My jurisdiction is: Maryland
I am a full-time college student in Maryland, and I was living in a townhouse with two other women. I moved in towards the end of August 2008 and I was told by my friend at the time (she was also one of my roommates) that the lease was going to renew on September 1st, and that I would have to sign it in order to live there. I never agreed to sign or not sign the lease (but I guess because I moved in, it would have been safe for them to assume I would be signing the lease). I made both of my roommates aware that I would be moving out at the end of the academic year, which would be May 2009, and would try to find someone to sublet my room.
Over the course of the next two months, my experience living there turned downhill....here is a list of all of the reasons why I moved out.
- I was told that the lease would renew on Sept. 1st, 2008. About one month after moving in, I found out that the lease was actually going to renew on November 1, 2008. I bugeted my fianancial aid to cover rent from Sept. 1 til May 1st, so it would be impossible for me to stay from November 2008 to november 2009 because I didnt have enough financial aid.
- Roommate #2 smoked marijuana in the house constantly
- Roommate #2 gave a key to the house to her drug dealing boyfriend without telling me or asking me if it was okay
- Roommate #1 has a violent boyfriend whom I witnessed hit her in the face
- Roommate #1 would often complained about the landlord (after I moved in) saying how she was not a good landlord and never picked up rent on time, or made an effort to return her calls promptly when there was an issue at the house
- Roommate #2 had two children (3 and 14) who also lived in the house, and the children OFTEN ate my food. Mind you I am a full-time student who doesnt work, so food was very hard to come by. She never reimbursed me for what her children ate.
- Roommate #2 has a physco ex-husband who is strung out on drugs and would often threaten her life and everyone else's life in the house if he didnt see his children
- I payed a fixed amount of $600/month directly to roommate #1 who would then add her part of the rent in, and give that to roommate #2. Roommate #2 would then add her part of the rent to it, go to the store with everyone's rent money to get a money order, and give the money order to the landlord. I asked why I could not give my money to the landlord directly, and they said because the landlord doesn't take seperate rent payments, yet there were three names on the lease (one name was not mine, it was the previous guy who lived there, I basically replaced him and was expected to renew the lease)
- When I asked my roommates for a receipt for my payment, they said "The owner doesnt give a receipt. Your bank statement if your receipt". But Maryland law states that if you pay with cash, and request a receipt, the landlord must give a receipt. But since the landlord didnt accept seperate rent payments, I could not get a receipt for my part of the rent. When I asked my roommates for the landlord's contact information, they congregated in the basement for about 15 mins and said that they would buy a receipt book and write me one every month.
I moved out because I didnt feel safe there, and I could never get any studying or homework done because of the noisy kids and busy household. The environment wasnt set for a college student and I didnt not like being around illegal activities (marijuana).
Also, I felt like they were hiding something from me as far as not wanting me to contact the landlord. (FYI - THE LANDLORD IS ROOMMATE #2's SISTER-IN-LAW) And there were too many issues with the lease. I gave my roommates about a week's notice that I was moving out before November 1st, even though I was under no contract with them or the landlord. I even posted an ad on Craiglist before I moved out to see if anyone was interested in replacing my spot, but no serious inquiries came from it.
Now, my ROOMMATES are suing me for $4200. They're statement says that I moved in at the end of August, and verbally agreed to sign a lease for a year starting in November, but when you do the math and divide the amount they're suing me for by the amount of rent I was paying ($600/month) its only for 7 months. I moved out before November 1st so that I would not have to sign the lease or pay rent. Seven months from November (including November), is May, which is the initial month I told them I would be moving out. They're claim and statement doesnt seem very organized to me which makes me take this for a joke, even though I know it is very serious.
Do they have a chance of winning even after everything I've stated above?
Thanks for all the responses and I apologize for any grammatical errors, I was typing really fast.
I am a full-time college student in Maryland, and I was living in a townhouse with two other women. I moved in towards the end of August 2008 and I was told by my friend at the time (she was also one of my roommates) that the lease was going to renew on September 1st, and that I would have to sign it in order to live there. I never agreed to sign or not sign the lease (but I guess because I moved in, it would have been safe for them to assume I would be signing the lease). I made both of my roommates aware that I would be moving out at the end of the academic year, which would be May 2009, and would try to find someone to sublet my room.
Over the course of the next two months, my experience living there turned downhill....here is a list of all of the reasons why I moved out.
- I was told that the lease would renew on Sept. 1st, 2008. About one month after moving in, I found out that the lease was actually going to renew on November 1, 2008. I bugeted my fianancial aid to cover rent from Sept. 1 til May 1st, so it would be impossible for me to stay from November 2008 to november 2009 because I didnt have enough financial aid.
- Roommate #2 smoked marijuana in the house constantly
- Roommate #2 gave a key to the house to her drug dealing boyfriend without telling me or asking me if it was okay
- Roommate #1 has a violent boyfriend whom I witnessed hit her in the face
- Roommate #1 would often complained about the landlord (after I moved in) saying how she was not a good landlord and never picked up rent on time, or made an effort to return her calls promptly when there was an issue at the house
- Roommate #2 had two children (3 and 14) who also lived in the house, and the children OFTEN ate my food. Mind you I am a full-time student who doesnt work, so food was very hard to come by. She never reimbursed me for what her children ate.
- Roommate #2 has a physco ex-husband who is strung out on drugs and would often threaten her life and everyone else's life in the house if he didnt see his children
- I payed a fixed amount of $600/month directly to roommate #1 who would then add her part of the rent in, and give that to roommate #2. Roommate #2 would then add her part of the rent to it, go to the store with everyone's rent money to get a money order, and give the money order to the landlord. I asked why I could not give my money to the landlord directly, and they said because the landlord doesn't take seperate rent payments, yet there were three names on the lease (one name was not mine, it was the previous guy who lived there, I basically replaced him and was expected to renew the lease)
- When I asked my roommates for a receipt for my payment, they said "The owner doesnt give a receipt. Your bank statement if your receipt". But Maryland law states that if you pay with cash, and request a receipt, the landlord must give a receipt. But since the landlord didnt accept seperate rent payments, I could not get a receipt for my part of the rent. When I asked my roommates for the landlord's contact information, they congregated in the basement for about 15 mins and said that they would buy a receipt book and write me one every month.
I moved out because I didnt feel safe there, and I could never get any studying or homework done because of the noisy kids and busy household. The environment wasnt set for a college student and I didnt not like being around illegal activities (marijuana).
Also, I felt like they were hiding something from me as far as not wanting me to contact the landlord. (FYI - THE LANDLORD IS ROOMMATE #2's SISTER-IN-LAW) And there were too many issues with the lease. I gave my roommates about a week's notice that I was moving out before November 1st, even though I was under no contract with them or the landlord. I even posted an ad on Craiglist before I moved out to see if anyone was interested in replacing my spot, but no serious inquiries came from it.
Now, my ROOMMATES are suing me for $4200. They're statement says that I moved in at the end of August, and verbally agreed to sign a lease for a year starting in November, but when you do the math and divide the amount they're suing me for by the amount of rent I was paying ($600/month) its only for 7 months. I moved out before November 1st so that I would not have to sign the lease or pay rent. Seven months from November (including November), is May, which is the initial month I told them I would be moving out. They're claim and statement doesnt seem very organized to me which makes me take this for a joke, even though I know it is very serious.
Do they have a chance of winning even after everything I've stated above?
Thanks for all the responses and I apologize for any grammatical errors, I was typing really fast.
