No Rental Agreement, Renter Going to Court?

Question

I'm posting this for a friend of mine who was renting a place from someone a few months ago. The renter lives about an hour from her and whenshe moved in he said that when he was in town he'd have her sign the lease. Well he never came into town ande she called him several times about getting the lease signed. He never called nor visited her. Hence...no lease has been signed.

She ran into some money problems and told him and he was ok with the money arrangement she offered. She moved out a couple of months ago and he knows and is now threatening to take her to court. He has none of her information, because of no lease and doesn't know where she lives. What are her options and can he even do anything since there aren't any legal documents she signed to live in the house?

Answer 1

Does she owe him any back rent? If not and she left the place clean and with no damage. He has no recourse. She however needs to make a police report for harassment.

I suspect that she owes something to him still and she needs to pay him before it gets ugly for her. If she owes him money he has the right to take her to court for collection. If he wins he could get a judgment to attach any wages and or go as far as tapping your bank account.

Answer 2

Every state has landlord tenant laws which cover situations where there is no written lease - your friend was a month to month tenant by default.

As long as the payment term were agreed upon - ex: $500.00 per month - the rest of the tenancy is governed by your state's landlord tenant laws.

All he needs is her name and he can likely find her current address easy enough - especially if she used mail forwarding.

No written lease is needed and he can sue her. If she cannot show proof of payment for the amount of owed rent being sued for, the landlord will win.

Answer 3

You'd want to check out the landlord tenant law for oral rental agreements in your state.  In my state, if a person is living in a place for 30 days or more and paying money to someone, they are considered to have a month-to-month oral contract.  Your state may be different.  That's the only way to know what she's on the hook for.

That said, a landlord that is too lazy to get the lease signed (which he could have done by mail even), is likely going to be too lazy to pursue her.  If it were me, I would suggest that she write down everything she can remember about conversations, promises and deals that they made while it's still somewhat fresh in her mind, and then forget all about it.  Just don't expect to use him as a rental reference.