Q: Am I stuck with the woman I added to my rental contract, or can I refuse her renewal? She's trying to drive me crazy.
I'm also female. I wanted to save on rent so I placed an ad for a roommate. I added her to the 12-month lease when it was renewed in January. It was a form entitled: Addendum to rental agreement to add or remove resident(s).
Shortly after moving in she's made my life a living nightmare all year. She bullies me, makes ridiculous demands, yells, makes messes but never cleans, tampers with my food while it's cooking, eavesdrops, cranks up the fridge to ruin my food, and so on.
I want her gone at the end of the lease, but do I have the right to refuse her renewal? She wants to renew. Since I allowed her to be added, do I have a right to remove her? I contacted police but they said they can't do anything unless she assaults me physically.
A: It is not clear to me what your status is - are you also the landlord? Or did you just recruit a roommate and now both of you are signers on the lease with your landlord? Who does she pay her rent to - you or your landlord? The answers make all the difference in what your rights are. Regardless, her landlord has a right to not renew the lease, subject to the terms of the lease itself. Most term leases specify if and how they self renew or if they automatically convert to a month to month tenancy or if they simply just terminate. Some require a minimum amount of prior written notice if either party does NOT wish to renew. But if you are just a co-tenant on a lease with both of your's landlord, you can refuse to renew and you can talk with your landlord about the whole situation and see what, if anything, they are willing to do to help you, but bottom line is you can renew or not; you do not have control whether your roommate renews or not (well, technically, if either of you moves and the other stays, it would not be a renewal but rather the remaining one would need to simply enter into a new lease). Questions? Review it in detail with a landlord-tenant attorney. A single visit is likely to answer all your questions. Good luck.
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