no signed agreement

A couple months ago we engaged in talks with a family we met through friends regarding their house they wanted to rent out because they were going to be relocating. Over a couple months we discussed the kind of rent they were looking to charge as well as if they were going to require a deposit or a contract that held us in for a certain amount of time. They agreed that they would not run our credit (we are three college students and only one of us has built enough credit to even show up) and that we could stay on a month to month basis. They were not going to make us sign a lease, they just wanted some emergency contact information from us. About two weeks before we were going to move in we went to their house so that our third roommate could see it before she agreed to move in. There was no formal walkthrough, they just showed us the house and asked us when we wanted to move in. At this time they dropped the bomb that they wanted an unreasonable deposit in addition to first months rent up front. As we has agreed that there would be no deposit we were very upset. In addition to this they wanted us to sign a contract. We tried to reason with them but they wouldn't budge, and as we had no where else to move we asked if we could split up the deposit and they said yes. We did not sign the contract. We lived in the house for two months always paying rent on time before they wanted the full security deposit and the signed contract. At this point we were starting to feel the economy's downward spiral and we had also realized, from talking to our neighbors that were also renting the same size house as the one we were in, that they were severely overcharging us. We tried to negotiate with them either lower our rent or the deposit, but their response is that they were being fair and they sent us listings of other houses in the area that were charging about the same rent. At this point we started looking for another place to live. When we found an apartment and signed the papers we notified our LL that we would be moved out by the end of the month (it was about 3 weeks away) and that we would leave the house in the same condition we moved into it with. At this point we still had not signed any contract or agreement. Our LL decided that they would get one of their friends to do a walkthrough with us when we moved out on a specific day and time that was good for her. We told them we would not do a walkthrough with her because a) she had never lived there and had no idea what nicks and stains had been there before vs. after we lived there and b) because we never did a walkthrough in the beginning to determine what was already damaged. We did not damage anything in the house, so we aren't really worried about that. What we are worried about is that these people are now sending us letters saying that we agreed to live there for a year and that we owe them rent for up to the length of what our verbally agreed stay would have been because they have not found tenants yet, not to mention they are holding us liable for any cleaning and damaging fees. Are we liable for any of this given that there was never even a verbal agreement to our length of stay, not to mention we never signed anything?

What state is this in? Very important as you can be liable for different amounts in different states.

1. You only gave 21 days notice to vacate. Many states require 30 days notice be given. Some states require that this notice be given at the beginning of a rental term (on or before the rent due date). Although you were free to give notice to leave since you never signed an agreement, you could be liable for up to 30 days of rent for failure to give proper notice.

2. Although you did not do a walkthrough yourself before you rented the unit, the LL may have. The LL is permitted to have an agent for them do a walkthrough, with or without you. Chances are they did one after you left and are comparing it with the one they did before they put the place up for rent. You should have taken numerous pictures when you left to protect yourself since you refused a walkthrough with the LL's agent.

3. You knew the rent amount and the deposit before you moved in. Although it was not the same as what you had discussed, you never signed anything to agree to that amount. If you had signed a lease with the original amount of rent, it would have been locked in and they couldn't have changed it. But you didn't. Without a lease, the LL can change the rent amount by just giving you proper notice. Tenants who have no credit and refuse credit checks are routinely charged higher deposits to compensate for the increased risk to the LL. What the neighbors pay in rent is irrelevent. You agreed to pay the rent level they asked for before you moved in.

4. Finally, you are not responsible for the years' rent since you never signed. You can be responsible for up to 30 days of rent depending on your state. You are responsible for any cleaning charges for items you forgot to clean as long as they were clean when you moved in. If you lived in the unit only a couple of months, there should be no wear and tear visible. Anything damaged is your responsibility.