Renters Question

[123kid]

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

My girlfriend has signed a lease back in the middle of last year. Towards the end of the year, we found two other roommates to move in. We had decided that rent would be split by the three rooms (we shared one) and they were OK with that. A few months ago one of the guys was going to move out (Guy A), we told the other guy (Guy B) when Guy A moves out that rent would be going up and it would be split by the two rooms. Guy B had no problem with this until rent was due this month (rent is due at the beginning of the month to cover the month ahead) and suddenly Guy B deemed rent unfair and felt it should be split by people. After refusing to pay, we told Guy B on the 5th that he could move out out by the 6th and we would not charge him for this months rent, he did not do that. We then offered to split it by people, as long as Guy B paid and was out by the end of the month, we told him if he did not pay, we would take him to court for the full amount (split by the 2 rooms and not people, plus utilities owed for both months that Guy B did not pay). Guy B paid the third and we said he could stay until the end of the month, he then moved out on the 12th, and canceled the check he had given us. He does not feel he should have to pay because he left by the 12th. He also still owes for a third of utilities the month before and utilities this month.

My question is, can we go through small claims court (I have never done anything with small claims before so I'm not sure how any of it works) to sue for the full months rent, plus a third of utilities from last month and this month? It seems if he were staying anywhere else he would not be able to change the terms of what he pays, and leave early without being charged for the full month, especially because he left by his own free will and we said he could stay for the entirety of the month (before we realize the check was canceled).

Also, in small claims courts, can you sue for court costs too? As I said, I have not gone through them before. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[latigo]

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

My girlfriend has signed a lease back in the middle of last year. Towards the end of the year, we found two other roommates to move in. We had decided that rent would be split by the three rooms (we shared one) and they were OK with that. A few months ago one of the guys was going to move out (Guy A), we told the other guy (Guy B) when Guy A moves out that rent would be going up and it would be split by the two rooms. Guy B had no problem with this until rent was due this month (rent is due at the beginning of the month to cover the month ahead) and suddenly Guy B deemed rent unfair and felt it should be split by people. After refusing to pay, we told Guy B on the 5th that he could move out out by the 6th and we would not charge him for this months rent, he did not do that. We then offered to split it by people, as long as Guy B paid and was out by the end of the month, we told him if he did not pay, we would take him to court for the full amount (split by the 2 rooms and not people, plus utilities owed for both months that Guy B did not pay). Guy B paid the third and we said he could stay until the end of the month, he then moved out on the 12th, and canceled the check he had given us. He does not feel he should have to pay because he left by the 12th. He also still owes for a third of utilities the month before and utilities this month.

My question is, can we go through small claims court (I have never done anything with small claims before so I'm not sure how any of it works) to sue for the full months rent, plus a third of utilities from last month and this month? It seems if he were staying anywhere else he would not be able to change the terms of what he pays, and leave early without being charged for the full month, especially because he left by his own free will and we said he could stay for the entirety of the month (before we realize the check was canceled).

Also, in small claims courts, can you sue for court costs too? As I said, I have not gone through them before. Thanks in advance for any help!

Forget it. It’s not worth the hassle.

Even if your girlfriend (not you) were to recover a small claims judgment, how does she you intend to enforce it? The post judgment process is complicated, time consuming and at best a pain in the butt. Plus it is seldom, if ever, profitable.

Also, unless the lease agreement expressly permits your lessee girl friend to sublet part of the premises there is no landlord/tenant relationship involved with Guy B.

Consequently the laws governing a month to month tenancy – such as the tenant must give 30 day advance notice before terminating the tenancy, or a tenant holding over is obligated to pay rent for the ensuing 30 days – do not apply here.

She might be able to successfully stumble her way through a court trial, but all she would end up with is a piece of paper.

 

[Banned_Princess]

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

My girlfriend has signed a lease back in the middle of last year. Towards the end of the year, we found two other roommates to move in.

Did she have permission to let 2 other people live with her? AKA Sublet?

We had decided that rent would be split by the three rooms (we shared one) and they were OK with that

Well then that is what guy B's rent is, even if someone else moved out. You cant just go around changing rent amounts at the drop of a hat.

A few months ago one of the guys was going to move out (Guy A), we told the other guy (Guy B) when Guy A moves out that rent would be going up and it would be split by the two rooms.

Was this in a written 30 day notice to change the terms of the current agreement?

Guy B had no problem with this until rent was due this month (rent is due at the beginning of the month to cover the month ahead) and suddenly Guy B deemed rent unfair and felt it should be split by people.

He doesnt have to pay anymore then he did, without a 30 day notice that the rent was going up. And he did not agree to that amount until he paid it. which he didnt so he did not agree.

After refusing to pay, we told Guy B on the 5th that he could move out out by the 6th and we would not charge him for this months rent, he did not do that

Well, he only had to pay the rent he always paid, unless there was a notice, which I have now said like 50 times.

We then offered to split it by people, as long as Guy B paid and was out by the end of the month, we told him if he did not pay, we would take him to court for the full amount (split by the 2 rooms and not people, plus utilities owed for both months that Guy B did not pay).

Your case would be dismissed, unless you can show you gave him proper notice of the increase.

Guy B paid the third and we said he could stay until the end of the month, he then moved out on the 12th, and canceled the check he had given us. He does not feel he should have to pay because he left by the 12th. He also still owes for a third of utilities the month before and utilities this month.

As far as I can tell, he owes the 1/3 of the rent and 2 months of 1/3 of the utilities.

My question is, can we go through small claims court (I have never done anything with small claims before so I'm not sure how any of it works) to sue for the full months rent, plus a third of utilities from last month and this month?

You can sue for what he actually owes. 1/3 of the rent for the month he moved out (basically whatever he wrote on the cancled check. And since you asked him to leave, he doesnt need to pay the notice period that normally he would have to.

It seems if he were staying anywhere else he would not be able to change the terms of what he pays,

You cannot change the terms as to what he pays either... without written notice.

and leave early without being charged for the full month, especially because he left by his own free will and we said he could stay for the entirety of the month (before we realize the check was canceled).

To Late. you already asked him a number of times to leave.

Also, in small claims courts, can you sue for court costs too? As I said, I have not gone through them before. Thanks in advance for any help!

Sure you can, but you will only get it if you win.

And there are a number of things wrong with the whole situation, so I doubt your GF will win anykind of fortune, and collecting on that judgment (if any) is a totally different matter.

 

[123kid]

Did she have permission to let 2 other people live with her? AKA Sublet?




Well then that is what guy B's rent is, even if someone else moved out. You cant just go around changing rent amounts at the drop of a hat.




Was this in a written 30 day notice to change the terms of the current agreement?



He doesnt have to pay anymore then he did, without a 30 day notice that the rent was going up. And he did not agree to that amount until he paid it. which he didnt so he did not agree.



Well, he only had to pay the rent he always paid, unless there was a notice, which I have now said like 50 times.



Your case would be dismissed, unless you can show you gave him proper notice of the increase.



As far as I can tell, he owes the 1/3 of the rent and 2 months of 1/3 of the utilities.




You can sue for what he actually owes. 1/3 of the rent for the month he moved out (basically whatever he wrote on the cancled check. And since you asked him to leave, he doesnt need to pay the notice period that normally he would have to.



You cannot change the terms as to what he pays either... without written notice.



To Late. you already asked him a number of times to leave.



Sure you can, but you will only get it if you win.

And there are a number of things wrong with the whole situation, so I doubt your GF will win anykind of fortune, and collecting on that judgment (if any) is a totally different matter.

I think you might have misread the part where I said a few months prior, Guy A said he was moving out, at that time we told Guy B the rent would be moving up. This wasn't a shock or suprirse to anyone, we talked about it almost weekly for 2 and a half months, and Guy B agreed to the new terms.

We asked him to leave twice, one with the understanding that he would not have to pay anything for that months rent, it was a few days into the month, but we thought we would give him a chance to leave and not have to pay anything. The next time we said we would lower the rent if he got out by the end of the month. We never forced him out or said he had to just leave, if he paid the rent that was owed, he could stay.

We're also not looking for a fortune, were just looking for the money we are owed. When we paid the rent we assumed that was that. It's hard to budget for someone canceling a check they've given you just to spite you. Unfortunately, the money tree in our backyard isn't really in bloom right now.