Can someone be responsible for an apartment if they're not on the lease contract?

Question

My friend Alise had an apartment with her boyfriend Sam, but his name was the only name on the lease, so he illegally duplicated keys and she lived there illegally for 11 months until he cheated on her and dumper for another girl. He did A LOT of pretty shady **** to her so since she was so upset (and still had keys) she went back and sorta "trashed" the bedroom. Now that the lease is up on the place her ex Sam is coming back saying he is going to prosecute her and/or the apartment will, but my question is can they? She had an illegal set of keys, she lived there illegally, and her name isn't on any contract or lease. Frankly, they cant really prove anything. I'm thinking he is just trying to scare her (he's an a*****e).

Answer 1

People like this make me so happy to be a landlord and shows why I have to raise my rents.

If she caused damages, he can sue her.

Me as the poor landlord who has to now fix MY property will have to go after him.

Arizona has a little known law.

To make it very short, I could press charges against her and put her butt in jail.

That is if she damaged my apartment.

If only his stuff, well he picked her.

We know more then you tenants give us credit for.

Now for all you tenant lawyers:

If you intentionally cause damages to my apartments in Arizona, I can bring forth charges.

Landlords, check your State laws.

Answer 2

Anybody can sue anyone for any reason. She has to assess her risk and decide what to do. Most likely he is just being an ****** and trying to scare her. If he was truly interested in having her pay for damages he would have filed a police report and tried to get her arrested for criminal mischief/vandalism/trespassing or something.

Answer 3

She did the damage. She should pay one way or the other.

I agree she should go to jail for trashing the LANDLORD'S property. It is not their fault the two of them act like criminals.

But normally the apartment complex will sue the boyfriend and he can sue her.  

Answer 4

Frankly, they can prove something.

She is the only person that he gave keys to, so that significantly lowers the list of who did the deed.

Yes, they can hold her responsible...she is lucky she didn't get arrested for breaking and entering, and if the damage is substantial enough, they can charge her with a felony.

I think you need to find another friend...this one will get you in trouble?

Answer 5

The landlord won't bother going after her at all. They already have a procedure in place to collect on apartment damage -- they'll deduct the actual costs to repair their property from the security deposit paid by the person on the lease. Why should they bother with domestic squabbles? They don't care who did it, they care about getting the place back to rent-able condition.

The boyfriend, however, can then go after the ex girlfriend in small claims court for the amount withheld from the security deposit and for damages to his own property (clothes, etc.)

BTW -- just because she wasn't on the lease doesn't mean she was there illegally, unless the lease says no overnight guests. Depending on the state laws where you live, he may even have to evict her.

Answer 6

The apartment owner/manger can not do anything to her because she was not on the lease.  When your name is on a lease (the X-boyfriend), he is responsible for any damage him, his family, or his friends cause.  I would say that he is bluffing.  He can't possibly prove that it was her that caused the damage.  Like you said, he could have given other people keys too.  He is just being a jerk, he can't prove she did it unless he had witnesses or a camera set up in the room when she did it.  But, the landlord can charge his security deposit for any damage to the bedroom.

Answer 7

Seems they were pretty well matched. He can sue her. And anyone can be sued by an apartment building's owner if they damage property. This is not limited to people on a lease.

If you do the crime, be ready to do the time. Or in this case, pay up.