Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Rhode Island

rental company seeking damages

We had to break our lease in RI in Dec 2005 to move down to South Carolina to care for my in laws who were on the verge (unexpectedly) of becoming institutionlized as it was deemed unsafe for them to continue to live alone. The management company gave no inclination of this being a problem and asked us to vacate by a set date which we did (my wife had gone down alone and I stayed behind to complete the move) and we felt everything was in order.

Then we recently received a letter demanding $3,600.00 for early lease termination and damages to the apartment ! ? We are presently living at with my father in law and my wife is working as I remain home as his full time care giver. We have NO savings, no retirement plan, and one substantially lower income coming in due to the low income scale of this area. We are both in our 50's and are responsible adults who left that apartment in very good shape. What do we do next ? They mentioned a settlement at a lower cost but we have NO extra funds to deal with this, please help.


Asked on 2/09/07, 2:10 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Johnston Law Offices of Robert J. Johnston

Re: rental company seeking damages

I am afraid that you have a RI legal problem not a SC one. Therefore, you will have to resubmit your question under that state. Lawyers are licensed in particular states as all states vary with regards to their laws. I am not familiar with RI and am not qualified to render legal advise for that state. There also might be some sort of free legal service in RI for low income people. You should call or contact RI Bar Association for that information. You can also contact an attorney that practices Landlord/Tenant Law that would be nice enough to give you a free consultation. Lastly, and do not count on this, although I don't personally practice Landlord/Tenant Law, I have heard from other attorneys that seldom will a former landlord actually sue someone for that amount of money. Do not rely on that being the case, its just something you might want to ask the RI lawyer. Sorry to hear about your troubles and good luck.

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Answered on 2/09/07, 2:39 pm


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