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My landlord is a bit strange. We started out with a 6 month rental
contract. That was 2 1/2 years ago. We never signed another contract. Of
course I kept paying him my monthly rent. But then things got weird. He
went 9 months without cashing my monthly checks. When I brought this up to
him, he looked at me quizzically and said "I'll check with my credit
union." As if it were the credit union's fault!! He then cashed all 9
months' worth of checks all at once. 3 months later, he started another
streak of not cashing my checks. I reminded him about it again, then it
happened again: a bunch of rent checks cashed all at once. Then it started
happening yet again: In March and April of 2004 he didn't cash my checks.
Not only that, he turned into a psycho-recluse. He doesn't seem to want to
talk to anyone. He isn't talking to me, nor anyone else. So at the end of
May I decided I wasn't going to pay any further rent until he mentioned it
to me.
A bunch of months passed. No mention. Then one day I saw him by the mailbox
(we share a 2-story house, I'm in the bottom level) and I said "Hey, I owe
you some rent!" And he said "And I owe you the responsiility of being a
decent landlord." Then I suggested that if cashing my checks was something
he didn't want to do, then I could do it for him by depositing the money in
his account electronically. All I needed was his checking acct.
information. He said he was amenable, but I haven't seen him nor heard from
him since. And he lives right upstairs!
So I'm describing this situation to my friends the other night and I began
to speculate "What if I just moved away at this point? I bet I wouldn't
even be legally responsible for the unpaid rent. After all, we have no
contract, he doesn't want to cash my checks, he won't talk to me, etc." So
a lengthy discussion ensued, but no one there was a lawyer.
So what do you think? If I just walked away from this landlord (he probably
wouldn't even notice), would I be *legally* responsible for unpaid rent?
Ethically I think I would be, and in reality I wouldn't think of doing
this. But I'm just wondering what the law might say on this point.
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My landlord is a bit strange. We started out with a 6 month rental
contract. That was 2 1/2 years ago. We never signed another contract. Of
course I kept paying him my monthly rent. But then things got weird. He
went 9 months without cashing my monthly checks. When I brought this up to
him, he looked at me quizzically and said "I'll check with my credit
union." As if it were the credit union's fault!! He then cashed all 9
months' worth of checks all at once. 3 months later, he started another
streak of not cashing my checks. I reminded him about it again, then it
happened again: a bunch of rent checks cashed all at once. Then it started
happening yet again: In March and April of 2004 he didn't cash my checks.
Not only that, he turned into a psycho-recluse. He doesn't seem to want to
talk to anyone. He isn't talking to me, nor anyone else. So at the end of
May I decided I wasn't going to pay any further rent until he mentioned it
to me.
A bunch of months passed. No mention. Then one day I saw him by the
mailbox
(we share a 2-story house, I'm in the bottom level) and I said "Hey, I owe
you some rent!" And he said "And I owe you the responsiility of being a
decent landlord." Then I suggested that if cashing my checks was something
he didn't want to do, then I could do it for him by depositing the money
in
his account electronically. All I needed was his checking acct.
information. He said he was amenable, but I haven't seen him nor heard
from
him since. And he lives right upstairs!
So I'm describing this situation to my friends the other night and I began
to speculate "What if I just moved away at this point? I bet I wouldn't
even be legally responsible for the unpaid rent. After all, we have no
contract, he doesn't want to cash my checks, he won't talk to me, etc." So
a lengthy discussion ensued, but no one there was a lawyer.
So what do you think? If I just walked away from this landlord (he
probably
wouldn't even notice), would I be *legally* responsible for unpaid rent?
Ethically I think I would be, and in reality I wouldn't think of doing
this. But I'm just wondering what the law might say on this point.
Interesting character, this landlord of yours. You are lucky he hasn't
raised the rent, but yes you do owe the accumulated rent you have not paid,
both ethically and legally. Of course, your landlord could forgive the
arrears if he wished, but for you to try to leave without paying it would be
unjustly enriching yourself, wouldn't it?
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In article <JXPvd.16118$Ap1.13577@bignews6.bellsouth.net>,
" jls" <jls1016@bellsouth.net> wrote:
mailbox
in
from
probably
Interesting character, this landlord of yours. You are lucky he hasn't
raised the rent, but yes you do owe the accumulated rent you have not paid,
both ethically and legally. Of course, your landlord could forgive the
arrears if he wished, but for you to try to leave without paying it would be
unjustly enriching yourself, wouldn't it?
Yes I think it would be wrong, and I don't plan on doing it. The question
I'm asking is about the legal situation. Are you saying there is some kind
of implied contract between us along the lines of the original 6 month
contract?
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My landlord is a bit strange. We started out with a 6 month rental
contract. That was 2 1/2 years ago. We never signed another contract. Of
course I kept paying him my monthly rent. But then things got weird. He
went 9 months without cashing my monthly checks. When I brought this up to
him, he looked at me quizzically and said "I'll check with my credit
union." As if it were the credit union's fault!! He then cashed all 9
months' worth of checks all at once. 3 months later, he started another
streak of not cashing my checks. I reminded him about it again, then it
happened again: a bunch of rent checks cashed all at once. Then it started
happening yet again: In March and April of 2004 he didn't cash my checks.
Not only that, he turned into a psycho-recluse. He doesn't seem to want to
talk to anyone. He isn't talking to me, nor anyone else. So at the end of
May I decided I wasn't going to pay any further rent until he mentioned it
to me.
A bunch of months passed. No mention. Then one day I saw him by the
mailbox
(we share a 2-story house, I'm in the bottom level) and I said "Hey, I owe
you some rent!" And he said "And I owe you the responsiility of being a
decent landlord." Then I suggested that if cashing my checks was something
he didn't want to do, then I could do it for him by depositing the money
in
his account electronically. All I needed was his checking acct.
information. He said he was amenable, but I haven't seen him nor heard
from
him since. And he lives right upstairs!
So I'm describing this situation to my friends the other night and I began
to speculate "What if I just moved away at this point? I bet I wouldn't
even be legally responsible for the unpaid rent. After all, we have no
contract, he doesn't want to cash my checks, he won't talk to me, etc." So
a lengthy discussion ensued, but no one there was a lawyer.
So what do you think? If I just walked away from this landlord (he
probably
wouldn't even notice), would I be *legally* responsible for unpaid rent?
Ethically I think I would be, and in reality I wouldn't think of doing
this. But I'm just wondering what the law might say on this point.
With a guy like that as a landlord, and you like the place, why move?
In the eyes of the law though, you would be technically responsible for the
unpaid rent.
With, or without a signed contract, you still are on a month to month
tenancy as that is how you were paying.
If you haven't seen him for days, would it hurt any to knock on his door?
For all you know, he could be dead and you wouldn't know it until that
strange odor started appearing.
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Goat,
Yes, you probably have a contract which is known as a month to month
tenancy. The rules governing such contracts vary but both you and the
landlord probably must give 30 days notice to change the terms of the
contract and these terms are probably the terms of the original lease.
Good luck,
Dave M.
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On Tue, 14 Dec 2004 20:22:37 -0800, The Pet Goat
<PetGoat@7minutes.com> wrote:
But then things got weird. He
went 9 months without cashing my monthly checks.
Simply buy a western union money order to pay your rent, photocopy it
and keep your rent receipts for all your rent payments.
--
Best Regards, Keith
http://kilowatt-radio.org/ NW Oregon Radio Page
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In article <cpomqr0hfq@news4.newsguy.com>,
"Richard" <Anonymous@127.001> wrote:
mailbox
in
from
probably
With a guy like that as a landlord, and you like the place, why move?
In the eyes of the law though, you would be technically responsible for the
unpaid rent.
With, or without a signed contract, you still are on a month to month
tenancy as that is how you were paying.
If you haven't seen him for days, would it hurt any to knock on his door?
For all you know, he could be dead and you wouldn't know it until that
strange odor started appearing.
Well I have knocked a number of times when I knew he was at home,
when I knew he could hear me knocking, and no answer. How do I
know he was in? I can hear him moving around upstairs. Thanks to
jls, Richard, David and Keith for your responses.
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On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 18:14:00 -0800, The Pet Goat
<PetGoat@7minutes.com> wrote:
In article <cpomqr0hfq@news4.newsguy.com>, "Richard" <Anonymous@127.001> wrote: Well I have knocked a number of times when I knew he was at home, when I knew he could hear me knocking, and no answer. How do I know he was in? I can hear him moving around upstairs. Thanks to jls, Richard, David and Keith for your responses.
In most states if a leasee holds over, and no further lease is
written, the tennancy rolls over to a month to month. So you would
have to check with your local jurisdiction, but you probably owe him
the money.
The fact that he takes so long to cash your checks probably means
nothing, legallly, unless he waits more than a year.
You should continue to pay rent each month, lest his eyes are openned
to the fact that you haven't paid for several months and have to come
up with it all at once, or worse he diecides to start eviction for non
payment.
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