P
picheny
Guest
Hi there,
This is a very long question. Sorry!
Below you will find a copy of a contract that was signed between myself and my roommate. As you can see the the contract started December 1, 1999. The roommate decided that she did not want to move into the apartment until January and then on December 24th called me to let me know that she did not want to move in at all and wanted the money she had given me back. Below you will also find a copy of the letter that I received on January 14th 2000. She then called me on February 13th 2000 threatening to take me to small claims court, but that her lawyer suggested settling out of court. You will also find all correspondence thereafter. I would like for you to review the documentation and let me know if you think that I have a strong enough case to win. I am now considering counterfiling a suit against her for the remainder of the rent for January and February on the basis that she entered into this contract with the knowledge that she would be fully responsible for those three months of rent under any conditions.
One point you should know is that I am leasing (sub) leasing the apartment. It was clearly stated to the other party that my name would not be on the lease specifically as of November 19, 1999 and I did not give any money to the landlord until December 8, 1999. I have had oral agreements (contracts) with the person I am sub-leasing from and the landlord. The other party is trying to claim that I am not leasing the apartment. Our contract does not state that my name would be on the lease specifically. Plus, it was well known that my name would not be on the lease and yet we still had verbal agreements that she was to move in. I even have an email dated December 23, 1999 and we are discussing how I could get copies of keys sent to her.
Sorry if this letter is confusing.
Thank you for your time,
m.p.
P.S. I have crossed out names and places for protection.
Agreement
I, __________, hereby accept and acknowledge receipt of this deposit from __________for the sum of $375.00 for the residential property, which I have leased beginning December 1, 1999, located at_______________. During the months of December 1999, January 2000 and February 2000, __________will be liable for half (½) of the rent due to________, which equals $382.50 per month or $1147.50 in total.
After March 1, 2000, the deposit in the amount of $375.00 will be available for refund to__________, but only after receiving written notice of her intent to vacate the above-mentioned property. If at this time_____________decides to vacate the said premises, she must provide me with a written notice 15 business days prior to the end of her occupancy. I will then refund her deposit of $375.00 within 15 business days of receiving this written notice. However, if the portion of rent for which _________is responsible for in the amount of $382.50 is not met for the months of December 1999, January 2000 and February 2000, the deposit may be applied towards debt or withheld until all debt is cleared.
Signed and dated this 26th day of October 1999.
________________________
___________
I, ____________, accept the above stated terms. In accordance with this agreement, I issue ___________check no. 828 from my First Union account in the amount of $375.00.
Signed and dated this 26th day of October 1999.
________________________
________________
First Letter From the Other Party
Dear ___________,
I have looked at all the factors including the agreement that we signed as
well as all correspondence sent/received in regard to the apartment. After
reviewing this information and seeking legal advise, I have reached the
conclusion that this contract was signed under false pretenses.
The money you received from me for the apartment was given under the pretense
that you would be on the lease of the apartment by December 1, 1999. This
would have given me the legal right, as your roommate, to stay in the
apartment for up to one year. Since this did not happen, the contract cannot
be considered binding.
Therefore, I request the money given to you as a deposit, stated in the
contract as $375.00, and the money given to you for December's rent, $382.50,
be returned to me before or on January 12, 2000. I would like this sent in
the form of a money order or personal check to the following address:__________________
If I do not receive this money by this date, I will be forced to seek further
recourse.
Please send me a written response stating clearly whether you are willing to
refund me this money in the total amount $757.50 by this date.
Sincerely,
________________
My Settlement Offer
February 18, 2000
_______________
________________
Dear Ms. __________,
I met with my lawyer on February 15, 2000 to entertain the option you suggested of settling this case out of court. ___________reviewed the contract and all other facts that are involved in this case and she implicitly feels that I have a winning case. After discussing my options, we have come to the following conclusion:
Although we feel you are not justified in getting any of your money back, I would be willing to reimburse you the deposit in order to put this matter behind me. This is of course only under the stipulation that you sign an agreement stating that you accept the deposit as a settlement and will not seek further recourse.
I would also like to make a couple of points regarding our contract.
First of all, you have stated that you have signed this lease under false pretenses. To explain, you have implied that I have not complied with the contract because I am not leasing the apartment. I am leasing it. There is nothing in our contract that says that my name has to be on the lease specifically. Legally, the landlord, superintendent and the person I am sub-leasing from all have full knowledge of my presence in this apartment and fully accept it. Second, according to our contract please note that there is a clause in there stating that if you fail to pay me any amount of the rent that is due to me for the months of December 1999, January 2000 or February 2000, you forfeit your right to reclaim your deposit therefore giving me the right to keep it unless all debts are cleared. All debts are not cleared. In fact according to our contract you still owe me rent for January 2000 and February 2000. Lastly, you claim that your intent was to stay in this apartment for one year. This is not true. When you drew up our contract it was under the pretense that you would be living in the apartment and only be liable for the rent of December 1999, January 2000, and February 2000. It was clear that you were intending to leave the apartment in March, unless during those months we discussed the possibility of you staying longer. In fact when I approached you twice with the idea of you making a commitment of one full year, you declined the offered. One last factor that you failed to comply with in our contract was the fact that you were to give me a written notice fifteen days prior to your vacancy of the apartment. I have still yet to receive a written notice. This entitles me not only to December 1999 rent, but January 2000 and February 2000 rent as well.
__________there are some other factors in this situation that you should remember. First of all, you initiated our living arrangements from the beginning. You were the one that came to me and asked me to be your roommate. I had a great place to stay in Manhattan, practically rent-free, for however long I needed to be there. You were the one that called me and asked me if you could come stay at my brother’s apartment rent free for one week so that we could go look at apartments. My brother graciously let you, even though his apartment is barely big enough for one person. Second, __________you were the one that typed up our contract. It was completely clear what our agreement was. At the en
This is a very long question. Sorry!
Below you will find a copy of a contract that was signed between myself and my roommate. As you can see the the contract started December 1, 1999. The roommate decided that she did not want to move into the apartment until January and then on December 24th called me to let me know that she did not want to move in at all and wanted the money she had given me back. Below you will also find a copy of the letter that I received on January 14th 2000. She then called me on February 13th 2000 threatening to take me to small claims court, but that her lawyer suggested settling out of court. You will also find all correspondence thereafter. I would like for you to review the documentation and let me know if you think that I have a strong enough case to win. I am now considering counterfiling a suit against her for the remainder of the rent for January and February on the basis that she entered into this contract with the knowledge that she would be fully responsible for those three months of rent under any conditions.
One point you should know is that I am leasing (sub) leasing the apartment. It was clearly stated to the other party that my name would not be on the lease specifically as of November 19, 1999 and I did not give any money to the landlord until December 8, 1999. I have had oral agreements (contracts) with the person I am sub-leasing from and the landlord. The other party is trying to claim that I am not leasing the apartment. Our contract does not state that my name would be on the lease specifically. Plus, it was well known that my name would not be on the lease and yet we still had verbal agreements that she was to move in. I even have an email dated December 23, 1999 and we are discussing how I could get copies of keys sent to her.
Sorry if this letter is confusing.
Thank you for your time,
m.p.
P.S. I have crossed out names and places for protection.
Agreement
I, __________, hereby accept and acknowledge receipt of this deposit from __________for the sum of $375.00 for the residential property, which I have leased beginning December 1, 1999, located at_______________. During the months of December 1999, January 2000 and February 2000, __________will be liable for half (½) of the rent due to________, which equals $382.50 per month or $1147.50 in total.
After March 1, 2000, the deposit in the amount of $375.00 will be available for refund to__________, but only after receiving written notice of her intent to vacate the above-mentioned property. If at this time_____________decides to vacate the said premises, she must provide me with a written notice 15 business days prior to the end of her occupancy. I will then refund her deposit of $375.00 within 15 business days of receiving this written notice. However, if the portion of rent for which _________is responsible for in the amount of $382.50 is not met for the months of December 1999, January 2000 and February 2000, the deposit may be applied towards debt or withheld until all debt is cleared.
Signed and dated this 26th day of October 1999.
________________________
___________
I, ____________, accept the above stated terms. In accordance with this agreement, I issue ___________check no. 828 from my First Union account in the amount of $375.00.
Signed and dated this 26th day of October 1999.
________________________
________________
First Letter From the Other Party
Dear ___________,
I have looked at all the factors including the agreement that we signed as
well as all correspondence sent/received in regard to the apartment. After
reviewing this information and seeking legal advise, I have reached the
conclusion that this contract was signed under false pretenses.
The money you received from me for the apartment was given under the pretense
that you would be on the lease of the apartment by December 1, 1999. This
would have given me the legal right, as your roommate, to stay in the
apartment for up to one year. Since this did not happen, the contract cannot
be considered binding.
Therefore, I request the money given to you as a deposit, stated in the
contract as $375.00, and the money given to you for December's rent, $382.50,
be returned to me before or on January 12, 2000. I would like this sent in
the form of a money order or personal check to the following address:__________________
If I do not receive this money by this date, I will be forced to seek further
recourse.
Please send me a written response stating clearly whether you are willing to
refund me this money in the total amount $757.50 by this date.
Sincerely,
________________
My Settlement Offer
February 18, 2000
_______________
________________
Dear Ms. __________,
I met with my lawyer on February 15, 2000 to entertain the option you suggested of settling this case out of court. ___________reviewed the contract and all other facts that are involved in this case and she implicitly feels that I have a winning case. After discussing my options, we have come to the following conclusion:
Although we feel you are not justified in getting any of your money back, I would be willing to reimburse you the deposit in order to put this matter behind me. This is of course only under the stipulation that you sign an agreement stating that you accept the deposit as a settlement and will not seek further recourse.
I would also like to make a couple of points regarding our contract.
First of all, you have stated that you have signed this lease under false pretenses. To explain, you have implied that I have not complied with the contract because I am not leasing the apartment. I am leasing it. There is nothing in our contract that says that my name has to be on the lease specifically. Legally, the landlord, superintendent and the person I am sub-leasing from all have full knowledge of my presence in this apartment and fully accept it. Second, according to our contract please note that there is a clause in there stating that if you fail to pay me any amount of the rent that is due to me for the months of December 1999, January 2000 or February 2000, you forfeit your right to reclaim your deposit therefore giving me the right to keep it unless all debts are cleared. All debts are not cleared. In fact according to our contract you still owe me rent for January 2000 and February 2000. Lastly, you claim that your intent was to stay in this apartment for one year. This is not true. When you drew up our contract it was under the pretense that you would be living in the apartment and only be liable for the rent of December 1999, January 2000, and February 2000. It was clear that you were intending to leave the apartment in March, unless during those months we discussed the possibility of you staying longer. In fact when I approached you twice with the idea of you making a commitment of one full year, you declined the offered. One last factor that you failed to comply with in our contract was the fact that you were to give me a written notice fifteen days prior to your vacancy of the apartment. I have still yet to receive a written notice. This entitles me not only to December 1999 rent, but January 2000 and February 2000 rent as well.
__________there are some other factors in this situation that you should remember. First of all, you initiated our living arrangements from the beginning. You were the one that came to me and asked me to be your roommate. I had a great place to stay in Manhattan, practically rent-free, for however long I needed to be there. You were the one that called me and asked me if you could come stay at my brother’s apartment rent free for one week so that we could go look at apartments. My brother graciously let you, even though his apartment is barely big enough for one person. Second, __________you were the one that typed up our contract. It was completely clear what our agreement was. At the en