Cabin included in premises?

[janedoe123]

Colorado

"Rental Property: The Landlord agrees to rent to the Tenant the property described as a house located at (address) - 2 Bedroom, 2 Bath"

The house is on 3 acres. There are a few storage sheds on the property, plus a small, 2-room cabin w/ running water and electricity on the same meter as the house, and its own propane tank. Cabin does not have a separate address.

We leased the house through an agent, who said the cabin was being used for storage; owners might come out a few times to get stuff out of storage. Instead, the owners are living in the cabin part-time. They also want us to move out before the end of the lease and say if we don't, then they'll just live in the cabin full-time.

Can we do anything about this? Did we lease the entire premises or just the house? I've gotten two different opinions from two different lawyers. Thanks

 

[Searchertwin]

Colorado

"Rental Property: The Landlord agrees to rent to the Tenant the property described as a house located at (address) - 2 Bedroom, 2 Bath"

The house is on 3 acres. There are a few storage sheds on the property, plus a small, 2-room cabin w/ running water and electricity on the same meter as the house, and its own propane tank. Cabin does not have a separate address.

We leased the house through an agent, who said the cabin was being used for storage; owners might come out a few times to get stuff out of storage. Instead, the owners are living in the cabin part-time. They also want us to move out before the end of the lease and say if we don't, then they'll just live in the cabin full-time.

Can we do anything about this? Did we lease the entire premises or just the house? I've gotten two different opinions from two different lawyers. Thanks

Depends on what in lease on the cabin. If the agent indicated that the owners use for cabin for storage, than the cabin was not part of the lease.
At that time, you should have said something, by not, than you agreed verbally to this. Still a sticky situation. That's probably why you got different answers.
BUT, you rented the place with all the buildings, if it is NOT mention in the lease and you have not sign anything that gives them permission to live there, call the police for trespassing. But give them fair warning by crr letter of your intent if they don't leave. But expect to look for anther place at end of lease.

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

the fact that the cabin does NOT have it's own electricity is probably the point that should be pressed.

 

[FarmerJ]

Id say to check your states LL tenant laws to learn if the LL and agent were required to disclose in your lease the fact that a structure that you were denied use of in the lease was connected to the elect meter you pay the bill for. Many states / localities that permit one meter at a property to serve more than the tenants space also require this to be disclosed in the tenants lease. , doesnt matter if its living space the tenant cannot use or storage if it gets elect from tenant meter it should be disclosed.

 

[janedoe123]

The lease is silent on the cabin. Agent originally (verbally) agreed that owners shouldn't be living in cabin but when I put in writing that they're denying us quiet enjoyment, the story changed to she only leased us the house, not the cabin. So I balked at paying for their electric/water usage. Agent (verbally) claimed utilities were on a different meter but relented when I told her the utility company says otherwise. Now she says owners will pay for their utility usage if we can figure out a "fair" way to split it.

Then I re-read the lease and noticed it says the LL will pay for utilities, not us. (We've been paying for 2 months.) If I can't get them out of the cabin, I'll at least feel better if they do pay for ALL of the utilities. But that leads to the next question...

Without going into details, the agent printed two copies of the lease; one for her and one for us. Some corrections were made in writing on both leases (changes initialed; lease signed). Yes, the changes SHOULD be the same, but if for some reason there is a discrepancy between the two copies --i.e., who pays for utilities -- which one is considered the "official" copy? (We do have her sig and initials on our copy, which says LL pays for utilities.)

We've tried to negotiate with the agent but aren't getting anywhere. So I'm trying to determine if I'm on solid footing in at least insisting they pay for all utilities.

Thanks again

 

[FarmerJ]

if it came down to court the court it self would view both copies of lease and make a determination and if the leases are not the same meaning manangements is different than yours the court may be inclined to think that management failed to properly disclose to you the meter situation even if the cabin was intended to only be storage .

 

[Banned_Princess]

None of this is going to save you from having to move out at the end of the lease once proper notice has been given by the LL canciling your lease at the end.

wich is extremely likely.

why all of the sudden did you start paying the utilities if you knew your lease states that is the LL's obligation?

 

[janedoe123]

We planned on moving out at the end of lease anyway, so I'm really not concerned that they won't renew it! (In fact, less than a week after signing the lease, the owners said they wanted to move back into the house BEFORE our lease ends.)

We started paying utilities because we SAID we would, just like the agent SAID no one would be living in the cabin. We never thought to get that in writing because we honestly thought we were leasing the entire premises. It wasn't a big deal to us that the cabin was being used for storage, because we didn't need the space.

 

[mauee20]

We planned on moving out at the end of lease anyway, so I'm really not concerned that they won't renew it! (In fact, less than a week after signing the lease, the owners said they wanted to move back into the house BEFORE our lease ends.)

Why not look for a new place now? You can take a little time to find a better place and it sounds like the LL you have now is happy to let you out of the lease. Just make sure you get that release in writing.