Uncomfortable about renewing lease, then landlord threatens to sue

Status
Not open for further replies.

anevaude

New Member
Back in July, my landlord asked me if I wanted to renew for September 1st and I verbally said yes, I was interested. Since that time, many unfortunate events have occurred and I am uncomfortable about renewing. I notified the LL very recently (August 20th) that I feel uncomfortable staying here, and the LL is threatening legal action if I do not find replacement roommates immediately.

I am NOT on the lease. I subletted a person in January, and asked for a lease copy from the landlord, but never received one. Since then, all the original tenants have moved out or subletted to others (with these tenants sending no notification to the landlord.) I am not bound to any contract. I had no control over the future subletting.

There are 2 original tenants of the lease, who signed it on Day One. "Bob" and "Adam".

Bob passed away a few months ago.
Adam, depressed, moved out but subletted his room to a couple. The payments continued to be made to the landlord, however no original "tenants" have remained since then.

So now my landlord is chasing me, because I have resided there the longest, even though I am not a leaseholder. The LL is also threatening me for one payment that is missing from the deceased's rent.

I understand it's short notice, but this landlord is frightening us, making us uncomfortable and we've (meaning the current combination of subletters within the household) have already looked for a new place. I understand we put the LL in a bad position, finding new tenants within 10 days, but we do not want to renew a year contract if it is going to continue to be uncomfortable.

Can the landlord sue me for not renewing the lease?

Can the landlord threaten to sue me for not paying deceased "Bob"'s rent?

Was it my duty to notify the LL of our intention to leave within a span of time, despite my being on no contract at all? Can a change of events effect our right to change our minds?
 
Apologies. I noticed in the rules there was a mention of a space for states, but I couldn't find it. It is for Massachusetts.

1 and 2 are correct. We told her we were interested in staying 30 days ahead of time, but now I am absolutely terrified of staying here. I feel threatened, as if the LL would do something nasty.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top