3 Day Pay or quit

[ctanke]

My boyfriend and I are new roomates (Oct. 2009) with a couple that is renting a house. We did not sign a lease with them or the landlord and our verbal agreement moving in was to pay half of the rent twice a month (every two weeks, no specific dates due to me not being paid on same date each month). This was done for Oct. and Nov. with no problems. At the end of Nov. the they asked us to pay the full amount all at once, but did not specify a date this had to be paid on. On Dec. 2nd they sent us a 3 day pay or quit notice. Can they do this?

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Are you late on paying your rent?

Gail

 

[ctanke]

We haven't paid December yet due to not having enough of a notice(1week) of them wanting the whole amount at once. October and November have both been paid in full. They told us last night that if we didn't pay them the full amount in cash we had to move out this Saturday. When I told them that wasn't legal, they then said that if we didn't pay them the full amount in cash right then they would call the police, which they did. The police came out and when they heard our side of the story the officer told me that what they were doing isn't legal. I'm afraid of what they may do to my stuff and my animals. Any advise you or any one else can give me is greatly appreciated.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

The problem appears to be that while you haven't provided them with the full amount they've demanded, you also haven't provided them with what you normally pay every two weeks, correct? If so, they can certainly send you the three day Pay or Quit notice which is the FIRST step in the eviction process.

This is a civil, not criminal matter which is why the police won't touch this.

It is also important to remember that your roommates (who are acting as your landlords as they are taking rent from you) can't evict anyone. Only a court can grant an actual eviction. For them to (for example), box up or toss out your stuff, change the locks, refuse to let you in, etc. WITHOUT A COURT ORDER GRANTING THEM THE RIGHT TO DO THIS would be an illegal eviction and would open them up to, well, getting their socks sued off of them by you.

The steps toward eviction for owed rent typically follow this pattern: 1. notifying the tenant with a Pay or Quit notice listing a specific number of days that the issue has to be remedied followed by 2. filing through the court system for the actual eviction if the demand has not been remedied.

If they file, you will be notified of the court hearing and would be able to tell your side of the story to the judge. In this case your side would be that the verbal agreement was for your share of the rent to be paid by you in half installments twice a month and that in October and November you have honored this verbal agreement.

I hope this makes sense...

Gail

 

[ctanke]

You are right in that we haven't paid them the every two weeks amount yet. Thank you so much for your help with this. What you told me is very easy to understand and helps me a ton. I'm still hoping that we can work things out with them to give us time to find another place. I will make sure that everything is in writing though from now on. We had also asked them for the landlords name so that we could deal with them directly and they refused to give it to us. This makes me think that the landlord doesn't know we live there. Thank you again for all of your help.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

I suspect that they will not go through the court system for fear that their landlord will "catch wind" that they have been renting out rooms without the landlords permission.

Gail

 

[ctanke]

I thought I'd be done with all of this, but things are getting even worse where I'm at. We're still living at the same place and are trying very hard to find a place. Our roommates have done everything possible to make being there a nightmare. They have made flase reports to the police three times(the police took our side every time). They told us on Dec. 15th that the landlord is moving back into the house and that all of us have to be out by Jan 2nd. I don't think that what they are saying is true, but if it is, can they do that?

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Have they shown you any written proof from the landlord that this is going to actually take place?

Gail

 

[ctanke]

No. They also haven't filed anything with the court against us.

 

[mightymoose]

No, the landlord can not move back in until you are evicted.

 

[ctanke]

What they were telling me didn't seem like it was legal and with all the things they have been doing to us I had a hard time believing that it was. Thank you for the information. You and Gail have been a big help to me!!:

 

[mightymoose]

You should still be paying every two weeks as you had agreed. If you are behind, offer up what you owe (you will end up having to pay it later anyway). If they accept the payment (get a receipt) then they will shoot themselves in the foot on any eviction argument. They may still argue that they want the month paid in full, but that was not the agreement. Have you not been able to save a little bit so you can afford to pay the month in full? That would surely help things.

 

[ctanke]

I can pay it in full but I haven't yet. They have made it so uncomfortable and unsafe(they've done things to my truck) to be there that I barely even see them anymore. I'm still going to do my best to be out of there by the 1st.

 

[ctanke]

I have one more question on this. We are still living at the same place and our roomomates moved out on the 12/31. They did not ask for our keys back and left without saying anything to us. I just heard a message left to us by the police that since we don't have a written agreement on the rent we are technically traspassing. I thought that our verbal agreement was legal. We are more than willing to work things out with the homeowner, but have yet been able to get information on who it is. From reading other posts entered on this site, what the police saying we are traspassing doesn't seem correct.

 

[mightymoose]

If the police come and remove you from the house they will be making an unlawful eviction and you will be able to sue the department over it. They will probably try to sweet talk you out, but can not legally force you out.
If you haven't done so already, you should consult a local attorney regarding your rights. The cost of a consult shouldn't be much.
You also need to make plans to get yourselves out of there before it does get ugly... because if you do get evicted you will have a hard time finding another place that will rent to you.

Basically, you were subtenants under the other roommates, and they were your landlords. They may not have had authority to do that, but the landlord/owner that incurs any costs in evicting you can probably seek damages from the prior tenants to recover that loss since they were the ones that allowed you in against the rules.

So long as you are paying as agreed you are ok.... but you WILL get thrown out eventually. Don't let it get to that.