Verbal agreements/cobtracts

[jbro421]

What is the name of your state? Pennslyvania
Can a roommate take you to court for rent money? My landlord gave me permission to be removed from the lease, and he advised I wouldn't owe him anything or need to pay anything to him. He said as long as the other roommates pay the rent in full no legal action against me would be taken by him the landlord. My roommate wants to take me to court for my portion of the monthly rent, since I am leaving and they now have to pay the difference. Can they legally do this? I never signed anything with them and I have permission from my landlord to be removed from my lease.

 

[quincy]

Did you and the other roommates sign a single lease together, with a single rent payment?

 

[jbro421]

Did you and the other roommates sign a single lease together, with a single rent payment?

Yes all three of us are on the same lease. The lease states one amount, it doesn’t state each persons portion.

 

[quincy]

Yes all three of us are on the same lease. The lease states one amount, it doesn’t state each persons portion.

The landlord erred in removing the one roommate from the lease. The landlord cannot change the terms of the lease without consent from all parties to the lease to do so.

 

[HRZ]

Your roommates may find that they are required to mitigate the problem by finding a new roommate ...

I agree with Quincy ....and it's not clear exactly what permission your LL granted ....the conditional permission to leave subject to rent is paid in full is really not permission. Odds are lease addresses joint and several liability for the whole amount.

BTW did you look for a replacement RM?

 

[adjusterjack]

I never signed anything with them

You don't have to sign a contract to have a contract and you and your roommates have a contract with each other.

You continue to pay your share until you are replaced.

But, yes, the roommates do have to mitigate by replacing you as soon as reasonable possible. If they make no effort to replace you, you have a defense to being charged more than a few weeks or a month based on the local rental market.

It would certainly help if you found a replacement that your roommates would approve of.

 

[Litigator22]

You are speaking in circles. Your statement that your landlord "gave you permission to be removed from the lease" is manifestly incompatible with his telling you that you would nevertheless remain accountable for the rent if your co-tenants or roommates didn't pay it.

The best that can be said of this patent contradiction is that landlord agreed to remove you from the obligation of the lease on the condition and provided only that the other co-tenants would consent to your being released and would agree to remain jointly and severally liable for the rent. Obviously they are not willing to do that. Hence their right to seek contribution from you for your agree share of the rent remains unabated.

HOWEVER, if the landlord were to unconditionally release your from the obligation of the lease, it would as a matter of law release the roommates well. Why?

Because if is an axiom of the laws of suretyship that if an obligee or creditor holding an obligation to which two or more person are mutually obligated, the release of one acts to release the remaining co-obligors. (All of which has to do with denying the other co-obligors the right of contribution.)

But again considering the circumstances described your assertions that you were removed from the lease supposedly excusing your contractual responsibility to contributed to the rent payments is not sustainable.

 

[Zigner]

Because if is an axiom of the laws of suretyship that if an obligee or creditor holding an obligation to which two or more person are mutually obligated, the release of one acts to release the remaining co-obligors. (All of which has to do with denying the other co-obligors the right of contribution.)

A lease addendum agreed to and signed by ALL parties would work just fine to release one person while keeping the others on the lease.

 

[quincy]

I think Litigator's point, and one I attempted to imply with my earlier post, is that the landlord cannot change the lease by removing a party to the lease without agreement from all who are parties to the lease. The landlord would have to renegotiate the lease terms with the remaining tenants.

I think jbro must have misunderstood what was said by the landlord.