Tenant Vs. Shortsell/Owners

[FlowerGirlShari]

My boyfriend and I moved into a home that we are currently renting two years now. We just signed a new lease in June of 08 to put us in our second year living there. We were notified in October of 08 that the owners/LL were unable to afford the property anymore and where going to attempt to short sell the property. They also informed us that because they are not paying their mortgage that it would not be morally right to charge us rent so said they were going to allow is to live there rent free until the property sold. They gave us an amendment to sign stating the following things and they signed as well:

1) They will not being charging us rent during the time that we are staying there while they are trying to short sell the property.

2) We as tenants just need to cooperate in the showing of the property and keep it looking good and clean during the showings.

3) We forfeit our security deposit this point forward.

4) We are required to give a 7 day notice if we plan to vacate the property.

5) They have to give us a 45 day notice of them starting to charge rent again if they choose to keep the house.

We have been more then reasonable of showing the house, in fact I was playing agent for them and they listed my phone number so all the agents called me and I set-up the appointments of people coming by and showed the property for them. They did an open house last Saturday and were suppose to do one on Sunday but they canceled it but never called us to tell us that they did that and so we were out and about for 4 hours when we could have been home getting ready for our work week. They wanted to do another open house both Friday and Saturday of this week and my BF called to confirm these. When he called him, he and the LL got into a heated discussion and the LL said that he was going to start the eviction process or they were going to put a pay or quit on our door. I am 6 months pregnant and this has been causing me much un-needed stress so my BF has decided to take over dealing with the LL because all they do is push me around. They said there would be no lock box on the house because we have a dog but then when we returned home on Saturday after the first open house there was a lock box. These people have sent us on a rollercoaster ride and I just need to know what we have rights to or not. Now that I have given you a little history here are my questions:

1) Can they evict us for any reason or even give us a 3 day pay or quit, even after what their signed amendment said (see above)?

2) What are our rights in this situation?

3) Are we required to give a 30 day notice of us deciding to move out if their amendment states we only need to give them 7?

Please help as I have mentioned, I am 6 months pregnant and I am tired of them threatening us. I don’t need any of this in my life.

PLEASE HELP!!

1. If your signed agreement of which you have a copy said they must give you 45 days notice to begin charging rent again, they have to give you notice. However, I don't know if the 45 days will hold up if your state law says a differnet time period. You generally can't require a different amount of notice than what your state law requires to change rent terms, but you should receive some prior notice before requiring rent again. What state are you in? Only if you did not begin paying rent after the notice period could they serve a pay or quit. They also cannot make you forfeit the deposit. But if you didn't pay rent after receiving the notice (during the required notice period to change terms such as these), it can be applied to that period.

2. You have any rights granted to you under your lease and the addendum you signed, providing those clauses aren;t contrary to the rights granted you under state law.

3. Again, you generally can't give away rights by signing an addendum. Depedning on where you lkive and how LL-freindly the state is, you may still have to give the required amount of notice for your state. I would give the state required amount of notice prior to moving, but plan on a penalty. That amendment says you will give notice prior to moving, but does not say anything about releasing you from your responsibilities under the lease you just signed. You need a signed release form that says you will not be held to any obligations under that lease. The amendment doesn't say that.

I suggest talking to the LL (or having your BF do so) calmly and ask to be released from the lease. Get it in writing.

Good advice and great advice on the lease thing. I will mention this to the BF and see about doing that. By the way... we are in California.

Thanks for your responce.

Very helpful, thanks to the poster!



Texas Bob

CA law requires 30 days notice to change your rental terms (like requiring rent again) and 30 days notice if you wish to terminate.

By giving you an amendment that allows you to give notice to vacate during your lease term, they may have just converted your lease into a month to month agreement. It would be up to a judeg to decide if that amendment effectively ends your lease since it allows you to terminate.