We live in the state of OH. My husband’s mom 3 yrs ago found the rental house we are living in as she was friends with the landlord. I don’t recall ever having signed a lease; we were on supposedly friendly terms. Big mistake! We paid cash each month as he preferred & we received no rent receipts. To make a long story short, things got ugly, we bought a house & are moving mid-May. Landlord states we must pay the entire month; I asked him to provide me a copy of the original lease, & he brought me a completely blank (as in no dates or signatures) contract; it looked like something he just printed from the internet, & inserted only HIS name into. I told him I needed to have the actual signed contract & he said he wasn’t sure he could find it, but regardless, we owe him the full months rent. He said my husband’s mom was power of attorney for him at the time, insinuating she signed for him; there has been family conflict since my husband had the POA revoked 2 yrs ago. We have a mess-help!
You have no legal agreement. I’d say you could move without owing anything. (I’m in Ohio.)
Author:
Time:
Thursday, September 10th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Category:
Comments:
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
RSS:
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Navigation:
May 5th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Lessons to learn: A) Have a contract, B) Keep your own copy of the contract
References :
May 5th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Unless he can provide a lease that was signed by your husband or his mom, or if he can proe that you were paying him rent every month (kinda difficult without any rent receipts the the cash payments - would probably cause other bigger problems for him as well) you should be off the hook.
References :
May 5th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
I have never lived anywhere the rent was pro rated for part of a month. I think if this were to go to small claims court the judge would make you pay for the whole month. The property must remain vacant for that month, technically it would still be yours. Pay the man, get the problem out of your life. It’s not worth the hassle.
References :
May 5th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
You have no legal agreement. I’d say you could move without owing anything. (I’m in Ohio.)
References :
May 5th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
They have your security! Just don’t pay…Write them a letter forfeiting your security….it is money they are holding.
UNLESS your contract states that if you move out before the lease’s fiscal month is over you will be charge a prorated amount, then NO.
References :
May 5th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
in most rental cases, when one gives the landlord notice to move. it is a 30 day notice. if you had an active lease, he could charge you until he re-rents the property. if you gave a 30 day notice in writing as required by law, then no you don’t owe a prorated amount. regardless of a current lease, if you only gave a 10 day notice you are on the hook for 20 days. renting from family and friends always ends badly.
References :
May 6th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Legally, without a signed lease, you are a month to month tenant and must give a months notice to vacate. Meaning if you pay rent on the first, you give notice prior to the first. If you notice say…the 4th…you will be responsible for the following months rent and not a prorate amount.
References :