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Renting/Sublease Legal Help
denoopz
Registered User new member
Registered User new member
I lurk here all the time and now I need some actual help.
I moved to Orlando, FL for contract work and decided to rent out an apartment I found on Craigslist. It is a 4 bedroom 2 bath APT and I was told I'd be paying 1/4 of the rent which was $400. This agreement was all done orally. So for the first two months I paid the $400 plus $15 for cable/internet which is 1/4 of the cable internet bill.
This is where the problems started
I first started to get the idea I was lied to and that the rent wasn't 1600 for the entire apartment. I had though maybe it was like $325 for every room or something and the rest was for utilities and what not. I was told $400 a month covered utilities also, but even then that's too high. The reason I began to think the pricing was wrong was because to pay the rent I write checks to the girl who's name is on the lease. I wrote her a check for the second month and she called me at my job telling me "the check didn't go through". Now, the check didn't bounce or anything it just "didn't go through" and she returned the check to me. Then she told me I needed to get a money order, but not have the money order in her name. This confused me and I thought it made no sense because doesn't a money order have to be in someone's name? So instead I got cash and was going to get a money order but the places were closed. So I handed her the money and got her to sign a paper saying I paid and I told her I would need the receipt of the money order she would make to pay the full rent. I asked for the receipt the next day and she told me she had one, but it was for $500. Now why $500? Is the rent to this place actually $500?
So, why is it for $500? She said that's the max Wal-Mart does on money orders. That's not true. The max is $1000. Why would someone lie about this? Her boyfriend also lied about this several times that they only do $500 and it's not true. Then I said, okay give me the receipt so I can copy it. She said, "oh, I have to find it." I never got that receipt ever because I'm sure it never actually existed.
So I did some research and add things up and find out, rent at this apartment is actually only 735 a month. 1/4 of 735 is definitely not 400 and a $500 money order wouldn't cover $735 rent bill. Very odd. So I asked, "how did you pay the rent with a $500 money order? Did you get two?" Then she yells at me that she doesn't remember and gets highly defensive. I found that odd because it was a simple question and she goes to yelling. I said how much is the actual rent here? She went round about and finally said $800, BUT her boyfriend told me earlier it was $777. Apartment office says it's $735 so it could have went down from the time they leased it to now. So everyone keeps saying different things which makes me go, "this is fishy and doesn't add up".
Now, I have refused to pay the rent until I get some answers because 1/4 for 800, 777, or 735 is not $400. So I'm not footing a bill that is half of the entire rent or paying you something and you pocket the rest. My other roommate also was surprised when I brought this up, but then she paid the rent in fear because "she didn't want to start anything".
Either way, I should have done my research and this is partially my fault and I fucked up but I was in such a rush to find somewhere. Not an excuse, I fucked up. I'm going to be moving out now because this is dumb and there's more lies but it's just too much to type. I'm trying to make sure my bases are covered because this situation is weird for a number of reasons:
1. No written document, only oral and she claims she never said it was 1/4th just $400 but I asked several times outright "so, you need 1/4th of my rent right?" Also why would I agree to something that wasn't divided equally at an apartment complex? I could understand if it was an owned condo or home, but not an apartment complex.
2. It's a sublease, but not really a sublease because I'm not sole owner of the APT. If it were a true sublease then I would be the "renting owner" and could just kick them out.
3. Which goes into I don't think you can "sublease" and apartment and still live in it.
4. I agreed to pay 1/4th of which I though was $400, not just straight up $400 no matter the fraction
5. Since they aren't landlords, they technically can't kick me out, but since I'm not on the lease I'm not sure I abide by tennant laws even though I pay cost to live there. So I don't even know how an eviction would even happen
Situation is whacked. Any advice would be appreciated.
I moved to Orlando, FL for contract work and decided to rent out an apartment I found on Craigslist. It is a 4 bedroom 2 bath APT and I was told I'd be paying 1/4 of the rent which was $400. This agreement was all done orally. So for the first two months I paid the $400 plus $15 for cable/internet which is 1/4 of the cable internet bill.
This is where the problems started
I first started to get the idea I was lied to and that the rent wasn't 1600 for the entire apartment. I had though maybe it was like $325 for every room or something and the rest was for utilities and what not. I was told $400 a month covered utilities also, but even then that's too high. The reason I began to think the pricing was wrong was because to pay the rent I write checks to the girl who's name is on the lease. I wrote her a check for the second month and she called me at my job telling me "the check didn't go through". Now, the check didn't bounce or anything it just "didn't go through" and she returned the check to me. Then she told me I needed to get a money order, but not have the money order in her name. This confused me and I thought it made no sense because doesn't a money order have to be in someone's name? So instead I got cash and was going to get a money order but the places were closed. So I handed her the money and got her to sign a paper saying I paid and I told her I would need the receipt of the money order she would make to pay the full rent. I asked for the receipt the next day and she told me she had one, but it was for $500. Now why $500? Is the rent to this place actually $500?
So, why is it for $500? She said that's the max Wal-Mart does on money orders. That's not true. The max is $1000. Why would someone lie about this? Her boyfriend also lied about this several times that they only do $500 and it's not true. Then I said, okay give me the receipt so I can copy it. She said, "oh, I have to find it." I never got that receipt ever because I'm sure it never actually existed.
So I did some research and add things up and find out, rent at this apartment is actually only 735 a month. 1/4 of 735 is definitely not 400 and a $500 money order wouldn't cover $735 rent bill. Very odd. So I asked, "how did you pay the rent with a $500 money order? Did you get two?" Then she yells at me that she doesn't remember and gets highly defensive. I found that odd because it was a simple question and she goes to yelling. I said how much is the actual rent here? She went round about and finally said $800, BUT her boyfriend told me earlier it was $777. Apartment office says it's $735 so it could have went down from the time they leased it to now. So everyone keeps saying different things which makes me go, "this is fishy and doesn't add up".
Now, I have refused to pay the rent until I get some answers because 1/4 for 800, 777, or 735 is not $400. So I'm not footing a bill that is half of the entire rent or paying you something and you pocket the rest. My other roommate also was surprised when I brought this up, but then she paid the rent in fear because "she didn't want to start anything".
Either way, I should have done my research and this is partially my fault and I fucked up but I was in such a rush to find somewhere. Not an excuse, I fucked up. I'm going to be moving out now because this is dumb and there's more lies but it's just too much to type. I'm trying to make sure my bases are covered because this situation is weird for a number of reasons:
1. No written document, only oral and she claims she never said it was 1/4th just $400 but I asked several times outright "so, you need 1/4th of my rent right?" Also why would I agree to something that wasn't divided equally at an apartment complex? I could understand if it was an owned condo or home, but not an apartment complex.
2. It's a sublease, but not really a sublease because I'm not sole owner of the APT. If it were a true sublease then I would be the "renting owner" and could just kick them out.
3. Which goes into I don't think you can "sublease" and apartment and still live in it.
4. I agreed to pay 1/4th of which I though was $400, not just straight up $400 no matter the fraction
5. Since they aren't landlords, they technically can't kick me out, but since I'm not on the lease I'm not sure I abide by tennant laws even though I pay cost to live there. So I don't even know how an eviction would even happen
Situation is whacked. Any advice would be appreciated.
denoopz on
0
Posts
You shouldn't be taking legal advice on this specific situation from anyone who's not a member of the Florida bar, so if you want credible advice you should talk to a lawyer.
Move and don't look back.
No, he agreed to pay 1/4th the rent - which he is finding out is not $400. There's a huge difference there. I'm fairly certain that the person taking his money is doing something illegal. You can't just rent an apartment then turn around and sub-lease it for more - effectively circumventing the true owner.
That being said, always get this stuff in writing.
Like Deebaser said, you agreed to pay $400 a month and that's all you should be concerned with. If they can't keep track of what has been paid, you keep a paper trail of EVERYTHING. If it gets worse, it's time to move.
It's certainly not legal in Canada at least. It may be easy enough for people to get away with but it isn't legal. In order to act as a landlord you need specific types of insurance and need to pay certain taxes. If you aren't, what you're doing is illegal.
Also subleasing is legal in the US but each state has it's own little rules about it.
I got some legal advice and according to the lawyer he said what they did isn't illegal just unethical. He said since I agreed to pa $400 which I was told was 1/4 doesn't matter if it's actually 1/4 of anything or not because the number was $400. So in theory you could tell someone they'd be paying 1/10 of something and then say that 1/10 is any number you please even if it's true or not. Why is that legally allowed? I dunno.
Now if I went to the leasing office and found out they never had proper permission to sublease, I could get them in trouble, but I doubt that would get me any money back so eh.
Live and learn right?