Q: Can my landlord send me to collections if I never signed a lease or saw a lease?
My landlord threatened to send me to collections saying that I owe 275 dollars for a sublet fee and cleaning fee, I was never on a lease and never saw a lease. When I moved in and asked to get a lease she never showed up and never sent me one. She is saying that because I paid the correct amount for rent and security deposit that I must have seen a lease. I never saw anything or signed anything and was never made aware of the policies. How can I be sent to collections on something that I was never made aware of?
A: A rental agreement can be created without signing a formal lease agreement. The fact you paid rent tends to indicate an agreement existed. You can dispute the duration or terms of the inferred (oral/performance) agreement.
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