Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Minnesota
breach of contract in a rental
I was asked by a girl to move in with her, I offered to pay 1/2 or at least a third of the costs. This was not in writing. As it turned out, I ended up paying for everything including her security deposit. I put in a claim in small claims court to get my money, before going to court, she called and wanted to settle, I agreed to a lessor amount of money a month from her. I did get this agreement in writing, she signed with no problems. I have sent her on occassion reminders to pay. No word has been heard. Three days ago I sent her a letter giving her four days to send me the first payment of $20. She called today saying that since there was no witnesses that we have no contract, and she doesn't owe me anything. Is this true? and do I have a case in small claim court? the amount in question is $608.89
2 Answers from Attorneys
Enforcement of an Agreement
In my opinion you have an enforceable agreement. The fact there are no witness is not an issue as long as she signed the written document. Hopefully the agreement is clear or you could have some difficulty.
I am not an attorney in your jurisdiction and I suggest you seek the advice of local legal counsel.
Wills need witnesses; contracts don't.
Some contracts aren't even in writing and yet are enforceable (in court).
Her suggestion that the contract is invalid because there were no witnesses is silly. Yes, you could, yes, bring her to court.There is another problem, though, which is this: in orderfor a contract to be valid, there must usually be 'consideration' --she must have received something of value in exchange for what she gave (her signature / promise). Did she?
I just watched a case in small claims that was almost the same as yours. Two young, sexy, 'kids' had a lot of feelings for each other; I wanted to tell them to kiss and make up. I did talk to the woman after the trial and asked her if there weren'tsomething else going on besides the money ... she wasof course disappointed that he'd moved out or that ithadn't worked out and admitted it, and perhaps alsorealized a) that the court's disposition (decision)regarding the money wouldn't be assigning blame for thedownfall of the affair, and after a few minutes, thatb) wasn't in the long run all that important to her.(I pointed out she was so beautiful that she'd find someone else as soon as she was ready).
I don't know how much money you have or how much you make, but the $600 probably isn't the point. In your case, whichis a bit different than the other couples, I'd say you havea strong case, but I think you should consider letting it gofor your own psyche as well as for the ex-girlfriend's emotionalwell-being.
I'm 43 years old and I'm surprised to find myself giving this sort of advice, but here it is!
Fyi, their case was different because there'd been a lease withboth signatures andthe woman chose to stay in the apartment alone, pay the rent, and then sued boyfriend for his share of the rent. Meanwhile, he'dbeen asking/telling her that she should move out to a cheaper place; the amount of the rent for that place was really most appropriate for two people. I'd almost side with boyfriend on that one, but I'm not sure.