last month's rent.

Lately, it's been very hard to live there. Last week, I said that we'd need to either work out the issues or I'd have to move out. Since then, every time I've seen him, he's slung verbal abuse at me and now he's threatening to sue!!

My questions are 1) since this is residential property, is the lease even valid? It was some simple form he printed off of the internet, no lawyers involved.

2) Even if it is valid, don't I have the right to leave when he's contstantly verbally harassing me whenever I see him? (you fucking bitch, punching the door near my head so hard it shook, etc.)((I AM leaving as quickly as possible, of course, just want to know if I'll be liable if I do)

3) He wants to sue me for the rest of the rent as WELL as other things, such as he claims that I owe him thousands of dollars of plumbing fees because my long hair in the drains damaged all the pipes. Would anyone take these claims seriously?

And finally : Should I see a lawyer about this? There's nothing in our lease about whether I could get lawyer fees back if it went to court (it's VERY simple), so I really don't want to pay any money if he doesn't have any grounds for complaint!

I should have been more careful when I moved in . . . it quickly became apparent that he's been unemployed for several years (though he's certainly not LOOKING for a job) and desperate for money!

Thanks,
Harassed renter

[Anna]

Yes, it is a lease.

Yes, see a lawyer asap: find a local clinic on lawhelp.org: look under both Domestic Violence and Housing.

Call or go to your local precinct: he's assaulting you (they might record the complaint as 'harassment'). Call Safe Horizon, (212) 577-3220: if they can't help you directly (because the two of you aren't domestic partners), they should be able to refer you.

[harassedrenter]

Thanks for the helpful links, Anna.

[harassedrenter]

Actually, the police did record it as harassment. Should I try to get them to change this to assault?

He showed up at my work place today and ranted at my boss for some time (apparently, he thought he could talk my boss into garnishing my wages to continue to pay the rent and pay for all these charges he's trumped up against me).

[HardKnocks]

How long have you been there? Why did the atmosphere change so much?

It would be great if he changed the locks on you. He's not allowed to do that by law, and it would be one more thing you can call the police about. If this is going to continue, you'll need a paper trail to show he's been harassing you on all fronts. I'm not sure if they can get him on assault if he never touched you.

[harassedrenter]

Well, I'm not as worried about sticking an assault charge as I am about not being liable for the rest of the lease.

Anyone know what are valid grounds for breaking a lease? I know that a renter has the right to privacy, meaning that the landlord cannot enter the rented area for the purpose of harassing the tenant - it seems that when he followed me into my room and shouted at me repeatedly, that would constitute a violation of this right. But is it enough for me to justify cancelling the lease?

He also tracked me down at work, sat down with my boss, and slandered me to him. I think he had the idea that my boss would be able and willing to garnish my wages to continue paying him rent, which is of course absurd.

As to what set him off . . . I'm really not sure. He has a whole list of complaints against me, most of which I've never heard before, like the complaint that my long hair destroyed his plumbing.