debt collection on apartment rent

[GreekGoddess]

i lived in an apartment for 3 years. I paid rent on time every month, until my adult daughter moved in during covid. She became mentally ill and could not hold down a job. I officially moved out and paid my last months rent. My daughter stayed and did not pay rent for almost 3 years. She is 41 and in a mental hospital. Am I liable for the rent?

She is in a mental hospital right now.. Is she liable for the debt or does her mental illness absolve her?

 

[LdiJ]

i lived in an apartment for 3 years. I paid rent on time every month, until my adult daughter moved in during covid. She became mentally ill and could not hold down a job. I officially moved out and paid my last months rent. My daughter stayed and did not pay rent for almost 3 years. She is 41 and in a mental hospital. Am I liable for the rent?

She is in a mental hospital right now.. Is she liable for the debt or does her mental illness absolve her?

You very possibly could be liable depending on what happened when you moved out. Did the landlord agree that your daughter could take over the apartment? Did he/she refund your deposit? If you simply moved out without making your daughter also move out, then you did not officially move out unless the landlord agreed that you did.

 

[GreekGoddess]

https://forum.freeadvice.com/members/ldij.149046/

THE landlord neither agreed nor disagreed that my daughter could take over the apt. Neither of us knew at the time whether she would pay rent. SHe had a job at that point, but soon lost it.

I asked to have my name removed from the lease. THE landlord said no and did not refund my deposit, although I had not caused any damage to the place.

I have not received a bill from the landlord or note from a collection agency. My daughter got a note from a collection agency last week to the tune of $44k for back rent, and I wonder how the agency found where she was living, which is in a confined mental hospital! HOW would I know if some collection agency was trying to contact me? I did not leave a forwarding address, either.

 

[adjusterjack]

They will eventually find you just like they found your daughter.

You may owe at least part of that money.

 

[quincy]

i lived in an apartment for 3 years. I paid rent on time every month, until my adult daughter moved in during covid. She became mentally ill and could not hold down a job. I officially moved out and paid my last months rent. My daughter stayed and did not pay rent for almost 3 years. She is 41 and in a mental hospital. Am I liable for the rent?

She is in a mental hospital right now.. Is she liable for the debt or does her mental illness absolve her?

By officially moving out do you mean your lease ended and you notified your landlord in a timely manner that you did not intend to renew the lease? Did you return all keys when you moved out?

Was your landlord aware that your daughter was continuing to live in the rental after you moved out? You said the landlord was not removing your name from the lease so it sounds like your lease did not really end when you moved out.

If your daughter did not sign a new lease with the landlord and did not sign the original lease, it appears that you can be held responsible for the missing rent payments.

 

[LdiJ]

https://forum.freeadvice.com/members/ldij.149046/

THE landlord neither agreed nor disagreed that my daughter could take over the apt. Neither of us knew at the time whether she would pay rent. SHe had a job at that point, but soon lost it.

I asked to have my name removed from the lease. THE landlord said no and did not refund my deposit, although I had not caused any damage to the place.

I have not received a bill from the landlord or note from a collection agency. My daughter got a note from a collection agency last week to the tune of $44k for back rent, and I wonder how the agency found where she was living, which is in a confined mental hospital! HOW would I know if some collection agency was trying to contact me? I did not leave a forwarding address, either.

If your name did not come off the lease then you are still liable for at least part of it. He should never have allowed it to go on for three years without evicting you and your daughter, so you have some defense there, but you are still liable for at least part of it.

 

[quincy]

That is the curious part: Why would the landlord not file for eviction and instead allow $44,000 of back rent payments to accumulate? Something sounds off.

As a note for others: GreekGoddess lives in southern California.

 

[GreekGoddess]

Mr. QUINCY ASKED:

By officially moving out do you mean your lease ended and you notified your landlord in a timely manner that you did not intend to renew the lease?

---YES, I asked if I could be removed the lease, which was month to month, and the landlord AND manager of apt told me no, I could not be removed.

Did you return all keys when you moved out?

--NO, but the locks were changed--BY MY DAUGHTER.

Was your landlord aware that your daughter was continuing to live in the rental after you moved out?

--YES, AND SHE (APT MANAGER) also was aware that something was mentally wrong with my daughter and that my daughter WOULD NOT LEAVE. I tried to get her to leave, but she refused.

You said the landlord was not removing your name from the lease so it sounds like your lease did not really end when you moved out.

--WELL, the lease WAS month to month and it was paid in full when I left, although, as I said, my daughter remained.

If your daughter did not sign a new lease with the landlord and did not sign the original lease,...

---MY daughter PROBABLY signed the original lease with me, but I honestly do not remember.

Mr. LdiJ,

He should never have allowed it to go on for three years without evicting you and your daughter.

--The landlord DID give us eviction notices, but never followed through until Jan of 2024. She was evicted then, but more importantly, she was in the midst of a big MANIC episode and the PSYCH team here in LA took her away when she stepped outside of the building. THE apt manager was nice enough to call me and tell me that she had been evicted and that I could come to get my daughter's belongings and the rest of mine that I had left there.

--Yes, I also wonder why the eviction took 3 years and $44,000 of rent was allowed to accumulate, but as QUINCY said, I live in LA, and anything goes here!

 

[quincy]

Mr. QUINCY ASKED:

By officially moving out do you mean your lease ended and you notified your landlord in a timely manner that you did not intend to renew the lease?

---YES, I asked if I could be removed the lease, which was month to month, and the landlord AND manager of apt told me no, I could not be removed.

Did you return all keys when you moved out?

--NO, but the locks were changed--BY MY DAUGHTER.

Was your landlord aware that your daughter was continuing to live in the rental after you moved out?

--YES, AND SHE (APT MANAGER) also was aware that something was mentally wrong with my daughter and that my daughter WOULD NOT LEAVE. I tried to get her to leave, but she refused.

You said the landlord was not removing your name from the lease so it sounds like your lease did not really end when you moved out.

--WELL, the lease WAS month to month and it was paid in full when I left, although, as I said, my daughter remained.

If your daughter did not sign a new lease with the landlord and did not sign the original lease,...

---MY daughter PROBABLY signed the original lease with me, but I honestly do not remember.

Mr. LdiJ,

He should never have allowed it to go on for three years without evicting you and your daughter.

--The landlord DID give us eviction notices, but never followed through until Jan of 2024. She was evicted then, but more importantly, she was in the midst of a big MANIC episode and the PSYCH team here in LA took her away when she stepped outside of the building. THE apt manager was nice enough to call me and tell me that she had been evicted and that I could come to get my daughter's belongings and the rest of mine that I had left there.

--Yes, I also wonder why the eviction took 3 years and $44,000 of rent was allowed to accumulate, but as QUINCY said, I live in LA, and anything goes here!

If your daughter co-signed the lease with you, both you and your daughter can be held liable for the past due rent, under the wording of most lease agreements.

I assume that you removed all of your daughter’s belongings and the rest of your belongings when the landlord told you that your daughter had been evicted.

I am not sure that the landlord can collect the full amount of rent that is being claimed but your daughter appears to have ignored earlier attempts to get her to leave, and your daughter changing the locks on the rental without authorization from the landlord is a problem that could support the higher claim amount.

You will want an attorney’s assistance. The landlord might be willing to settle the debt for a reduced amount, if paid in cash in a lump sum.

 

[GreekGoddess]

I HAVE FEW ASSESTS. SHOULD I try to get a trust so that nobody can touch the assets?

IS my daughter, with her MENTAL illness, judgment-proof? I got most of her belongings but had no place to put the rest, so I told the landlady to toss them. I pray that she did not put them in a storage bin and now expects us to pay for it!

By the way, I told the landlady that my daughter was crazy and to evict her the day that I left, and she agreed. IN CA we have the 3 day pay rent or quit unlawful detainer; I fully expected to learn that my daughter would be evicted posthaste; after all, my daughter was insane and had no money to fight an eviction.

IS the landlord/manager partly guilty of negligence in dragging matters out for 3 years? My daughter did not cause property damage, was not violent, and frequently left to get fast food down the street.

 

[quincy]

I HAVE FEW ASSESTS. SHOULD I try to get a trust so that nobody can touch the assets?

IS my daughter, with her MENTAL illness, judgment-proof? I got most of her belongings but had no place to put the rest, so I told the landlady to toss them. I pray that she did not put them in a storage bin and now expects us to pay for it!

By the way, I told the landlady that my daughter was crazy and to evict her the day that I left, and she agreed. IN CA we have the 3 day pay rent or quit unlawful detainer; I fully expected to learn that my daughter would be evicted posthaste; after all, my daughter was insane and had no money to fight an eviction.

IS the landlord/manager partly guilty of negligence in dragging matters out for 3 years? My daughter did not cause property damage, was not violent, and frequently left to get fast food down the street.

The landlord certainly did not act very quickly on the eviction - but I don’t know the reasons why.

Your daughter might be judgment-proof right now but judgments last a long time. It is likely she will have wages and assets at some point in the future that can be attached to satisfy the debt.

You should speak to an attorney in your area about how to best protect your own assets from a collection action, should the landlord include you in a suit for nonpayment.