By Robert Griswold
Question: A coworker of mine said I could move into his apartment. My name was not on the lease but I was paying him rent. Three months later he told me he wanted me to move out and also said I owed him $150. Since I owed him the money I agreed to leave my belongings there until I paid him. Due to circumstances, it was close to four months before I could get him the money. I then found out he sold or gave away all my property. Is there anything I can legally do? I was not on the lease but friends and family knew I was living there.Landlords' attorney Smith replies:
I first note that you had a bona fide sub-tenancy in the premises, even though you were not a tenant of record with the landlord. Your possession of keys and payment of rent together with continuous occupancy established your right to co-possess the unit with your coworker roommate. Keep in mind that both of you could be in trouble with the landlord, since this sublease or roommate addition was without permission.
As to your personal property, it is difficult to predict with precision the legal outcome of this case - your agreement with the roommate is both verbal and vague. On the one hand, you acknowledge the $150 debt. There apparently exists some kind of agreement to hold your items as security for repayment.
However, given the nature of this relationship, I do not believe the security agreement to be valid. When you paid the balance due, you found out that he had sold or given away your property. He did not have the right to do this. Nothing in the verbal security agreement permitted him to suddenly dispose of all the items. He should have followed a specific procedure, giving you notice before giving them away. Since he has failed to do this, he is responsible to you. Your measure of damages would be the fair market value of the converted items.
Further, he has illegally locked you out without due process. As stated, your right to possession on the sublease may not be terminated without proper procedure. Since he's tossed out your possessions, it's too late to retrieve them and your only remedy will be a money damage claim against him for the value of the goods. In small claims court, you may sue for claims such as this. Once you obtain a judgment, you will have to collect it. Make sure you pick your roommates carefully in the future, and maintain your standing directly with the landlord as a tenant of record.
Question: Is there some standard form of legal document that can be signed between prospective roommates that would be a binding lease just like the kind of the contract that is signed between the tenants and landlord?
Tenants' attorney Kellman replies:
Roommate situations can be difficult since you are sharing common facilities and depending on each other to pay the full rent. These situations invariably will require some kind of understanding or agreement as between each roommate as to their respective rights and obligations during the tenancy. While most landlords will require all roommates to sign one lease (as co-tenants) it would be wise to have another agreement as between the roommates to cover issues as between themselves. There are many lease forms generally available for landlord-tenant contracts, but roommate agreement forms are a bit rarer, especially since these situations are usually more unique and therefore more difficult to put in a standard form.
If such an agreement form is not available, roommates can simply draw up their own agreement to cover areas of concern including paying rent, sharing of common areas, guest rules, handling of the deposit and what happens when one roommate wants to move out. The landlord does not have to agree to or be a party to this roommate contract, but be sure that all the roommates who sign on are authorized occupants of the rental unit.
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