Caeristhiona
New Member
My fiance and I are housesitting his parents' place for several months, so we decided to sublet our apartment. We have a signed agreement with the subletter, and also have written permission from the owner of the building.
So. We've tried to get in touch with the subletter, J., a couple of times (in relation to a personally valuable item which we left behind at the apartment and which we still have not recovered from him), and each time he's avoided contact. If we call, his phone will be out of service. If we email, his computer will be down. Naturally, this failed to inspire a great deal of confidence in him, but whatever, it's his right not to want to talk to us if he doesn't want to. (Just because it's relevant to the issue, I'll state that since he's taken possession of the apartment we've placed a total of 4 phone calls over the last month, sent a total of 2 emails, and stopped by the apartment to knock on the door twice -- both in relation to the issue of the lost item and the issue to be explained below.)
So, now his rent has come due, and we send him a friendly reminder email just letting him know that we'll be stopping by to pick up the check on X date. No response. On the morning when we're planning to stop by, we place a phone call. No answer. Another phone call in the afternoon when we're on our way. No response. When we show up at the apartment, we knock on the door, and there's no answer -- but there's a window (curtained) in the top half of the door, and we can see him walking around, hear him in the kitchen clattering dishes, etc. We knock a couple more times and ring the doorbell twice, but there's never any response. So, we leave him a note subtly hinting that we knew he was home, but we'll call again tomorrow in any case, and to please get in touch with us ASAP.
This morning, we still haven't heard from him, so my fiance places a phone call. There's no response, and my fiance leaves a frustrated message saying we need the rent from him immediately, as per our agreement, since we can't really afford to pay for him to live there. Five minutes later he calls back and threatens to sue us for breach of quiet enjoyment if we contact him again. He says he does not care to speak with us, and will leave the checks outside in the mailbox for us to pick up, but we had better not knock on the door or place a call regarding the rent again.
So, my first question is, are we in violation of some kind of agreement? We have not threatened to evict him or remove him from the premises, we've paid the utility and rent bills on time, and we've only contacted him in regard to urgent issues -- the lost item in the first case, and the rent in the second. So to me, it seems that we've been quite reasonable -- but maybe not.
Alright, here's where it gets complicated...
As I said, we've been able to see into the apartment. Last time we were there, we were able to see not only him but a dog running around -- in a no pets building. I'd guess that this is the reason why he's being so combative -- he doesn't want to get in trouble for his illegal pet. But, since we're only subletting, I'm not really sure what we can do. We may be able to convince the building owner to put up with it since he's only there for a couple of months (and of course there's the possibility that it's a service animal, though I doubt it), but at the very least there will be a hefty cleaning bill when he moves out. Do we, as subletting renters, have any way of ensuring that he repays us for the wear and tear which his (probably illegal) animal is responsible?
Thanks so much for your help in advance! This whole situation has been driving us crazy!
So. We've tried to get in touch with the subletter, J., a couple of times (in relation to a personally valuable item which we left behind at the apartment and which we still have not recovered from him), and each time he's avoided contact. If we call, his phone will be out of service. If we email, his computer will be down. Naturally, this failed to inspire a great deal of confidence in him, but whatever, it's his right not to want to talk to us if he doesn't want to. (Just because it's relevant to the issue, I'll state that since he's taken possession of the apartment we've placed a total of 4 phone calls over the last month, sent a total of 2 emails, and stopped by the apartment to knock on the door twice -- both in relation to the issue of the lost item and the issue to be explained below.)
So, now his rent has come due, and we send him a friendly reminder email just letting him know that we'll be stopping by to pick up the check on X date. No response. On the morning when we're planning to stop by, we place a phone call. No answer. Another phone call in the afternoon when we're on our way. No response. When we show up at the apartment, we knock on the door, and there's no answer -- but there's a window (curtained) in the top half of the door, and we can see him walking around, hear him in the kitchen clattering dishes, etc. We knock a couple more times and ring the doorbell twice, but there's never any response. So, we leave him a note subtly hinting that we knew he was home, but we'll call again tomorrow in any case, and to please get in touch with us ASAP.
This morning, we still haven't heard from him, so my fiance places a phone call. There's no response, and my fiance leaves a frustrated message saying we need the rent from him immediately, as per our agreement, since we can't really afford to pay for him to live there. Five minutes later he calls back and threatens to sue us for breach of quiet enjoyment if we contact him again. He says he does not care to speak with us, and will leave the checks outside in the mailbox for us to pick up, but we had better not knock on the door or place a call regarding the rent again.
So, my first question is, are we in violation of some kind of agreement? We have not threatened to evict him or remove him from the premises, we've paid the utility and rent bills on time, and we've only contacted him in regard to urgent issues -- the lost item in the first case, and the rent in the second. So to me, it seems that we've been quite reasonable -- but maybe not.
Alright, here's where it gets complicated...
As I said, we've been able to see into the apartment. Last time we were there, we were able to see not only him but a dog running around -- in a no pets building. I'd guess that this is the reason why he's being so combative -- he doesn't want to get in trouble for his illegal pet. But, since we're only subletting, I'm not really sure what we can do. We may be able to convince the building owner to put up with it since he's only there for a couple of months (and of course there's the possibility that it's a service animal, though I doubt it), but at the very least there will be a hefty cleaning bill when he moves out. Do we, as subletting renters, have any way of ensuring that he repays us for the wear and tear which his (probably illegal) animal is responsible?
Thanks so much for your help in advance! This whole situation has been driving us crazy!
