Q: Roommates agreed to 3 months but left in the night after 1. They left trash and a trailer full of their stuff...
We did not have them on a lease but I have texts and emails showing they agreed to pay for 3 months. They left after a month in the middle of the night, leaving us to pay their half of the rent which we cannot afford. He also left a trailer full of his stuff on our private property and I assume he intends to come back for it. Am I able to leverage his property to get him to pay up? Is he allowed back onto the property to get his things? What can I do to recover my costs and the costs of finding a new roommate? Thank you!
A:
It is not clear whether you are just a co-tenant/roommate or a landlord either leasing to them or subletting to them. Regardless, anything more than a month to month tenancy requires a written rental agreement, specifying the term of the lease, etc., signed by the tenant's sought to be bound to it. So it does not sound as if you likely have an enforceable agreement with them re 3 months. That said, 30 days written notice is usually required to terminate a month to month tenancy and if none was given, then they likely do owe rent through 30 days from when the abandoned their tenancy.
As to property, if it was abandoned on rental property, that is a landlord's obligation to deal with and there is a long series of specific notices and requirements that they are required to give the ex-tenant before being able to legally dispose of anything left behind that is also not perishable. In some circumstances, the landlord may be able to charge the ex-tenant for storage of their property and normally once a tenant has terminated their tenancy, by abandonment or otherwise, they are not free to just return and come and go as they wish without the landlord's authorization. Rather they must make an appointment to come remove their property, though the landlord must allow them to come get their property in a timely manner, and that appointment has to be during reasonable hours (no 3 a.m. appointments unless both sides agree) but subject to the landlord's convenience rather than the ex-tenant's. If there was a security deposit, it can be used to help satisfy the ex-tenant's financial obligations but it also must be accounted for in writing within 31 days of possession being restored to the landlord.
All in all, there should ALWAYS be a written rental agreement - mandatory if it is a fixed term rental; not legally required but highly recommended anyway in a month to month tenancy. Any breach of the agreement by the tenant will require proof by the landlord - and that can be difficult sometimes if there is no written, signed, agreement.
Questions? Review everything with a local landlord-tenant attorney.
Good luck.
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