Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Six months into a twelve month lease and my sister and I are painfully aware how big of a mistake we have made. Four of us in a house - my sister (Amanda) and I, an old friend of ours (Chris) and his best friend (Joey). After our good friend pulled out of the move right before we signed the lease, we replaced him hastily at Chris' behest with Joey. He turned out to be a creep and incredibly annoying, horrible to live with. Amanda and I have been attempting to sublease our rooms for months unsuccessfully, partially due to the other roommates sabotage (our landlord insisted they approve).

However, upon looking through our lease, I realized that Joey never signed it. The version they had was for us and our fourth friend, who backed out. But he's been living there for five months, so shouldn't she have had to draft a new lease inclusive of him? Wouldn't she need to do that now in order for him to continue to live there? Therefore does she need to write a new lease regardless, which we can choose not to sign?

I also noticed that in the subleasing portion of the lease, it specifies that the landlord must approve, but not that the roommates must. Can I use this as a way to buffer their attempts to keep me stuck there?

Thanks!


Asked on 1/09/10, 11:58 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

The change in the occupants does not require a change of the lease, though it would be good practices to do so. The landlord has the right, however, to enforce the lease as written for the term of the lease, no matter who actually lives there, including suing your fourth friend if you all were to default on the lease. So the landlord isn't obligated to do anything other than hold and enforce the lease as is.

You should also read your entire lease. With Joey not on the lease but living there for such a long time, it may be a violation of a clause limiting the time a visitor can stay with you. That is something the landlord could hold over your head.

Lastly, on the subleasing, the landlord must approve, but not roommates, true, but the landlord can withhold approval when the roommates refuse to agree. The landlord needs to be able to count on a stable household in their rental unit. Forcing roommates on other roommates is not conducive to proper care and maintenance of the unit and a steady flow of rental income.

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Answered on 1/15/10, 1:45 pm


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