I'm a law student working in a different city (Atlanta, GA) over the summer, and I agreed to sublease an apartment for three months from a woman (who is actually the girlfriend of the owner of the apartment - but the owner doesn't speak English too well, and the girlfriend appeared to be like his agent). I was to sublease from May through July. I visited the apartment in March. We never wrote out a detailed sublease, but I assumed things would be the same as what I saw when I visited the place in March. At the time I visited, there was a female roommate who I was told would be there when I was living there. I was fine with that, b/c it was a two bedroom/two bathroom apartment. The place was fully furnished, and cable TV was to be provided. The room I was to have had a queen sized bed. I was also told via email that the roommate was neat, quiet, and hardly ever there (she was an attorney I believe).
When I showed up in May, however, the female roommate had moved out. In her place, and in the bedroom I was supposed to have, was the owner's two elderly Chinese parents who speak no English. A lot of the furnishings were gone (dishes), instead of a queen sized bed there was a single bed (which meant my girlfriend couldn't stay over), and there was no longer cable TV. I feel frivolous complaining of these things, but it was really uncomfortbale - and I'm a guy and can and have lived in some crazy housing situations. But I was not comfortable living with an elderly couple that spoke no English. I couldn't communicate with them, and I wasn't comfortable having people over (which I was explicitly told would be okay). I also just felt like an intruder into their home. They weren't extraordinarily loud, but when they came home at night they would talk loudly in the den outside my bedroom and it made it hard for me to sleep.
I emailed the woman (the girlfriend of the owner), and told her I was uncomfortable, and that I planned to move out. She seemed genuinely apologetic, and offered some other accomodations. I declined, having found a convenient housing arrangment from a nearby university's on-campus housing. This woman seems genuinely nice, and she does not seem to be trying to get the rent from June and July from me. She can keep the rent from May, even though I lived there for only 2 weeks, but I would like my security deposit back. After I moved out, I emailed her asking her to return my security deposit to a specified address, but she replied stating that she did not feel she would be able to return it, but she would work with her boyfriend to get me some of it back. I think this is just a stall tactic on her part, as I havn't heard from her since.
I'm wondering what kind of footing I'm on here. Personally, I believe it was her that breached via the changed circumstances, and I was reasonable in moving out - but of course I'm biased. I have been unable to find anything on point in GA case law or statutory law in my hasty research. I did sign what she called a "standard lease agreement," when I first moved in. The boyfriend was the one who gave it to me to sign, and I signed it before knowing the roommate situation. I did not read it (stupid of me I know!!), and I do not have a copy of it. The girlfriend told me it was a standard agreement saying that I would be living there from May through July.
Any thoughts on what kind of ground I'm on here? I'm not contemplaing legal recourse this early, as I'm going to contact her soon and state the facts as I see them, ask her to refute anything with which she disagrees, and ask for a return of my security deposit.
When I showed up in May, however, the female roommate had moved out. In her place, and in the bedroom I was supposed to have, was the owner's two elderly Chinese parents who speak no English. A lot of the furnishings were gone (dishes), instead of a queen sized bed there was a single bed (which meant my girlfriend couldn't stay over), and there was no longer cable TV. I feel frivolous complaining of these things, but it was really uncomfortbale - and I'm a guy and can and have lived in some crazy housing situations. But I was not comfortable living with an elderly couple that spoke no English. I couldn't communicate with them, and I wasn't comfortable having people over (which I was explicitly told would be okay). I also just felt like an intruder into their home. They weren't extraordinarily loud, but when they came home at night they would talk loudly in the den outside my bedroom and it made it hard for me to sleep.
I emailed the woman (the girlfriend of the owner), and told her I was uncomfortable, and that I planned to move out. She seemed genuinely apologetic, and offered some other accomodations. I declined, having found a convenient housing arrangment from a nearby university's on-campus housing. This woman seems genuinely nice, and she does not seem to be trying to get the rent from June and July from me. She can keep the rent from May, even though I lived there for only 2 weeks, but I would like my security deposit back. After I moved out, I emailed her asking her to return my security deposit to a specified address, but she replied stating that she did not feel she would be able to return it, but she would work with her boyfriend to get me some of it back. I think this is just a stall tactic on her part, as I havn't heard from her since.
I'm wondering what kind of footing I'm on here. Personally, I believe it was her that breached via the changed circumstances, and I was reasonable in moving out - but of course I'm biased. I have been unable to find anything on point in GA case law or statutory law in my hasty research. I did sign what she called a "standard lease agreement," when I first moved in. The boyfriend was the one who gave it to me to sign, and I signed it before knowing the roommate situation. I did not read it (stupid of me I know!!), and I do not have a copy of it. The girlfriend told me it was a standard agreement saying that I would be living there from May through July.
Any thoughts on what kind of ground I'm on here? I'm not contemplaing legal recourse this early, as I'm going to contact her soon and state the facts as I see them, ask her to refute anything with which she disagrees, and ask for a return of my security deposit.
