Need a Florida Statute.

What is the name of your state?FLORIDA


I lived in an apartment with a roomate, both our names were on the lease. After 6 months i wanted to move out so i got a form to take my name off the lease. I signed it and my roomate signed it and said she would return it to the office. I made the mistake of never making a copy or checkin up on if she did in fact turn in the form. I moved out because i was purchasing a home with my mother. My name and my mother's name is on the house. I know there is a Florida Statute that says something along the lines that if you purchase a home it protects you from any penalties incurred from a broken lease? The reason i need this statute is because i recieved a letter from the company that owns the apartment complex that i was in staying that i owed $3700 in back rent! Which means my roomate either never took my name off the lease and took off w/o paying or she switched our names where i would be the only name on the lease. I have already called and left a msg with the collection office stating that my roomate was supposed to take my name off the lease. I have not spoken with anyone there as of yet. But i have proof that i was living at home with my mother during the times that rent was not being paid. (When i was living with her the rent was always paid.) I do not feel i should have to pay for my roomate's mistakes and i dont want this going on my credit report. I need to know what to do so the collection agency can go after her and not me.

Thank You,
Maria

[divgradcurl]

I know there is a Florida Statute that says something along the lines that if you purchase a home it protects you from any penalties incurred from a broken lease?

Where did you hear that? The only Florida statutes I was able to find allow breaking a lease early apply only to servicemembers or for breach of implied warranty of habitability. I've never heard of anything like this in any state. You can search the statutes yourself if you want: [url]http://www.flsenate.gov/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0083/PART02.HTM[/url]

Your specific lease MAY have included such language, but you'll need to check your lease -- it's unlikely it did, however.

The reason i need this statute is because i recieved a letter from the company that owns the apartment complex that i was in staying that i owed $3700 in back rent! Which means my roomate either never took my name off the lease and took off w/o paying or she switched our names where i would be the only name on the lease.

Maybe you should try and contact the old roomate to find out what really happened.

Besides, what is this "i got a form to take my name off the lease?" What form is that? You can't simply take your name off of the lease -- only the landlord can do that, unless YOUR specific contract gave you the option to do that -- but again, you would have to look at the exact wording of YOUR contract.

But i have proof that i was living at home with my mother during the times that rent was not being paid.

Irrelevant, at least as far as the landlord is concerned. If you were still on the lease, you were still responsible to the landlord for the payments. Now, you may have a cause of action against your former roomate if he or she did in fact promise to pay your helf of the rent after you left.

I do not feel i should have to pay for my roomate's mistakes and i dont want this going on my credit report. I need to know what to do so the collection agency can go after her and not me.

Look, you were both on the lease, so the landlord (and, by extension, the collection agency he hired) can go after both of you for the unpaid rent. If you are easier to get a hold of, he can sue you for the entire amount due, and then it is up to you to go after the roomate for his or her half. The landlord could also sue the roomate for everything, then the roomate could come after you for his or her half.

The point you are missing is that EACH of you is responsible for the ENTIRE debt, unless you have something in the lease agreement that says otherwise. If you want to protect your credit, you'll probably need to pay the back rent, then figure out how to get reimbursed from your old roomate.

i called the apt office and they told me to come in and get a form that takes the person off the lease by both roomates signing it. We lived in an apt complex not a house where we had a landlord. I got the form and we both signed it and it was to be returned to the office and thats it. My friends have done the same thing at other apt complexes. Maybe in CA its different. The last address of my roomate was the apt and her fone number has been disconnected. She took off and i have no idea where she is. Iam trying to do a background search on her for any known recent addresses and numbers. Her credit is already bad and she has 4 kids so i doubt i will ever see any money from her. If i had a copy of the drop form with her signature on it could that help me any?

"The point you are missing is that EACH of you is responsible for the ENTIRE debt, unless you have something in the lease agreement that says otherwise. If you want to protect your credit, you'll probably need to pay the back rent, then figure out how to get reimbursed from your old roomate."

The point is that i was to be taken off the lease and i dont feel i should pay rent when i was living in a home i purchased during the time the rent that my roomate was to be paying herself.

[divgradcurl]

Did you contact the apartment office after you heard from the collection agency? Was the form ever turned in?

If i had a copy of the drop form with her signature on it could that help me any?

I thought you said you didn't keep a copy.

The point is that i was to be taken off the lease and i dont feel i should pay rent when i was living in a home i purchased during the time the rent that my roomate was to be paying herself.

I understand completely where you are coming from. The problem is, if the apartment managers never received the form, then as far as they knew you were both still liable for the rent -- and if the ex roomate is a deadbeat, then they'll get a lot further coming after you.

Further, since your ex is a deadbeat, even if you do find her, what then? Unless she can come up with the bcak rent, it'll still be due, and you'll both take credit hits until it is paid.

It's unfortunate, but unless the apartment managers are willing to work with you, it doesn't sound too promising. Since you were the one getting out of paying the rent, you should have been the one to make sure that the apartment managers got the form and processed it -- as you are finding out now, your ex roomate didn't have as much incentive as you did...

You should contact the apartment managers and see if you can work something out, but unless they are willing to work with you, you are going to have to pay up the back rent or take the hit on your credit -- and then maybe face a lawsuit. And, since you own a house now, if you did get a judgment against you, they could put a lien on your house. Protect yourself by either working something out with the apartment managers, or pay the back rent -- you'll have time to worry about getting money back from the ex roomate later.

I contacted the apt office and they told me that my file was with the collection agency. I just asked if i had a copy of the form if that could help my situation any or would be just nothing.

[divgradcurl]

I just asked if i had a copy of the form if that could help my situation any or would be just nothing.

Well, if everything is with the collection agency, and the apartment managers are unwilling to do anything, then it won't help you right now. The collection agency doesn't care about any agreements -- they know that they have a debt on a contract owed by you, and your evidence isn't going to persuade them otherwise. If you do find that you have proof that you don't owe the debt -- like this agreement paperwork -- then you might consider reposting your problem under the debt collection section.

It would be a tremendous help later in your suit against the ex-roommate to prove your agreement to let you move out. Further, if the apartment complex had it but never processed it, you might be able to go after them for reimbursement -- but that's only if they have the signed form, and evertyhing was complied with, and they screwed up, so I wouldn't get my hopes up on that.