Landlord wants another security deposit w/ roomate

[jojobee]

I recently moved into a new apartment. When I signed the lease it was just me and my son. Things have been changing and my boyfriend is considering moving in with me. He was at the apartment the otherday while the landlord was over. He visited me yesterday wanting to know who was at my apartment and if they lived there (wanted to remind me of the policy of "roomates" and warned me to read my lease). I told him that the person was probably my boyfriend. He asked me if he lived here and I told him that we were considering him moving in. He told me I needed to read my lease (which it just says that additional occupants must be approved by landlord in writing). I asked him what I needed to do. He said that my boyfriend must fill out an application. I said fine, send it to me in the mail. Then he told me that if we werent married he would need ANOTHER security deposit. This is fine except that I feel he is discriminating against me because he is christian and does not believe in "living in sin". It says no where in the lease of an additional security deposit. Can he do this? Do I have any rights against this? Its not necessarily what he said to me but more the way he said it to me. It is very apparent that he does not approve. Can he evict me simply because he does not agree with my living conditions?

 

[LL]

Maybe he can do it. You didn't say where you live.

A recent Michigan Supreme Court ruling says landlord cannot reject an unmarried couple under Michigan law. A recent California decision says landlord CAN reject an unmarried couple under California law. Both of these decisions were based on pleas of religious freedom.

I don't quite understand how the additional security deposit would satisfy the landlord's religious objections.

However, especially if your lease says no additional occupants without permission, landlord has the right to approve or disapprove of boyfriend, and to change terms of the lease, including security deposit, as a condition of accepting the lease change.

 

[mary hartman]

Here is the way most judges define occupancy.....

Is he getting his mail delivered there....if so then he lives there. Are any of the utilities in his name, then he lives there, has he changed his drivers license, or did he file his income taxes with your address?

That is what they do here in NY City to determine if you actually live in the apartment, they call it non primary residence.

And that seems reasonable......so let him get a beeper and a Post office box, and park his car WAY OFF the premisis, and you might be able to avoid the deposit/ reapplication issue, since the landlord cannot prove he lives there.

[Edited by mary hartman on 04-04-2001 at 02:20 PM]

 

[LL]

Thats the usual dumb thing that we all expect from Mary Hartman (aka dj, aka dj1).

If he lives there, he is a occupant. In some places, if he stays overnight for 14 nighs he is an occupant. If he moved any stuff in, he is an occupant. I don't believe that even in New York, that that is a definition.

If you try to fool anyone, it will go badly for you in any court. You will have to face the real issue here squarely ("mary" is not an honest person). The landlord already discovered your boyfriend visiting and reminded you to read the lease. If he discovers that he has moved in without making application, then both of you will be out immediatly, and you won't have a leg to stand on. It won't be so hard to establish occupancy.

 

[mary hartman]

YES....
But the landlord will have to prove he is living there, and that includes all the above, if his name is not on anything with that address, then how can he be a occupant?

What is the landlord going to do hire a private investigator to verify when he comes and goes...??

BUT LL is also right he cannot move his furniture in, and he has to sneak his clothes in...

But again you are allowed to BUY furniture pay the boyfriend a check and get a reciept, and have your boyfriend move it in .....

sometimes you have to be twice as sneaky as the landlord!

But in the end is it worth it? probably NOT!

 

[LL]

Oh Hogwash, crazy mary !

I doubt that even in New York, the landlord will have to prove ALL of the above, or even any of those particular things.

There are plenty of other ways to prove an extra occupant, besides the ways that you stated, and I am sure that the judges even in New York do not have what you stated as any kind of DEFINITION. If the bf is caught lying in court, in CA, an eviction goes on in Superior Court, there is a transcript, and he could be charged with perjury.

You're not only crazy, you are dishonest, and should be held responsible for anyone who gets into trouble from following your rediculous advice.

 

[LL]

P. S.,

As a matter of fact, if the landlord DID hire a private detective, he would not only get the proof he needs, complete with photographs, affidavits and a personal court appearance, but also the tenant that was caught violating the lease would be responsible for all of the detective's fees and costs.