Signed pre-lease but never signed the final lease. Being sued for money.

[CollinArner]

What is the name of your state? WV

Okay I'm posting here for my GF. Here is the situation.

She signed a pre-lease on an apartment with another girl for college. But in the end my gf decided that she was going to switch colleges and moved away. She recieved the actual lease papers to be signed but she never signed them. She just discarded them. She let her room mate know three months ahead of time that she would be leaving and would not be leasing the apartment with her, but now her roommate has turned around and is threatening to sue her unless she pays $350 a month towards the apartment. My GF has never moved into the apartment in the first place, and has not lived a single day in it.

Is she legally bound by that pre-lease to pay the $350 a month on an apartment that she isnt living in? If so what is the best course to take in order to get out of the lease without having to pay almost $3,000 in order to finish up the lease time.

Could she get out of this by just sending the landlord a formal written request of removal from the lease?

 

[LindaP777]

What the heck is a pre-lease?
We can not answer unless we know what this document stated that she signed. What did she promise to do?

 

[CollinArner]

I guess the pre-lease was identical to the normal lease that she got in the mail later, but then why would they send her another lease in the mail to sign at a later point?

 

[BL]

I guess the pre-lease was identical to the normal lease that she got in the mail later, but then why would they send her another lease in the mail to sign at a later point?

Guessing will not get it .

We have to deal with facts .

If what you mean by pre-lease , is a prospective tenants background check ,etc . for approval purposes and an actual lease was not signed by the prospective tenant , and the prospective roommate sign a lease on their own , then than signature as well as the landlords are the only ones bound by the lease ( contract ) .

 

[CollinArner]

My GF said that the "pre-lease" was an identical copy of the lease form that she recieved in the mail. So the lease they are going off of now was the "pre-lease" as they called it. I dont know why they would send her a lease in the mail to sign and return if it was identical.

But the real question is how can she get out of this lease seeing as she is not living in the apartment, and that the other tenant is hounding her for the money saying that she still has to help pay for it.

 

[BL]

This don't make any sense .

#1 ) supposedly your GF signed " something " , then 3 months before they were to move in , she informed the roommate she would not be moving in .

# 2 ) Tell you GF to get on the PC and explain to us if she and the LL signed this " something " way back when , and what was the move in date supose to be, etc ?

 

[ecmst12]

If she signed a LEASE, as in a document agreeing to live at X address for Y months at Z rent per month, whatever it was called, then YES she is responsible for the rent until a replacement tenant is found. There is no such legal term as a "pre-lease".

 

[CollinArner]

She's being stupid stuborn and it bugs the hell out of me. But my GF has had bad past experiences in court I guess so she would rather pay 3 grand then to go back to court ever again. So I was just looking for something to convince her to fight it, but I cant force her to I guess. I think she is making a stupid mistake and I'm trying to help her find a way out without going to court to fight this.

The lease that she signed is a monthly basis lease and it expires in june of this year. But they want her to pay the money from last june when it took effect all the way through to this june. But after signing the lease she told her friend that she was going to be moving and was not going to be renting the apartment with her and told her that she would need to find another roommate. I'm guessing they refered to it as a pre-lease because it was signed a few months in advance before they were actually going to be moving in.

I dont think that even she knows the specifics of the lease as it was over 6 months ago that she signed it. I realize that she will probably be liable for paying the 6 months rent, but if she was to send a written notice to the LL now could she get out?

And also the other tenant who is renting the apartment is not trying to find a replacement at all, she is just planning on having her finish out the lease so that she can have the apartment to herself since my GF is living in another location to go to school.

 

[ecmst12]

The roommate is required to mitigate her damages by making a reasonable effort to find a replacement tenant. If she tries to sue but can't show the court that she made said effort, they will tell her too bad, you had PLENTY of notice that you were going to need a new roommate and you didn't even make an attempt to find one, therefore you lose your right to collect from the person who broke the lease.

 

[CollinArner]

So even though my GF never gave her a formal written notice and it was only a verbal notice that she was not going to be living there. The fact that the other tenant didn't put forth any effort to find a replacement tenant would forfit her right to sue for the lost money?

 

[BL]

So even though my GF never gave her a formal written notice and it was only a verbal notice that she was not going to be living there. The fact that the other tenant didn't put forth any effort to find a replacement tenant would forfit her right to sue for the lost money?

If the court believes there was verbal notice , even then there should have been attempts to mitigate after the move in date .

 

[CollinArner]

Okay, Thank you for your help. I'll let the gf see this and hopefully I can convince her to fight it.

Again thank you for all of your help, you have put my mind at ease.

 

[Cvillecpm]

GF needs to grow up and fight her own battles. Unless you are going to MARRY and TAKE CARE of HER for the rest of her life, have her research and deal with this issue * IT IS A LIFE LESSON