Do i have to pay my landlord for rent when i didnt live there?

Question

I didnt give my landlord the full thirty day notice that was talked about in my lease, my lease was up after 6 months, but we lived there two years. There is an article in the lease that pretty much makes my lease termination date no good. It basically says that if you stay after the 6 month lease that you still have to go by the terms of that lease. Article 1 of that lease says that if i dont give a 30 day notice he gets to keep my deposit and I have to pay a full months rent. I owed him 141.00 in late rent, which i thought he would just take out of the deposit. He is suing me for the late rent, the full months rent in which i didnt live there, and is taking my deposit. I am going to court with pictures of the conditions of that apartment. He is very old and didnt keep them up. we told him of carpet that needed to be replaced because it was so old it was comming apart revealing subflooring, and there were boards with nails sharp side up comming out of them in front of the door where the carpet was worn out. we asked him two times to fix it and he said he would and never did, also he knew of water damage to the ceilings and didnt fix that either. I dont feel that i should have to pay a full months rent for not giving a 30 day notice on an apartment he dosent care enough about to keep up. I bought a house and it closed sooner than i expected, and i wasnt going to stay in that nasty apartment any longer than i had to. I gave him a 8 day notice. I am going to court to try to fight him because he is greedy. we paid our rent every month for two years, and he never fixed anything in it. its not like he was having to evict us. I dont have the money to pay him so even if i loose he wont get any money from me. My bf pays the bills, but i signed the lease, and i dont have a job or any money in my bank account.

Answer 1

The above two answers are correct. You only gave him 8 day notice which did not fulfill what is requested on the contract. According the condition of the apartment, if you put it down on the walk through list, the LL can not deduct it from your deposit as damages. Carpet worn out and a water damaged ceiling doesn't necessary make the place unhabitable so the LL is not required by law to fix it. Obviously you're in default in this situation. Your LL can go after you for the money you owe. If you have no money to pay, the court can post to your credit bureau and ruin your credit which it's important to homeowner cos' it'll show up when you try to refinance in the future. Believe me or you'll regret.

Answer 2

The contract seems clear.  You agreed to give 30 days' notice prior to leaving.  You didn't.  The penalty for violating that provision is deposit plus one month's rent.  The $141.00 late rent is a separate issue.  You could make a claim that you left because of unsafe/unsanitary conditions in the apt over which you had no control, which you reported promptly and repeatedly to the landlord -- hopefully you did so in writing and kept copies -- and which he did not fix.  The problem with that arguement is that you did not leave the apt for those reasons, but because you had a new place (the home you bought) to go to sooner than you planned.  You have a case, but so does he.  Good luck.  

Answer 3

You know YOU didn't keep your part of the agreement.  You had a lease, it terminated, but stated if you stayed, the same terms and conditions applied.  EVEN if you had no such lease, under a month to month lease, you are REQUIRED to give 30 days advance notice, in advance of rent due date.  So you didn't give adequate notice to landlord you were leaving the place.  That's unrelated to all other issues, you didn't fulfill your part of the deal.  Plus you are behind in rent, so you're not fulfilling your part of the deal.  Giving him an 8 day notice did not fulfill ANY of YOUR obligations.  Giving him   the required 30 days advance notice (and you knew you were closing soon) would have prevented this mess--you have only yourself to blame.

LL is NOT required to replace carpeting.  You moved into that "nasty" apartment and stayed there two years although you rented it for only 6 months.  He didn't make you.  Yes, he should have taken care of the carpet tack issue, and perhaps ceilings.  BUT his failure to do so gives you NO rights.

You can fight him in court, and it's good to be prepared with photos.  Anytime you go to court, your chances are never better than 50/50.  However, suggest you consider settling with him rather than a long drawn-out fight.  You're in the wrong.  Many landlord/tenant judges force a compromise on the parties.

Answer 4

You might not feel that you had to pay rent, but the law states otherwise.

He can put a lien on your property or just deal with collections until you have wages or a tax return to garnish.

The judge will not even look at your pictures, the carpet is not an issue, the only thing he will worry about is if you gave proper notice and owe any rent.    Unless the landlord wants to blame the carpet condition on you the carpet will not be discussed.

Either way there is no law requiring carpeting, it will not matter.

Answer 5

You'll have to pay the late rent and the full months rent.  It was in the contract and you knew fully well, but still only gave him 8 days notice.  Even though your original contract was 6 months, you didn't sign a  new one, but the original said after the six months you become a month to month tenant.

As for the deposit.  You could fight that.  You should get some back, probably less carpet cleaning, some minor fixes and clean ups that were needed.

Answer 6

You are liable for the rent and late fees as well as any damage your landlord feels was caused by you.  

Answer 7

The lease you signed is a legally binding contract.  You did not abide by the terms of the lease.  You are bound by the terms and conditions of that legal document.  Your arguments concerning the condition of the apartment are a seperate matter completely.  You could have given him the 30 day notice, as stated in the lease, and avoided this whole mess.  But having failed to do that, you are subject to the penalities for having not followed the rules of the lease.

Answer 8

No point going to court.  You signed a lease and the court will determine, based on the lease you signed, that you owe the landlord the late charges, plus a full month's rent in lieu of notice, plus the security deposit.  You signed it, you abide by it, you pay for it.  The court will grant you no leeway in paying, plus you will have to pay all court costs for the landlord as well as your own.  If you do not pay in the courtroom right then and there, you will be found in contempt of court.  Pay before it goes to court!  

And do not think the landlord cannot get his money out of you -- he can file a lien against your house, which will cause havoc with your mortgage.  Don't waste your breath pleading poverty in court.  The judge will have your guts for garters!  BTW, court judgments stay on your credit record for 10 years and will definitely put an end to career plans and a great deal more.  Criminal charges like contempt of court are permanent.