Ex-gf rents my house in Philly with an informal written agreement. Am I breaking the law?

[PhillyResident]

Jurisdiction

Pennsylvania

My ex and I lived in a house I solely owned in Philly, until we broke up and I moved out of state for work. She's been continuing to pay me to live in the house with an informal, written, signed agreement since then. Now, she's threatening to report me for renting without a license from the city and claiming she has squatters rights to stay there. How much of this is true?

 

[Zigner]

It looks like you do need a license.

Rent your property | Services

You broke up with her for a reason - continuing your relationship (even if only at a "business" level) was unwise.

As to "squatters rights"...she's blowing smoke. Move to evict her asap. You will likely want the assistance of an attorney asap.

 

[zddoodah]

My ex and I lived in a house

Ex-wife? Ex-girlfriend?

I solely owned in Philly

Owned? Past tense? As in you used to own it but no longer do? Or did you mean "a house [that] I solely own. . . ."?

She's been continuing to pay me to live in the house with an informal, written, signed agreement since then. Now, she's threatening to report me for renting without a license from the city and claiming she has squatters rights to stay there. How much of this is true?

How could we possibly know if the information you provided is or isn't true?

If what you intended to ask is whether you need a license to rent residential real property in the City of Philadelphia, the answer is yes. If you intended to ask whether she can make a successful claim for "squatter's rights," the answer is no. I suggest you retain the services of a local attorney who handles tenant evictions.

 

[army judge]

To @PhillyResident :

From today forward cease all communication with the female in question.

Retain ALL correspondence you receive from her.

Once you've retained counsel to evict her, run silent.

Allow your attorney to communicate on your behalf, if communication is necessary.

 

[Tax Counsel]

My ex and I lived in a house I solely owned in Philly, until we broke up and I moved out of state for work. She's been continuing to pay me to live in the house with an informal, written, signed agreement since then.

A written agreement to rent the place is a lease, which would be a formal agreement, not an informal one. The details of that written agreement matter a great deal as to your options here. Is this a month to month lease? Is it for some set period like a year? Has she done anything to violate the agreement?

In Philly a landlord does need a rental license. The link I provided is to the city's Licenses and Inspections Department (L&I) page on rental licenses. So if you continue to rent out the place, whether to her or anyone else, you need that license. You'll pay a fee for the license (which is not all that much, see the details on the page I linked) and L&I might inspect the place before granting the license. You'll also have to cough up some taxes to the City, too. If your place does not meet the Code requirements for rentals you'll have to fix the problems to bring it up to snuff. You'd also need an agent in the city to deal with L&I for you since you are not in the city yourself. The cost on that can vary widely. So depending on your circumstances, getting the license might not be very costly or time consuming, but you need to check out exactly what it would cost you get all your ducks in a row to get the license.

Now, she's threatening to report me for renting without a license from the city and claiming she has squatters rights to stay there. How much of this is true?

The threat to report you to L&I is one to take seriously, and you have to be careful not to be perceived as retaliating against her for making the threat to report you or for any report she actually does make. You may be between a rock and hard place here: depending on the terms of the lease you might not have any grounds to evict her, and yet getting the license from L&I can cost you a lot of money. I think in this circumstance you want to consult a Philadelphia lawyer for advice. I used to live in the Philly area and can tell you that disputes with L&I can get costly and time consuming especially if you don't know what you are doing.

The threat on "squatter's rights" though is bogus. Squatter's rights is a non legal term that is usually used to refer to what the law calls adverse possession. One of the key requirements for adverse possession is that she is occupying the property without your permission. Since she has a written agreement with you allowing her to live there, an action for adverse possession would fail.

Being an absentee landlord, especially in places like Philly that regulate rentals more intensely, is often a pain the butt. You might consider selling the place now if you aren't going to move back there and occupy it yourself. The housing pricing bubble may not last all that much longer with interest rates rising, so selling now might be a good financial move anyway. A financial consultant could advise you on that.

 

[PhillyResident]

Ex-wife? Ex-girlfriend?



Owned? Past tense? As in you used to own it but no longer do? Or did you mean "a house [that] I solely own. . . ."?



How could we possibly know if the information you provided is or isn't true?

If what you intended to ask is whether you need a license to rent residential real property in the City of Philadelphia, the answer is yes. If you intended to ask whether she can make a successful claim for "squatter's rights," the answer is no. I suggest you retain the services of a local attorney who handles tenant evictions.

Hi,

1) ex girlfriend, but does it matter?
2) If what I was saying wasn't true, your replies wouldn't really be useful to me, would they?
4) I did not intend to ask if I needed a license, or I would have asked that; I should have specified I meant about her "squatter's rights." Thanks for your reply

 

[PhillyResident]

Hi, I completely agree and would have preferred not to continue to have her live there, if it hadn't been the only reasonable choice at the time for financial and logistical reasons. Thanks for your confirmation on squatter's rights.