Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California
Can an old roommate sue me for rent when I had no written lease & I haven't lived w/her for over 8 months?
She is now claiming that I owe her back rent for a few months because she doesn't think she deposited all of the rent checks I had originally given to her over the past couple of years. There were also times where I had given her cash for the rent in lieu of a check. Does she have any legal right to sue me in small claims court?
1 Answer from Attorneys
You don't need a legal right to sue in small claims. Whether she will win or not is another question. You need a legal right to win. If she did not actually get the rent from you because the checks were never deposited, she can probably win. You clearly had some form of roommate agreement that provided you to pay rent. So if it wasn't paid, you owe it. If you paid it, you should have bank records to prove it and she will lose. On the months where you gave her cash, it's your word against hers and the judge will have to decide who they believe.
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