Sublease Gone Wrong - Advice Please

[JMICHAELDOSTAL]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TEXAS

Hello -
So I have gotten myself into a situation that I am not quite sure how to handle. I needed to move out of my apartment and move to a new city for work. So I decided to sublease my Apartment to someone else. She moved in on August 15th and paid pro-rated rent for that month. Agreed to pay $850 rent at the beginning of each month. So far she has not paid anything, she just keeps claiming she is "working on it". I originally told her to pay or be out of there by the 7th. When she didn't I decided to extend it and told her she has 5 days and must pay the rent by Sunday the 12th at 5pm or have all of her items out of there.
I made her sign a contract between us that states that she would be paying rent on the 1st of every month. The contract did not mention anything about evictions. My question is what can I do if she does not pay by the 12th? Should I contact the police - would they remove her? Can I start throwing her stuff out or what? Just need this woman gone.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TEXAS

Hello -
So I have gotten myself into a situation that I am not quite sure how to handle. I needed to move out of my apartment and move to a new city for work. So I decided to sublease my Apartment to someone else. She moved in on August 15th and paid pro-rated rent for that month. Agreed to pay $850 rent at the beginning of each month. So far she has not paid anything, she just keeps claiming she is "working on it". I originally told her to pay or be out of there by the 7th. When she didn't I decided to extend it and told her she has 5 days and must pay the rent by Sunday the 12th at 5pm or have all of her items out of there.
I made her sign a contract between us that states that she would be paying rent on the 1st of every month. The contract did not mention anything about evictions. My question is what can I do if she does not pay by the 12th? Should I contact the police - would they remove her? Can I start throwing her stuff out or what? Just need this woman gone.

Thanks for any help!

You need to follow the appropriate landlord/tenant laws to evict your tenant. The police aren't going to help and you can't just throw her stuff out without possibly suffering the legal consequences.

 

[Silverplum]

http://texastenant.org/subleasing.html

http://texaslawhelp.org/issues/housing/property-laws

 

[JMICHAELDOSTAL]

Dang okay.
So the appropriate thing to do would be to go to the court, get an evicition notice and proceed that way?

Think my best route at this time is just to go to the apartment complex myself, tell them im leaving and terminating my own lease and pay any fines I got to pay.

 

[latigo]

The first question is whether your lease agreement allows subletting. If it doesn't or the landlord didn't subsequently consent to the arrangement, then your so-called "contract" is worthless.

Why would it be worthless? Because there would be no quid pro quo. Meaning she receives nothing in exchange for her promise to pay rent. You would have had no authority to grant her a leasehold interest. It would be similar to someone purporting to sell something that they didn't own.

If the sublease was authorized, then you must follow up with the eviction process in accordance with Texas' unlawful detainer laws.

Your only involvement with the police might occur if you start messing with her stuff.

 

[Zigner]

The first question is whether your lease agreement allows subletting. If it doesn't or the landlord didn't subsequently consent to the arrangement, then your so-called "contract" is worthless.

Why would it be worthless? Because there would be no quid pro quo. Meaning she receives nothing in exchange for her promise to pay rent. You would have had no authority to grant her a leasehold interest. It would be similar to someone purporting to sell something that they didn't own.

If the sublease was authorized, then you must follow up with the eviction process in accordance with Texas' unlawful detainer laws.

Your only involvement with the police might occur if you start messing with her stuff.

I'm not sure where you are going with this. The contract with the subtenant is valid as far as the subtenant is concerned. The subtenant has the protections afforded by the applicable tenant laws.

 

[Silverplum]

I'm not sure where you are going with this. The contract with the subtenant is valid as far as the subtenant is concerned. The subtenant has the protections afforded by the applicable tenant laws.

FYI, from the sublease link: "Unless the lease allows it, a tenant may not sublet (rent the house or apartment to another person) without the consent of the landlord. Section 91.005, Property Code. If a tenant sublets without the consent of the landlord, the landlord may evict the subtenant and sue both the subtenant and the original tenant for any damages caused by the subletting arrangement."

 

[Zigner]

FYI, from the sublease link: "Unless the lease allows it, a tenant may not sublet (rent the house or apartment to another person) without the consent of the landlord. Section 91.005, Property Code. If a tenant sublets without the consent of the landlord, the landlord may evict the subtenant and sue both the subtenant and the original tenant for any damages caused by the subletting arrangement."

Thanks for the info. It basically reinforces what I said. The sub-tenant would have to be evicted.

 

[JMICHAELDOSTAL]

Might be a dumb question but Where do I go from here? Do I need to contact a lawyer to evict her? I'm assuming I can't just go to the court house, show them our agreement and get an eviction notice without the help from an attorney correct?

Thanks

 

[Dave1952]

If you are currently residing in a different city it may be best to have a lawyer handle this eviction for you since the local Justice of the Peace court will have jurisdiction.
Someone needs to write a letter to the sub-tenant stating that she is being evicted for not paying rent. This notice to vacate must be properly served on the sub-tenant. Service by mail is ok. Once she is served she has 3 days to move. If she's not out in 3 days someone should file an eviction proceeding with the local JP court. It's possible to claim attorney fees but remember that she's not paying her bills, so don't expect to be paid anything. If you win in court she'll be given a few days to move. After that you may hire local deputies to move her out.
Don't be surprised if the apartment is damaged.