Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Florida
lease questions
My friend went out with his parents in october 2007, and leased a home by themselves without asking us to sign leases. myself and roommate #2 moved in with him, and R2, was moving out in april becuase of graduation. Since we couldn't fill a room with another person, R1 asked me to pay half of the rent for the house. I said I would but he would have to reimburse me when he had the money. He became very angry and rude to me, him and his girlfriend was harassing me and I moved out. Before I decided to move out this weekend I sent him a text message saying that I would have a rent check in the mailbox for him for the month of may. His lawyer says that is a contractual obligation and I have to pay May's rent. Do I have to pay rent even though i never signed a lease and all belongings are moved out, or because of that text message do i have to pay may's rent and not the following months?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: lease questions
Lease agreements must be in writing. It is called teh statute of frauds (long storey how it got that name).
You are not responsible and the text message, as you decribe it, does not make you responsible.
You would be responsible for, perhaps, fair rental under a theory called "quantum meruit". See if they will accept a fair amount. You did live there after all and you should not get a free ride.
Re: lease questions
Not all leases need to be in writing. If the agreement was for you to rent the space for less than one year, the agreement could be enforced even if it is not evidenced by a writing.
Without a written lease, you are presumed to be a month-to-month tenant, with the agreement renewing each month you pay the rent.
It appears that you paid your share of April's rent. It also appears that when you were told that the rent would be increased for May, you declined the offer and vacated the premises before the month began. The question becomes whether the text message was an acceptance of the offer to rent you the space in May which obligated you to the payment of May's rent. My opinion is that it was not, as it was promptly recinded, and there does not appear to be an agreement as to how much rent you would be paying for May.
In any event, I do not think you are required to pay May's rent. Further, unless 1/3 of the rent is a substantial amount, it is unlikely that he will sue you over it.
If you respond to the attorney's letter with a letter stating that you considered the relationship a "tenancy at will" and that you chose to vacate upon the demand for an increase in the rental amount, I doubt the matter will go much further.
I don't normally give completely free legal advice, but other than having your own attorney draft the response letter, I don't think you actually need to retain an attorney at this point. If I am wrong, and they do file a suit, you may consider getting an attorney.
P.S. a response letter drafted by an attorney shouldn't cost more than $100-$200.
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