can i charge more than half the rent?

[skinnyminnie101]

What is the name of your state? CT

I've been living in a 3BR, 2Bath apt with my daughter for over 2 years. My roommate moved out in Nov, so I found someone else to move in to take her room. Our total rent is $1850 and I advertised one bedroom and one bath for $1150. The apartment is in my name (but there is no official lease). All of the utiities are also in my name. My new roommate has been paying the rent to me in cash and has never asked how much the total rent is.

Recently, she has spoken with the landlord and found out that she is paying more than I am even though I used more of the space. She now is refusing to pay me the $1150. She gave me $800 for March and says she will not pay more. She and I do not have an agreement in writing (although I have emails with her agreeing to the price).

Could I get in trouble for charging her more than half the rent? Is there a law that says that she only has to pay half? Can I evict her for nonpayment of rent even though I am not the landlord? How do I get her out if she refuses to move out?

 

[justalayman]

What is the name of your state? CT

I've been living in a 3BR, 2Bath apt with my daughter for over 2 years. My roommate moved out in Nov, so I found someone else to move in to take her room. Our total rent is $1850 and I advertised one bedroom and one bath for $1150. The apartment is in my name (but there is no official lease). All of the utiities are also in my name. My new roommate has been paying the rent to me in cash and has never asked how much the total rent is.

Recently, she has spoken with the landlord and found out that she is paying more than I am even though I used more of the space. She now is refusing to pay me the $1150. She gave me $800 for March and says she will not pay more. She and I do not have an agreement in writing (although I have emails with her agreeing to the price).

Could I get in trouble for charging her more than half the rent? Is there a law that says that she only has to pay half? Can I evict her for nonpayment of rent even though I am not the landlord? How do I get her out if she refuses to move out?

the first thing you need to understand is you are the landlord, at least her landlord. She is not a party to your lease with your landlord and what you pay your landlord is irrelevent to what she is charged for rent.

If she does not pay the agreed upon rent, file for eviction but be sure to follow your states laws in this area. They are typically available on the web.

 

[MIRAKALES]

The original lease agreement would need to stipulate that subleasing is allowed. The entire deal is of no consequence if subleasing is in violation of the lease agreement. If subleasing is allowed in the written lease agreement then, most likely, the tenant will need the LL's approval prior to renting to new tenants.
If the sublease is legal then the same rental laws in the State of Connecticut would be applicable to an eviction or non-payment claim, and the rental amount. Sounds like you should have fully disclosed the lease terms and conditions prior to move-in.

 

[justalayman]

The original lease agreement would need to stipulate that subleasing is allowed. The entire deal is of no consequence if subleasing is in violation of the lease agreement. If subleasing is allowed in the written lease agreement then, most likely, the tenant will need the LL's approval prior to renting to new tenants.
If the sublease is legal then the same rental laws in the State of Connecticut would be applicable to an eviction or non-payment claim, and the rental amount. Sounds like you should have fully disclosed the lease terms and conditions prior to move-in.

did youmiss the part where the OP stated there is no written lease, involving any party?

as such, since the OP's LL is apparently aware of the situation and has not brought up the issue with the OP, that would tend to make me beleive that it is acceptable to the OP's LL.

So, since that is all settled, we are back to OP is the LL to the un-named subleasor and must follow state laws regarding eviction of he tenant. The amount of rent is irrelevent as sub-leasor agreed to pay the $1150 so that is what the rent is, barring any sort of rent control that may or may not be part of the situation.

OP had no reason to disclose her lease agreement with her LL to the sub-leasor. It is not of her concern.

 

[MIRAKALES]

did you miss the part where the OP stated there is no written lease, involving any party? ... OP had no reason to disclose her lease agreement with her LL to the sub-leasor. It is not of her concern.

Did YOU miss the part where the OP stated "The apartment is in my name..." In order to have an apartment and be named regarding an apartment at one point in time there must have been a written lease agreement. Otherwise, it would not be possible to be a NAMED tenant. (It is possible that the former tenant who recently moved out was the only primary named tenant. This is the reason lease disclosure is important.)

Any person entering into an agreement has a right to request full disclosure. A review of the primary tenant's lease agreement would be basic to a sub-lease agreement. To expect a person to enter into agreement without confirmation of the legal tenancy, rent amount, date of lease expiration, lease terms and conditions, etc. would not be fair or reasonable. (The sub-tenant spoke directly with the LL because she believed the OP provided false information and/or was withholding vital information.)

In addition, the OP is paying rent for two occupants (herself and daughter) and the roommate is solo. Strictly from the perspective of fairness, the OP should be responsible for most of the rent because SHE is occupying most of the space, utilizing more of the utilities, and considers herself to be the primary tenant.

 

[Unitonika]

Not that it matters, but I totally agree with Mira. I think it was really sneaky to charge the new roomate more rent if the OP is occupying most of the space... shame on you! For being sneaky, you got just what you deserved! Karma comes right back to you... whatever you put out, you usually get back... It's too late to worry about what was right now, you knew you were wrong when you charged the poor lady/man wrong in the first place!!!

 

[COlandlord]

The landlord, regardless of fairness and karma (unless it violated Fair Housing Laws), can charge what she wants. Her roommate agreed to it...that was her choice. I totally agree with justalayman on this one and the leaseholder needs to begin eviction proceedings.

 

[VeronicaLodge]

I agree with CL. there is nothing sneaky about it. corporate apartments are just like that, a company rents with the apartment complex and then turns around rents (at a very high rate of rent) to corporations for employees and others.

she can charge the roomate whatever the roomate was willing to accept when they negotiated it. the roomate was free to say "that is too much for me" and not rent there. it makes no difference what the original tenant is paying the original LL

 

[OHlandlord]

Some of you are off base here. You are confusing what you deem as "fair" with the law. The two are not related. There is nothing sneaky or illegal about this. The tenant's lease has nothing to do with any agreement she has with a sublease tenant. The rent she pays to her LL has nothing to do with the amount of rent the sublease tenant pays to her. The other roommate agreed to pay $1150 and responded to an ad for such. Whatever amount she agreed to pay has nothing to do with the rent amount the tenant pays. The roommate must have thought it was a good deal at the time or she wouldn't have agreed and moved in. I know of people who rent places, only to turn around and sublease them for more than the actual rent. Perfectly legal as long as there is no clause prohibitting subletting. The sublease tenant agreed to pay more. If they didn't want to pay that amount, they could have found another place to rent.

Additionally, the poster states that she pays all utilities, so the subtenant's rent apparently includes utilities (and I'm betting that also means phone, cable, and internet besides the usual gas, electric, water, sewer, and trash). That alone makes it reasonable to charge more than "her fair share" of the rent. How much does a one BD with all those utilities included rent for in that area? I'm betting it is at least $1150. So the roommate is not being gouged. If she refuses to pay what she owes, give her a pay or quit notice to pay up or move out. If she doesn't pay, either file for eviction or give her a 30 day notice to vacate. Then get the agreement in writing with the next roomate, even if it is a month to month.

skinny, you have done absolutely nothing wrong here, despite some opinions to the contrary. The utility companies don't base your payment on what you think is fair. My mortgage companies don't let me pay what I think is fair. Some people's idea of a fair rent has nothing to do with this. If the rent charged is in line with the market rent for your area and a tenant (even a sub-tenant) will pay it, feel free to charge that amount.

 

[rowz]

What nonsense [unles there are specific laws to the contrary] that some have posted here.

"Fair" has nothing to do with it.

If I buy something for 10.00 and turn around and sell it one hour later for 100.00 why should the Seller [one who sold for 10.00] be entitled to a share of my profit?

We do things like this all the time....sometimes 5 minutes after we buy it.

And.....sometimes we lose as well!

 

[justalayman]

Did YOU miss the part where the OP stated "The apartment is in my name..." In order to have an apartment and be named regarding an apartment at one point in time there must have been a written lease agreement. .

would you care to provide a statute the requires a written lease. The LL and the OP have a verbal(like in "not written") contract. The subleasee has nothing to do with that contract.

Any person entering into an agreement has a right to request full disclosure. A review of the primary tenant's lease agreement would be basic to a sub-lease agreement.

The subleasee has no rights whatsoever to know what is contained in the LL and the OP's contract, NONE.

In addition, the OP is paying rent for two occupants (herself and daughter) and the roommate is solo.

Doesn't make a difference. They are NOT CO-tenants. OP is the tenant to her LL and she is also LL to her subleasee. Why do you have a problem with that. Subleasee is not a party to the original lease, no matter what you want to believe and as such, OP can charge anything they want to charge he tenant as long as it is not illegal.

To expect a person to enter into agreement without confirmation of the legal tenancy, rent amount, date of lease expiration, lease terms and conditions, etc. would not be fair or reasonable. (The sub-tenant spoke directly with the LL because she believed the OP provided false information and/or was withholding vital information.)

Really doesn't make a rat's ass legal difference. If the OP screwed the subleasee, then the sub woudl need to take legal action to recieve justice. Sub has no rights to engage OP's LL and seek info concerning OP's lease.

I do agree that I would not sub unless I knew the OP was there legally but that is about where it stops. Anything else is not of concern of the sub.

Fairness has nothing to do with this. It is purely a contractual situation. If the sub agreed to pay $1000000/ month and the OP actually paid no rent at all, it is irrelevent to the Mil/month rent sub has to pay.

 

[MIRAKALES]

These are the reasons that sub-leases are strictly prohibit in the majority of standard leases.
What is being overlooked is that posters often only provide the information favorable to support their case or cause. Most posters have already surmised their course of action and only use the message board to validate their decision. Posting limited facts is a method to acquire legal perspective to support their intentions. Notice that OP has not responded once to any of the details with further explanation. The common thread is in agreement that OP should evict the sub-tenant. It seems to be common to want to promote antagonistic relationships (for one person's advantage and another’s disadvantage) instead of resolution or solutions to solve dilemmas.

In the real world, in order to evict there needs to be basis or reason, ESPECIALLY when tenant opposition to LL retaliation is factored into the matter (even in M2M). The tenant/LL may eventually get an eviction but not before exposing the legitimacy of a illegal sub-lease when most leases prohibit sub-leasing without owner/LL permission. Trust that if the original lease (written or verbal) does not allow for subletting then the OP will be evicted also!

 

[acmb05]

These are the reasons that sub-leases are strictly prohibit in the majority of standard leases.
What is being overlooked is that posters often only provide the information favorable to support their case or cause. Most posters have already surmised their course of action and only use the message board to validate their decision. Posting limited facts is a method to acquire legal perspective to support their intentions. Notice that OP has not responded once to any of the details with further explanation. The common thread is in agreement that OP should evict the sub-tenant. It seems to be common to want to promote antagonistic relationships (for one person's advantage and another’s disadvantage) instead of resolution or solutions to solve dilemmas.

In the real world, in order to evict there needs to be basis or reason, ESPECIALLY when tenant opposition to LL retaliation is factored into the matter (even in M2M). The tenant/LL may eventually get an eviction but not before exposing the legitimacy of a illegal sub-lease when most leases prohibit sub-leasing without owner/LL permission. Trust that if the original lease (written or verbal) does not allow for subletting then the OP will be evicted also!

One would assume that since she had a roomate before this one and has been in the rental for 2 years with a roomate that the owner of the home had no problem with it.

On the flip side though, Now the owner knows that she is charging her sub leasee that much each month so I would expect she will probably get a notice of rent increase shortly.

 

[ecmst12]

I know I've seen some states where it IS illegal for a tenant to make a profit off of a sub-tenant.

 

[VeronicaLodge]

I know I've seen some states where it IS illegal for a tenant to make a profit off of a sub-tenant.

is CT one of them?