Signed lease, others on lease sublet without permission - please, please help me

State: Virginia - Arlington County

I need some advice on how to cover my butt here. Please bear with me as this is a longish story.

I orginally signed a lease for a house with three other people. My intent was to stay in the house for the full year of the lease, as what most do. A fifth person moved into the house and she apparently was not put on the lease, though that was not known to me at the time. Over the course of the past 10 months, the others listed on the lease (and the fifth individual) moved out due to other obligations with work and school and sublet their rooms, so I am the sole remaining original lessor still living in the house.

Today one of the other lessors and I delivered a signed letter of intent to vacate the house to the property manager with just our signatures, giving the required 60-days notice. At that point we were asked where the other two were, and we said they had moved out and sublet their rooms. The property manager and the landlord knew about some of the subletting because it came as no surprise to the property manager, AND at one point the landlord had sent us a letter addressed to three of us on the lease and two sublettors regarding a repair in the house.

My questions are these:

1. Since I personally never violated the terms of the lease by subletting, will I be held responsible for the other sublettors? I really did not have any control over who moved out and who sublet the rooms, and I did not have the money to cover all the rent myself, nor to end my lease early and cover rent in two places - in short, I was stuck.

2. Even with two months left on the lease, I realize that everyone in the house may be evicted due to this unauthorized subletting. If that happens, will I be held responsible for any monetary penalties (i.e. covering the last month of rent, July) even though I personally did not violate the terms of the lease?

3. What could the property manager/landlord legally do? Demand money? Take some sort of legal action against us? The rent has always been paid in full every month, so non-payment has never been an issue.

4. I'm not sure if there will be any money demanded for the failure of the other two individuals to submit written notice to vacate in 60 days. Since I did, will I be held accountable for their failure to submit proper written notice or will that financial burden be solely theirs? The property manager said that regardless of whether they giver her proper notice, their lease would not be renewed in any case, because of the subletting issue.

5. If legal action is taken against/money is demanded from me as a co-signer of the lease, could I sue the other co-lessors for damages (mental and financial - I have been so stressed out about this situation for months and I had no idea what to do - it has been affecting my personal well-being and my work).

When I saw the property manager today, I told her I personally never authorized the sublettors myself and pointed out that I am still living in the house as agreed on the lease. I'm hoping that this affords me some consideration when/if action is taken, but I'm not counting on it. I asked her what could happen but she dodged the question - I imagine she sees dollar signs because it's an older house that needs some repairs, so I also considered that I may lose my portion of the security deposit (can they legally withhold a security deposit for subletting?)

Please help - I haven't slept well in a long time because of this hell - I just need to be able to prepare for what may be coming. Any information/suggestions/general advice would be appreciated. I don't know where else to turn but to find an attorney for myself. It makes me so angry that my name may be marred along with everyone else's - I take great pains to play by the rules in all aspects of my life.

Thank you....

[HomeGuru]

Originally posted by JDT001
State: Virginia - Arlington County

I need some advice on how to cover my butt here. Please bear with me as this is a longish story.

I orginally signed a lease for a house with three other people. My intent was to stay in the house for the full year of the lease, as what most do. A fifth person moved into the house and she apparently was not put on the lease, though that was not known to me at the time. Over the course of the past 10 months, the others listed on the lease (and the fifth individual) moved out due to other obligations with work and school and sublet their rooms, so I am the sole remaining original lessor still living in the house.

Today one of the other lessors and I delivered a signed letter of intent to vacate the house to the property manager with just our signatures, giving the required 60-days notice. At that point we were asked where the other two were, and we said they had moved out and sublet their rooms. The property manager and the landlord knew about some of the subletting because it came as no surprise to the property manager, AND at one point the landlord had sent us a letter addressed to three of us on the lease and two sublettors regarding a repair in the house.

My questions are these:

1. Since I personally never violated the terms of the lease by subletting, will I be held responsible for the other sublettors? I really did not have any control over who moved out and who sublet the rooms, and I did not have the money to cover all the rent myself, nor to end my lease early and cover rent in two places - in short, I was stuck.

2. Even with two months left on the lease, I realize that everyone in the house may be evicted due to this unauthorized subletting. If that happens, will I be held responsible for any monetary penalties (i.e. covering the last month of rent, July) even though I personally did not violate the terms of the lease?

3. What could the property manager/landlord legally do? Demand money? Take some sort of legal action against us? The rent has always been paid in full every month, so non-payment has never been an issue.

4. I'm not sure if there will be any money demanded for the failure of the other two individuals to submit written notice to vacate in 60 days. Since I did, will I be held accountable for their failure to submit proper written notice or will that financial burden be solely theirs? The property manager said that regardless of whether they giver her proper notice, their lease would not be renewed in any case, because of the subletting issue.

5. If legal action is taken against/money is demanded from me as a co-signer of the lease, could I sue the other co-lessors for damages (mental and financial - I have been so stressed out about this situation for months and I had no idea what to do - it has been affecting my personal well-being and my work).

When I saw the property manager today, I told her I personally never authorized the sublettors myself and pointed out that I am still living in the house as agreed on the lease. I'm hoping that this affords me some consideration when/if action is taken, but I'm not counting on it. I asked her what could happen but she dodged the question - I imagine she sees dollar signs because it's an older house that needs some repairs, so I also considered that I may lose my portion of the security deposit (can they legally withhold a security deposit for subletting?)

Please help - I haven't slept well in a long time because of this hell - I just need to be able to prepare for what may be coming. Any information/suggestions/general advice would be appreciated. I don't know where else to turn but to find an attorney for myself. It makes me so angry that my name may be marred along with everyone else's - I take great pains to play by the rules in all aspects of my life.

Thank you....

**A: thank you for your post. If you have additional questions after reading the VA L/T law, please go ahead and post them but be brief.