Do I have to leave my sublet...?

[nyyanks171]

So I moved to Washington, DC on May 15 into a sublet. There is no written agreement, but the sublet was supposed to last until September 1 and I said I would wait until then to look for a new, permanent place to live. I am subletting a room from one girl who is out of the country, in a 3 bedroom apartment.

One of the other people in the apartment, I'll call him John, decided after I moved in that he wants to move out in July. He gave the building a move out date of July 16. Because he is the "primary lease holder" or something, the building claims they can make everybody leave along with John (a way for them to bring in new tenants and charge much higher rent).

If I find a new place to live with a lease that starts August 1, can the building I'm in now force me to leave? Could I offer to continue paying rent for the remainder of July? The building does not allow subletting, by the way.

Thanks for your help!

 

[army judge]

So I moved to Washington, DC on May 15 into a sublet. There is no written agreement, but the sublet was supposed to last until September 1 and I said I would wait until then to look for a new, permanent place to live. I am subletting a room from one girl who is out of the country, in a 3 bedroom apartment.

One of the other people in the apartment, I'll call him John, decided after I moved in that he wants to move out in July. He gave the building a move out date of July 16. Because he is the "primary lease holder" or something, the building claims they can make everybody leave along with John (a way for them to bring in new tenants and charge much higher rent).

If I find a new place to live with a lease that starts August 1, can the building I'm in now force me to leave? Could I offer to continue paying rent for the remainder of July? The building does not allow subletting, by the way.

Thanks for your help!

You don't have to leave, unless a court evicts you.

A court will eventually evict you.

You'll eventually receive a notice to leave, if you don't go voluntarily.

You don't have to voluntarily leave, when asked.

Only a court can evict you.

I suggest you get busy finding an apartment.

You won't beat a legal eviction.

The process will buy you time to find lodgings somewhere.

I'd get busy today doing that.

In the interim, you don't have to pay.

They will eventually get a judgment for rent against you.

Or, as you are not a legal tenant (but a squatter), they'll most likely seek your removal only.

That helps you by freeing your money to get another unit.

I suggest you do that now.

Once an eviction is filed against you, many landlords won't even rent to you.

Bottom line, get cracking looking for YOUR own place.

This time, don't sublet.

You're an adult.

You're responsible for you, so find your own place.

As you can see, these sublet things may be "cheap", but look what "cheap" is costing you!!!!

 

[nyyanks171]

Thanks for the reply.

So how long will it take before they try to evict me? I just want to buy myself 2 weeks extra, that's all.

I have been looking for a month now for a place...it's very difficult to find anything decent in DC in the neighborhoods I'm looking in . I took the sublet because I didn't know the different neighborhoods at the time and I had to fly in from New York State and find something in 3 days...not because I'm cheap.

Can the building lock me out by changing the locks since I'm an illegal subletter? Do you think they'll have my evicted within 2 weeks? I don't want that on my record.

 

[army judge]

Thanks for the reply.

So how long will it take before they try to evict me? I just want to buy myself 2 weeks extra, that's all.

I have been looking for a month now for a place...it's very difficult to find anything decent in DC in the neighborhoods I'm looking in . I took the sublet because I didn't know the different neighborhoods at the time and I had to fly in from New York State and find something in 3 days...not because I'm cheap.

Can the building lock me out by changing the locks since I'm an illegal subletter? Do you think they'll have my evicted within 2 weeks? I don't want that on my record.

I can't say for sure.

You'll get a 30 day notice to vacate.

That isn't an eviction.

That is notice that the landlord wants you out.

Be advised, some landlords will take ILLEGAL, self-help remedies.

If that happens, all bets are off.

You'll eventually get compensation (if you sue), but some landlords don't care.

This may be the type you're dealing with here.

But, before you can be evicted, they have to give you notice to "quit" (leave on your own accord).

That, alone, gives you three to five days.

The landlord is given a court date, usually about 3-4 weeks out, when they file their complaint.

The landlord is responsible for making sure that the tenant receives notice of the lawsuit.

The landlord must use a process server to serve the tenant with a copy of the complaint.

The tenant must be served at least 7 days, not counting Sundays and legal holidays, before the court date

So, according to your timeline, you should be okay!

§ 45-1406. Service of notice to quit.

Every notice to the tenant to quit shall be served in English and Spanish upon him personally, if he can be found, and if he can not be found it shall be sufficient service of said notice to deliver the same to some person of proper age upon the premises, and in the absence of such tenant or person to post the same in some conspicuous place upon the leased premises. If the notice is posted on the premises, a copy of the notice shall be mailed first class U.S. mail, postage prepaid, to the premises sought to be recovered, in the name of the person known to be in possession of the premises, or if unknown, in the name of the person occupying the premises, within 3 calendar days of the date of posting.

 

[mightymoose]

It is very possible that the original lease holder did not have permission to sublet to begin with, so it is no wonder the owner would want everyone out.
As said though, the owner/landlord will have to obtain an eviction to get you out. If you are actively seeking another place anyway, the sooner you find it the better. The longer you take, the more likely you will get evicted, and then you will have a really hard time getting in somewhere.
Personally, I would try my best to get out of there before July 15. You had agreed to stay longer, but you have been put on notice by the landlord, so I think you are pretty much off the hook for any written or oral agreement on your lease.

 

[klgeorgetown]

In DC, you are not required to leave an apartment just because your lease ends. The law is VERY much in favor of the tenant. The landlord can only evict you for one of 10 reasons (non payment of rent, violation of lease agreement -dogs, etc-, illegal act committed on the property, landlord's personal use, demolition, unsafe renovations, sale of the apt, or conversion to a condo). HOWEVER, because the building does not allow subletting, they can (and probably will) evict you. It will be a fairly long process, though (at least 2 months).

 

[miahcrimson]

I know this post is months old, but I just wanted to clarify this. Are the laws different in DC? I know some states have laws that directly address illegal subletting, but in most states I know of you have virtually no rights against the property owner if you are an illegal subletter. And whatever claim you have to the property leaves with the actual tenant, but you will have NO such claim with the property owner. That means they can consider you a trespasser, and depending on where you are in the country either simply call the police and have you removed or go to court to reclaim the property. Regardless, in most states they don't have to evict you or go through the same process. You will be out much quicker than you think. Now the person you actually made the contract with would have to evict you, of course doing so would probably alert the property owner and get you both evicted. But as I said, in most states I know of once the actual lease holder leaves, being evicted or just the lease ending, any rights you have to the property go with him. You never made any deal with the property owner, and aren't supposed to be there. And you're not their tenant, so usually no eviction (or just a VERY speedy eviction) is required. So with what say the last poster said, if you are in DC and DC lay says you don't have to leave just because your lease ends, well that probably wouldn't apply to someone in this situation, as you have zero claim against the property owner. You are not a legal tenant.

 

[mightymoose]

but in most states I know of you have virtually no rights against the property owner if you are an illegal subletter.

Sadly, that is entirely false.

That means they can consider you a trespasser, and depending on where you are in the country either simply call the police and have you removed or go to court to reclaim the property.

No, trespassing doesn't work either. You can't trespass at your own place of residence- even if you are there in an unauthorized sublet. A landlord must still evict to get the subtenant out legally.

Now the person you actually made the contract with would have to evict you, of course doing so would probably alert the property owner and get you both evicted.

The property owner or the other tenant could evict a subtenant.

But as I said, in most states I know of once the actual lease holder leaves, being evicted or just the lease ending, any rights you have to the property go with him.

Not true at all. The subtenant maintains rights as a tenant until he willingly leaves the property or a judge orders him out. If the property owner forces him out without a proper eviction then the property owner may face an expensive civil action from the subtenant and end up paying much more money to that subtenant than what the eviction would have cost.