House Sitting to House Selling

[Denise Williamson]

I have a verbal agreement with two people that are married. The agreement is to be a guest in their home to house sit for at least 1 year (August 25, 2000 – August 25, 2001) while they are away in Switzerland. I pay all utilities but no rent. On December 23, 2000 I asked the man owner how long did he thought they would need me to stay in the house and he informed me it would be at least until December 2001. After 4 months into the agreement they came home for the holidays and on January 5, 2001 they informed me they are putting their house up for sale on February 1, 2001. They have made a decision to breech our verbal agreement early to sell their home.

While their house is on the market they will be back in Switzerland and I will be here to maintain the bills and the house. While the house is on the market for sale there will be strangers coming in and out of the house and this can endanger my minor daughter and myself. When I agreed to this situation I was never informed that they would be selling the house within this year. I sacrificed moving my minor daughter and myself from my residence where I lived for 7 years. This has put me in a position where my minor daughter and myself may become homeless if the house sells quickly. I moved in on the weekend of August 25, 2000 and have been living in the house for 4 months. The day I moved in their daughter, age 26, was living in the house which was not part of the agreement and I was told she would be moving to Oregon within a couple of weeks. When their daughter left for Oregon she returned after 5 days. She lived in the house with my daughter and me for 4 months without a job and was unable to contribute to the living expenses as agreed upon. I paid all the bills and supplied the household necessities. Once the owners arrived home for the holidays on December 14, 2000 the daughter moved out the following weekend of December 16, 2000. The woman owner will be living in the house with us from December 14, 2000 until January 26, 2001 and the man owner stayed from December 20, 2000 to January 10, 2001.

During this whole time I have lost the privacy I once had while living in my own apartment and lost the lease agreement I could have signed to stay for one more year. The owners did offer me $1,000 on January 5, 2001 for my inconvenience but I feel they should compensate me more. I have been very inconvenienced through out the time I have been living at their residence.

Do I have any rights in this situation?
Is there room for negotiation since they put an offer on the table?

 

[JETX]

Diane, sorry but I do not have a lot of sympathy for your situation. You have been living RENT FREE for 4+ months in someone else's home and only paying the utilities. All this purely on a verbal agreement, which can probably be strongly challenged (not necessarily successful, but challenged nonetheless). And yes, you may have 'sacrificed' some of your privacy. So, on 1/5/01 they inform you that they are putting the house on the market on 2/1/01. This is virtually a 30 day notice to vacate a 'no written lease' rental property. On top of all that, they offer you $1,000.00 for your trouble.

My suggestion...
Take the money, say thank you and move out.

But, to answer your specific questions:
Q1) Do I have any rights in this situation?
A1) Possibly, but legal action would be expensive and with a fairly high chance of failure (in my opinion).

Q2) Is there room for negotiation since they put an offer on
the table?
A2) There is always room for negotiation... until they either accept or remove ALL offers and tell you to 'go Yodel' or whatever they say in Switzerland. Personally, you might try a 'very gentle' push to get a higher amount but you are taking a risk of getting nothing (personally, if it were me, I would drop it).