Legal Advice

So, it's nothing too terribly bad or anything, but basically I skipped out on the place I was renting. It was a room out of a house, not an apartment complex or anything like that.

My landlord was the Mother of the guitarist of a band I used to be in. I signed a contract that didn't really give the impression that I was going to be long term and it states right on the contract that "either party can terminate the contract by giving the other party 30 days notice." Well, I didn't give her thirty days notice. I called her on like the 8th of June and told her that I would be out by the 1st. She told me this would be unacceptable and that she would allow me to be out on the first, but she would date the contract for the 15th, and only charge me half a month's rent. Then she demanded that I drive her a written 30-day notice to her house. I mailed it to her instead and she claims she didn't receive it. A little later on that month, she said I owed her the full month's rent for July.

Yesteryday, I moved out, said fuck the world, and especially fuck her. I don't plan on giving her shit. I won't give her shit, either. She left me a message this morning stating that if I didn't pay her she was going to take legal action against me. Meaning, she would have to take me to court, right? I don't think taking me to court would be worth the money for her. If anything, I planned on counter-suing. Her son grows marijuana in his bedroom. I have pictures of this.

Now, I don't know how far she would take this, if anywhere at all, but I would really like to know what to do about the marijuana. I don't really have anything against what the guy is doing, but they pulled out every little trick in the book they could have possibly pulled against me, now I'm going to do the same. What should I do? Should I immediately report this to the police department? Should I wait and show the pictures in court if she takes me to court? Should I even bother with the pictures? What can she do to me?

I haven't been answering her phone calls. All she's going to do is talk shit on me and piss me off to the point where I'm going to go off and she does not want to hear what I have to say about her, her son, and their house in general.

She owns that house she rents out, so it's not like I'm putting her out any money. I didn't stay an extra month or anything. The contractual rental agreement was pre-paid, meaning I paid for June and I stayed June and was out on like June 29th. I didn't trash or break anything in the house. I gave all the keys back and was as cordial as possible. I can't afford to pay the extra money she wants me to pay or July. I simply can't afford it. I have no respect for these people. They've tried to manipulate me into thinking that they helped me. That I owe them something.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Well, that IS crap, but I have a feeling that you contributed to this mess. If you feel that you are in the right in this situation, contest it in court. However, this may be even more expensive than paying the rent for the month, whatwith court fees and an attorney, so think clearly about that.

Besides that, if a apartment policy indicates a 30 day period, you'd better take note of that. Welcome to the real world.

BTW, Blackmailing is NOT a good idea. Thats a whole other bag of convictions right there.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I don't want anything to go to court, that's clearly the point I'm trying to make. I want to avoid any legal battles.

And I updated the first post to show that it's not an apartment building, but rather a room out of a house she owns.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Yea, you could totally get fucked in this situation, buddy. Violation of contract. Was it a lease?

You need to stop "not giving a fuck." You need to own up. Or you could be dealing with some serious penalties and fees. =/

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

No, it wasn't a lease. It was a pre-printed contract from like Staples, or something. She doesn't have my social security number, or anything.

It was simply a month-to-month agreement. I don't actually OWE her any money. I didn't stay longer than negotiated. I paid for June and was out before July.

I was speaking idiomatically.

As far as I understand it (and this is a state by state thing so it might be different):

1) If what you signed wasn't a standard lease and just like a single piece of paper contract, any lawyer worth 5 pennies could find loopholes around it. If it was a full-blown lease, you are pretty much fucked.

2) Not every state would require it to be in writing, but, if she sues you, the burden of proof is on you and anything you say is hearsay, which basically means it doesn't count. The only way around someone like that is certified mail (I think that's the right kind).

3) The marijuana thing might work, but it is illegal. I mean, it's illegal for him to use it and it's illegal for you to blackmail them with it. I guess you should determine risk here. Is it riskier for you to 1) pay it and be out the money 2) wait to see if they do bring you to court or just let it be or 3) try the blackmailing thing.

If #3, you better damn well get it in writing that they won't sue you in the future. Even if you go with #2, they probably have a long time period with which to sue. The problem with #3 for them is that they can't take you to the police for blackmail and not get him arrested for marijuana.


As it is: you might be fucked for August rent at this point.

Edit: Do you have a copy of what you signed?

Also, just because she doesn't have your social doesn't mean anything. Apartments take that for background checks and most states don't require landlords keep them.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Why didn't you either take the time to bring the envelope over or at least shell out for priority mail and get delivery/signature confirmation?

Also, the reason you're supposed to give 30 days notice is so they can find a new renter for the apartment. If you just tell your landlord you're moving out tomorrow, you are shafting them out of money since they won't have ample time to advertise and fill the place they're renting out.

Also, just because she owns the place doesn't mean she isn't losing money. She still has to pay all of her taxes and everything on the property (a pretty decent chunk of change I'd imagine for your area), so by not having the place filled (income she'd expect), she is actually losing money.

Also, I imagine people growing pot in the house really won't do much for you in small claims court, since that's not any of their business. The court would care about your legal responsibility to the contract, not what her kid was doing in the house. Not to mention how it took you until now to bring this infraction to the attention of the authorities, so they probably would figure you were pretty complicit in the growing/using of the plant.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by BlueMikey

As far as I understand it (and this is a state by state thing so it might be different):

1) If what you signed wasn't a standard lease and just like a single piece of paper contract, any lawyer worth 5 pennies could find loopholes around it. If it was a full-blown lease, you are pretty much fucked.

It looks like a full-blown lease, now that I think of it. Here's a copy of the contract I signed.

Quote:

3) The marijuana thing might work, but it is illegal. I mean, it's illegal for him to use it and it's illegal for you to blackmail them with it. I guess you should determine risk here. Is it riskier for you to 1) pay it and be out the money 2) wait to see if they do bring you to court or just let it be or 3) try the blackmailing thing.

If #3, you better damn well get it in writing that they won't sue you in the future. Even if you go with #2, they probably have a long time period with which to sue. The problem with #3 for them is that they can't take you to the police for blackmail and not get him arrested for marijuana.


As it is: you might be fucked for August rent at this point.

I'm leaning towards 3 at this point. I mean, shit. I have nothing to lose. I'm just not sure if I should report it immediately to the police so that I have to record of it, or threaten them first and foremost, so that I have that leverage? It's risky business. :/

Maybe I should mail cert my 30 day notice today, hah.

Originally Posted by RacinReaver

Why didn't you either take the time to bring the envelope over or at least shell out for priority mail and get delivery/signature confirmation?

I don't know. :/ I figured it wouldn't go this far. I was silly.

Quote:

Also, the reason you're supposed to give 30 days notice is so they can find a new renter for the apartment. If you just tell your landlord you're moving out tomorrow, you are shafting them out of money since they won't have ample time to advertise and fill the place they're renting out.

Also, just because she owns the place doesn't mean she isn't losing money. She still has to pay all of her taxes and everything on the property (a pretty decent chunk of change I'd imagine for your area), so by not having the place filled (income she'd expect), she is actually losing money.

I don't really think she's OUT money, though. The last guys she was renting to paid around $125 a month. When I moved in I paid $250 for a couch, and then $400 for a room. She has a right to charge whatever she wants, but my point is that if she can afford to charge that little for other people, I don't think she's hurting for that much money.

Quote:

Also, I imagine people growing pot in the house really won't do much for you in small claims court, since that's not any of their business. The court would care about your legal responsibility to the contract, not what her kid was doing in the house. Not to mention how it took you until now to bring this infraction to the attention of the authorities, so they probably would figure you were pretty complicit in the growing/using of the plant.

That's I was considering going to the police NOW. Meaning, filing a police report tomorrow and getting this whole mess over with. That would put them out quite a bit of money, I would imagine. And get them kicked out of their place, considering it's a condominium complex. I was going to use that as leverage for leaving the place, telling them that as soon as I found out that they were growing marijuana, I left, not wanting to deal with any legal repercussions I might have had to deal with otherwise.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Yeah, that's a fairly standard owner lease. The thirty-day notice is fairly clear and it doesn't say that it has to be pro-rated, which almost was a gift.

The only way you could get out of the lease is if it were improperly done, and you'd need a lawyer for that anyway. For example, some states require such things to be notarized.

Originally Posted by Divest

I'm leaning towards 3 at this point. I mean, shit. I have nothing to lose. I'm just not sure if I should report it immediately to the police so that I have to record of it, or threaten them first and foremost, so that I have that leverage? It's risky business. :/

Well, you do have something to lose. Criminal blackmail is a hell of a lot worse than being out some money.

Consider this:

1) You go to the cops now. Which, OK, maybe screws over this family, but after the cops do anything, they have no reason to proceed in the same way towards you, in fact, they will probably be more hostile.

2) You blackmail them. They get rid of any evidence (a photograph gives cause for the police to perform a search, but they actually have to catch them in the act) and then ask the cops to bring you up on extortion charges.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

So, there's no way to get around this? I mean, if they take me to court for this, I could potentially win, couldn't I, or is there no possibility of that?

There was notarization done. I'm not sure if California requires that, though.

And yeah, I'm not going to blackmail them. If she pursues legal action though, I will report it to the police. I mean, it couldn't make things any worse.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Do you think she will take you to court? It's a pretty expensive process, and not everyone will do what they threaten they will do. It could be some sort of tactic she uses. In my opinion she would probably let it go (if she's not very experienced in renting out rooms and such). But of course I would lean towards being more cautious. Do you have any friends in the legal business?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Divest

So, there's no way to get around this? I mean, if they take me to court for this, I could potentially win, couldn't I, or is there no possibility of that?

There was notarization done. I'm not sure if California requires that, though.

And yeah, I'm not going to blackmail them. If she pursues legal action though, I will report it to the police. I mean, it couldn't make things any worse.

Leases are drawn up as easily as form letters for a reason. There isn't going to be a lot of wiggle room for you if she were to sue you. I mean, being in California, they're probably going to side with the individual over the corporation when possible, but that is a pretty solid lease, just shorter than ones I've signed with bigger apartment complexes.

The problem with assuming that it costs her money to sue you is that if she feels there's a strong chance she'll win, she'll also petition the court and likely win court costs too, which means you'd be paying her lawyer.

But it would be a lot of time and energy on her part. You might want to try for a compromise.

How ya doing, buddy?

Next time when you mail something over like that, take advantage of certified mail.

I was speaking idiomatically.

You're right, Mikey.

Dammit. Thanks for the advice. I've been mulling it over and I've decided that I'm going to pay her rent in full, as well as the late fee and cost of utilities for this month, despite me not being there. Why? Because this will turn into far more of a hassle than anything if I don't do things right. IF she does end up suing me, I'll probably lose. On top of that, lawyers fees and whatnot will be ridiculously expensive (probably in the thousands for something that was originally a $400 problem).

Tomorrow, I'm going to mail cert her a letter that not only states my 30-day notice, but also states that I'm going to be paying rent for July, as well as utilities. Immediately after I do this, I'm going to be reporting her house to the police department for cultivating and distributing marijuana.

That's a really under-handed way to go about things, I know, but they've been dicking me since I moved in. They want to go about things "legally" so that's what I'm going to do. Legally.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

lol. Go for it with the police report! I'm happy you get the last laugh.

And also, just in case for your reference, the woman's 4th Amendment rights doesn't apply since you are a private citizen and not working on behalf of the govt. (if you do choose to report the marijuana) If she tries to use a defense like that, it wouldn't work.

How ya doing, buddy?

Divest, I thought her son came to you and kicked you out after you had a falling out with the band?

Which is it? Did you leave because you wanted to or did he tell you to GTFO?

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I fucked up on a lease in the past, gave me no end of grief.

As your attorney, I advise your to bite the bullet and pay the man. Unless you want a long, drawn-out shitfest that will haunt you for months or years to come.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Midna

Divest, I thought her son came to you and kicked you out after you had a falling out with the band?

Which is it? Did you leave because you wanted to or did he tell you to GTFO?

No, he merely threatened.

When I actually tried to bail, I guess they wanted to find any way to screw me possible.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Court costs are at least 25% of that rent, plus the time she'd spend at court and filing paperwork. I would've just ignored her and waited it out.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

But if I lost I would have been fucked hard by having to pay her court fees as well as mine.

She'll feel the hurt once I'm out of this lease and I report her house to the police. I'm sure the condo complex will evict her immediately (she owns the condo, but it's a gated community).

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I was in an insanely similar situation to you, and was actually going to make a thread about it a month or so ago.

First of all, don't threaten to sue her about the weed if she's sues you. It is extortion and is illegal. It is hard to say if she is bluffing, but if she isn't then you will be in deep shit. Depends on how much the apartment is worth and how much she is losing. It is really hard to give advice in a situation like this.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I'm not threatening her at all. She has no idea I'm going to report her house to the police, nor will she until they come busting in and arrest her son and roommate. I'm not going to threaten her at all.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?