Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

I live in CA and signed a lease to rent a house with two other girls. Within 72 hours of signing, it became apparent that one of the other girls had sever depression issues that had not been disclosed to me, so I opted to contact the landlord, pull out of the lease, and stop payment on my security deposit check. We signed on October 1, 2010.

The other two girls decided to move into the house regardless, and have been paying the extra rent, split between the two of them.

Now, almost 6 months later, I have received an email saying that they are pursuing legal action to regain the rent they have been paying.

Is there a statute of limitations on when rent can be collected? Also, I am under no contractual obligation to either of them; the landlord has not contacted me at all. Am I under any obligation to pay them money?


Asked on 2/20/11, 1:29 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
George Shers Law Offices of Georges H. Shers

The answer depends upon the terms of your lease. If you signed an agreement with the landlord as to your renting the premises but had no agreement with the other two, then your legal obligation is only to the landlord and only he/she can sue you. The one exception might be if they can argue that they would not have signed their lease with the landlord if you had not also done so [detrimental reliance]. If you signed a lease with the two other women so that all three of you were renting as though one person, so for example there was just one lease agreement and all three of you signed it, then each of you has an obligation to the other to pay her share of the rent. The statute of limiations is 2 years for an oral agreement, 4 for a written contract.

I assume that they are seeking at least $2,400. It would be worthwhile for yo to spend a few hundred dollars to consult with an attorney to have a letter sent to them as to why you do not owe the money [e.g., you have been payig rent elsewhere that you would not have paid had you known you had to live at the orginal location, unfair for them to wait so long so estopped, etc.]

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Answered on 2/20/11, 8:53 am


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