Being sued, please reply with advice!

[ceo21mil]

My previous post was largely ignored, so I am trying again with updated information. With luck, I will have some replies this time… perhaps even IAAL will respond!

I am being sued by former co-tenants in the small claims court of Alachua County, Gainesville, Florida.

I was invited to sign a joint lease for a three-bedroom apartment with two other individuals. Before signing the lease, I wrote a Roommate Agreement and had the two other individuals sign.
The co-tenants agreed, among other things, that: (1) drugs were prohibited, and that (2) the addition of a fourth roommate would require approval of all roommates.

Unfortunately, my roommates broke both of these conditions. Management of the apartment complex in which we lived was unwilling to help me because “they do not get involved in what goes on behind closed doors.” Consequently, I packed up and moved out after only three months of living there.

My former roommates are suing me for two months rent, plus court costs. I admit that I did live in the apartment for one of the months that they are suing me for. However, that is the same month I came home to find a fourth – unsigned, unapproved – roommate. The other month they are suing me for is the month that I moved out, even though I moved out on the 2nd of the month.

I think I was justified in leaving given the circumstances, particularly the violation of the Roommate Agreement, but I am worried that the judge will still want me to pay rent to my former roommates for the last month that I occupied the apartment – despite the violation of the agreement.

What are your thoughts and recommendations?

 

[JenniferH]

The best thing I can tell you is to go armed with your roommate agreement. Is anything in your roommate agreement have any details on moving out upon breaking the agreement? I would have to ask because you *could* be liable if there is none, i would think. No notice, yadayadayada. You know what I mean.

This is very complicated and I can't see where anyone on this board could forsee what the judge would rule.

Like I said, go armed with all your signed paperwork, be very polite to the judge and see what happens.

Good Luck,

 

[HomeGuru]

My previous post was largely ignored, so I am trying again with updated information. With luck, I will have some replies this time… perhaps even IAAL will respond!

I am being sued by former co-tenants in the small claims court of Alachua County, Gainesville, Florida.

I was invited to sign a joint lease for a three-bedroom apartment with two other individuals. Before signing the lease, I wrote a Roommate Agreement and had the two other individuals sign.
The co-tenants agreed, among other things, that: (1) drugs were prohibited, and that (2) the addition of a fourth roommate would require approval of all roommates.

Unfortunately, my roommates broke both of these conditions. Management of the apartment complex in which we lived was unwilling to help me because “they do not get involved in what goes on behind closed doors.” Consequently, I packed up and moved out after only three months of living there.

My former roommates are suing me for two months rent, plus court costs. I admit that I did live in the apartment for one of the months that they are suing me for. However, that is the same month I came home to find a fourth – unsigned, unapproved – roommate. The other month they are suing me for is the month that I moved out, even though I moved out on the 2nd of the month.

I think I was justified in leaving given the circumstances, particularly the violation of the Roommate Agreement, but I am worried that the judge will still want me to pay rent to my former roommates for the last month that I occupied the apartment – despite the violation of the agreement.

What are your thoughts and recommendations?

My response: Even though you had a side agreement with the roommates, the written lease that was signed by all the tenants will apply.
Therefore, you still owe the rent to the landlord. If the roommates paid this rent on your behalf, then they can seek recovery from you. True, they broke the terms and conditions in the side roommate agreement, but you did not mitigate damages ie. go to Small Claims Court to resolve the issues. Instead you just packed up and moved out.

 

[ceo21mil]

Unfortunately, there is nothing in the agreement regarding what would happen in the event the contract was broken.

I gave my roommates one month notice that I was moving out because of their drug use / addition of a fourth roommate. I also informed them that I was going to stop payment on the last month’s rent check, but they attempted to cash it anyways.

The two original co-tenants that are suing me did not actually suffer any financial loss, because the total rent did not change with the addition of a fourth roommate. As a result of my stop-payment on my last month’s rent check, the fourth roommate had to pay 1/3 of the rent, and my original roommates had to pay 1/3 each. (This is the same they would have paid had they not invited a fourth roommate.) I lived there for the month that I stopped payment on the rent check, while looking for a new apartment, and then promptly moved out when I found a new one. I actually experienced financial loss – with the rental of moving equipment, expense of finding a new apartment, etc. I don’t know if it warrants a counter-claim, but I think it is far more legitimate than their lawsuit.

Your advice was appreciated. If you’d like me to e-mail you a copy of the roommate agreement, I can easily do that… just send me an e-mail ([email protected]).

 

[ellencee]

ok--so here's my opinion:
first: there is the lease, and you signed this lease with management along with your room-mates, so the lease is with management, not with your room-mates. therefore, I am surprized that management is not sending you a bill each month for one-third of the rent.
second: you lived there for the month you put a stop payment on the check--you owe that money.
third: you had as much right to stay there as they did, and as much right to move the other person out (legally), and the right to report their drug usage if that's what it took to get them out.
fourth: you made the decision to bail on what was rightfully yours, one-third of that apartment, and you had other options available but did not take them; you simply walked out of your apartment and on the lease that you signed with management.
fifth: the room-mate agreement was the tool you needed to enforce the removal of the 4th room-mate, and to make them move if the drug usage continued, which would have left you with the apartment and no moving expenses.
I'm not an attorney, nor a judge, I am just making a statement of opinion on the way I interpret your information. Good luck.