Ok, so I lived in Aiken, SC for a short bit. I rented a room in a house, one of the roommates was also the landlord. I signed a year lease, but 2 months into the lease, I was offered a chance to start my PhD about 3 hours away...I got someone who wanted to rent, she bailed like 2 days before she was supposed to move in. So I kept paying rent even though I wasn't living there. Finally, she found someone to move in until August, and then had another person to move in for August onward. I thought I was clear. Well, I just got an email from her saying that the person who was supposed to move in this August flaked out on her. She's asking me to send word around to the people I used to work with at SRS to get the word out that there is a room for rent. So if neither she nor I can find someone, does this mean I've got to pay if no one ends up taking the room? Should I just ignore the email?

7/17/2009 10:06:59 PM

it sounds like she is just asking for your help at the moment

7/17/2009 10:23:06 PM

From what I understand of how renting works, you are liable for the rent if any tennants cannot be found for the entire duration of the lease. So if you signed a 1 year contract, and the tennant who "replaced" you left after 6 months, you would be liable for the follow-on 6 months.

7/17/2009 10:41:09 PM

^nonsense. Once the new person is found, even if they leave early, the original person is no longer involved.

^^ ding ding

You have to check the law for your state, but I bet it says you are only responsible for a month or reasonable time period in which she should be able to find a new tenant

Doesn't even matter if the lease says something else because many leases have illegal clauses in them -- landlords just like to push the boundaries because most tenants wont fight for their rights.

[Edited on July 17, 2009 at 11:08 PM. Reason : .]

7/17/2009 11:01:24 PM

Landlord has to make a reasonable effort to rent out the room. If she does that and can't find a tenant, you're more than likely obligated to pay. You signed a lease, you're tied to it unless she tore it up once you moved out.

7/18/2009 12:17:07 AM

The above is based on the assumption that you properly sublet your interest in the property. Gauging by the description of your paying replacements, my guess is the legal sublet never occurred.

On another note, most property managers in their leases specifically don't allow subletting without their express consent, which usually involves the application/vetting/background check that you might have underwent.

7/18/2009 12:18:27 AM

lots of conjecture itt

7/18/2009 9:28:45 PM

^^
Winner. You need to get whomever takes over the remainder of your lease to SIGN something as such. Most landlords are lenient if you can find a full on replacement who will make a deposit / etc. If you have not yet, take a ton of pictures and try craigslist. We had 10 responses in 48 hours in Blacksburg, VA when we needed to break our lease, and, landlord was good once application / deposit was made.

7/18/2009 11:32:24 PM

Well, I found the place on Craigslist, but it was because I couldn't find a place otherwise...I put out an ad for "housing needed" and she contacted me.

I moved out back at the end of April. I dropped the news that I would be moving out back in mid-March, and by the time I moved out, she had gotten nowhere. I found someone who was going to at least temporarily going to cover my lease (I paid until mid-June even though I wasn't even living there). Is that not a reasonable time to find someone to move in August and onward? I would feel bad getting someone else to move into the house, because she has 2 dogs and a cat and hardly cleans up after them (the ammonia smell was horrible, my allergies flared up HORRIBLY while I was there). The only people I knew in Aiken heard me complain about my sleepless nights, and they're the people she's now asking me to pass the word to. So should I not and say I did?

7/19/2009 12:39:48 AM

^Its not about the reasonable amount of time she's had to find someone to rent it out...it's the reasonable effort she's put into it. If she's put a "for rent" sign out, put a craigslist or ad in the paper, and hasn't turned down a lot of would-be renters...then she's done her part.

7/19/2009 8:15:53 AM

It's not a sublease, it's an assignment. Subleases apply when the tenant has plans to move back into the residence before the term of the lease expires. Assignments apply when the tenant assigns his interest in the property to another party with no intention to move back in before the term of the lease expires.

And you need your lease looked at by an attorney first and foremost.

7/19/2009 2:08:54 PM

So have you actually been asked to start paying rent again, or at this point is it just some girl you roomed with asking you if you know anyone looking for a place to stay?

7/19/2009 2:32:53 PM