Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Maine

My roommate forged my signature on an eight month lease. Going in, I assumed we had an open oral arrangement and I could leave whenever, as I made all my checks out to him and never had to talk to the landlord. I gave the roomate a share of the rent for September through november, but after that personal difference ensued and I looked to move out. I moved out before the month of december. I was stunned when my landlord soon e-mailed to inform that he had my name on a signed lease and threatened legal action if I didn't pay may share of the rent and the gas bill for that month. He also agreed to let me out of the lease at the end of December. Do I have any legal recurse for my ex-roomate forging my signature and costing me several hundred dollars?


Asked on 12/29/09, 6:28 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jerome Gamache Ainsworth Thelin & Raftice, P.A.

Forgery is theft of someone's name. A thief cannot give good title to a stolen item if he sells it, and a forger cannot bind you to a contract. Therefore, if you did pay the landlord, you would in theory have that damage to recover from the forger. I would expect that the defense to such a matter by the forger would be that the oral agreement you had with him was what required you to pay for the portion of December, not the forged lease. There is also a cost to going to small claims Court in terms of time, even if you win- it would likely consume most of a morning for you, and you would need to file a second action to collect the judgment if it is not voluntarily paid. Therefore many people do not pursue damages less than $500 due to the time/effort.

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Answered on 1/04/10, 5:41 am


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