Reader Steve’s little sister has a problem. She keeps getting attacked by her roommate. She called the police and now there are charges against the roommate. The psycho roommate’s parents say that they will only pay the “lease break” fee if she finds a way to get the charges against the roommate dropped.
Does anyone know what Steve’s little sister should do?
My little sister is at college and recently came across a strange situation. Her roommate (and once friend) has physically attacked her, unprovoked, twice. The second time, the police were called and said roommate was arrested. According to the judge, conditions of her bail require her to not verbally or physically threaten my sister. However, they’re still roommates and she has access to the apartment.
My sister, wanting none of this mess (her life in college is complicated enough, aren’t they all at that age?) requested to break her lease from the landlord. He could have cared less about the situation and wants his lease break fee. Understandable, but not very compassionate and lame. The roommate’s parents worked out an agreement with my sister to pay her lease break fee if she agreed to drop the charges. She is more than happy to do this, but unfortunately, the charges are the state vs. her roommate, so she doesn’t have a say. I have suggested explaining the compromise to the prosecutors, but want to know what choices she might have if they do not agree to drop it.
The parents will not pay her break fee unless the charges are dropped. Is there some sort of law/civil case that she can force the roommate to pay these fees regardless of the outcome of the case because her roommate has created this hostile environment? I’ve been googling roommate law and the like and have come up empty. It seems a murky area and I was hoping the Consumerist could shed some light on the situation. Otherwise I’m going to have to go to jail for kicking the girl’s butt myself (definitely kidding, although it gives me great hope karma is real).
Thanks,
-ucdcsteve
We’d call the housing department of whatever city your little sister lives in and ask them for advice on this matter. You might also want to talk to a lawyer.
Any other ideas?
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I agree with small claims court. She created the situation and you have her state vs. her case as evidence. Either way you don’t owe her parents a dime or time of day.
I would put it like that.
@ucdcsteve: I’m glad to see she is out of there. Don’t let her not cooperate with the prosecution. This roommate needs to be locked up or medicated and the only way that will happen is if she gets convicted. It may not help her, but not getting busted really won’t help.
Plus her being locked up could save somebody else’s life.
It sounds like she already has a restraining order, in so far as the Court has ordered the roomate not to continue the abuse. Alot of times, Courts are loathe to restrain someone from their own home. Even if the roommate were barred from the apartment, she would probably stop paying rent and the sister would be evicted anyway.
I would advise getting out, notifying the landlord that you moved out and paying the fee. But make sure that the landlord releases the lease as to the sister in writing. You want this release because the fee is probably alot less than several months rent, which the roommate could accrue before finally getting evicted and the sister would be responsible for it. Then pursue a small claims action, etc. Also, let the district attoreny know about the parents’ offer. It could be considered obstruction of justice.
I love these “Just pay the fee” posts.. especially since my contract require that I pay for 4 months of rent if I end my contract early. Thats about 4000 dollar “Lease Break”.
Enjoy your cavier and break your leases.
It would help help tremendously to know the state where this is happening.
Try these things:
- Find out if your sister’s school has student legal assistance.
- If it doesn’t have legal assistance, check for free or reduced cost legal assistance for low income people. College students almost always qualify for these services.
- The tenant rights in your state should be easy to find online somewhere. Review them, there might be a really easy way for you sister to get out of the lease.
- Get a restraining order and, if possible, an order of protection against the roommate. Restraining orders are usually only court enforced. Orders of protection (legal language may vary in different states) are police enforced. If the roommate shows up, your sister can call the cops on her.
- Contact the nearest domestic violence prevention organization or shelter for assistance. The laws regarding this matter should be very similar to those governing domestic violence between couples. I’m sure they could help you out a lot since they deal with this stuff everyday.
@Snowblind: You’re missing the point. You’re referencing CA law that allows you to break lease with no liability if their is dangerous or criminal activity in the development/complex. That’s great, but the criminal activity is IN Steve’s sister’s apartment. How can she claim the apartment complex is dangerous when the danger originates from her unit?
Outside of her apartment, the onus is on the landlord; inside the apartment the onus is on her.
Also, keep in mind that until a restraining order is obtained, the governing document here is the lease. The landlord has just as much responsibility to the roommate as he does to Steve’s sister. If she is still within the bounds of the lease — being charged with a crime usually never voids a lease — the landlord has no grounds to evict.
RESTRAINING ORDER.
Or go to the university and demand they speak with the housing place.
@Scuba Steve: I’m not saying pay it and say good bye to your money, I’m saying pay it so you aren’t at risk of having your throat slit at night, then sue for it. Not to mention, my life is worth $4000, I’d take out a loan or something, I would sell my car and ride the bus if I have to. If this girl attacks unprovoked, there is no telling what she will do, and I would do everything in my power to get out of that apartment. Somethings are more important than money.
That $4000 you save by not breaking the lease won’t help much if you are dead.
@Scuba Steve: Uh…the dude said it’s a “little bit of money”. Her fee isn’t as big as yours was…perhaps your complex was full of the people with caviar.
@smd31: I don’t know about his sister, but when I filled out my rental paperwork, they requested information about where I worked. I’m pretty sure this ruse would be quickly found out. Lying is never a good option…and in her case the truth is on her side anyway.
Sue the roommate in small claims for the fee. I’m sure the judge will see that charges are pending with the state against the roommate and that said judge would have no hesitation of awarding your sister damages.
Whoa people….here is what she needs to do.
Send the Landlord a notice (30 Days to the exact) that you are moving out of your apartment due to your violent roommate as such. Attach a copy of the restraining order ( if one is filed) and the police report. Make sure to send this by CERTIFICATE OF MAILING NOT CERTIFIED ( the landlord may not want to sign a for a certified mail if its comming from you but a certificate of mailing is a little slip you get from the post office proving that on _ date you mailed a document to the landlord, the best part is that its in a regular envelope that he does not need to sign off to accept).
After you have sent that, FILE THE DOCUMENTS IN COURT.
Then move out.
@tokenblackgirl:
And when she moves out and stops paying rent, the landlord can sue her and will win. Having a violent roommate, restraining order or not, does not render a private contract voidable. In essence, she brought this upon her self by living with this person. This isn’t a neighbor the landlord let in, or neighborhood thugs that the landlord is too cheap to keep out (hiring security, etc). I’m not sure why people have such a twisted conception of the law, but unfortunately, with regard to breaking the lease, it’s not on her side.
Get the restraining order. You will need it if she attacks you again … even if you intend to leave get one. Think of it as a license for self-defense.
Have the cops haul her off the property if she remains there.
If you can’t get one, then pay the fee, get out, and sue in small claims afterwards.
I’m a criminal defense attorney, so take this for what it’s worth, but what is described sounds like extortion and/or witness intimidation. She should tell the D.A. about the “offer.” Also, if she pays to break the lease now, she may be able to ask for restitution ordered by the criminal court if the crazy roommate is ever convicted. Most states will order restitution be paid to the victim of a crime and where I practice payment would be a condition of probation and not paying could mean jail time.
Small claims sounds like a good option too. Don’t not pay and just move out though. No court order will restore a person’s credit.
I had a bit of a similar situation. Good story, but too long to go into here.
What we did is that we had an awesome landlord, who helped us go through our and their contracts and found a loophole where we got her lease invalidated. SHE had to leave, not us. The only problem was that the clause we also invalidated OUR lease… but the landlord signed us to another on the spot.
A restraining order ends all of this. The roomate will have to leave, forcing HER to break the lease or keep the lease.
@friendlynerd: I agree!
TV judges aside, your best offense is small claims court. Also, most definitely get that restraining order. All a small claims judge needs to hear is “criminal charges against defendant” and “restraining order” and that lease break charge is as good as yours.
–daughter of a small claims court addict
his sister should also request restitution. it is only fair that her roommate pay the break lease fee as well as pay her penalty for the assault.
@B: Extortion? You are a fool if you think that’s extortion.
The parents arn’t threating her with physical harm. They simply don’t want to give her money unless she does something. That’s called a contract, payment for services rendered.
WTF? Isn’t that blackmail?? Fuck them! Covering for their crazy-ass offspring/spawn!
@cde: not extortion, but not playing fair either. There has to be something legally wrong with it, I don’t know what you would call it, but there is no way to a fair trial when it’s legal to pay off witnesses.
@Pylon83: I actually practice landlord and tenant law. thats why she needs to take the steps i told her. Most leases ( especially if her lease is a standard blumberg form) allow the landlord to evict the roommate if the tenants become a violet. In this case since one roommate committed the violent act against the other roommate she has her get out of jail free card.
The landlord could well within his right evict the violent roomate but chooses not to deal with it.
Which is why she needs to give him a 30 DAY NOTICE, it is very important to give notice t0 landlord. If he tries to take her to court, she has proof of giving his sufficient notice to find a replacement tenant.
60 DAY notice would be better but considering the situation, a 30 day is her best option.
The law is preety strict in NYC about the landlord giving you a 30 day notice before you can be evicted and most leases require the tenant to give a notice before they leave.
Just my two cents.
Man I hope we get an update in a couple weeks on what happens.
I live in Indiana and I had a dick landlord once. I had a neighbor who had like 7 adults living in a one bedroom apartment. One day I was sleeping in late and I heard knocks at my door. I was tired and trying to go back to sleep then I heard some loud kicks because one of the assholes was trying to kick in my door. I called 911 and opened the door but while I was coming to the door I heard the neighbors door shut. I couldn’t prove it was them because I didn’t see them.
Landlord tried to make me pay for the busted door frame. He was going to let me out of lease because I called and bugged him a lot about the noisy neighbors if I would pay for the door and he would keep the 500 dollar deposit. I told him I wasn’t going to pay for the door and I got court papers like two days later for eviction for destroying property.
So I took out my video camera and recorded the rowdy neighbors hanging sitting outside my building and sitting on my car.
Went to court, told my story and told them I recorded it. They didn’t even make me show the tape and found in my favor.
@CrapoCrap:
iawtc
@GizmoBub:
I think that this is a valid point and would equate to a similar scenario to how plea bargains work if done properly, however it is somewhat a valid concern that this is payment not to testify (a possible concern for the prosecutors and very dependent on the office and the effort the prosecutor puts into the case). However what exactly will happen if the defendant does not testify through intimidation – usually previous statements come in as the truth of the matter asserted.
@ucdcsteve:
What charges would be dropped? Perhaps I missed this, but the roommate has already been through a court of law and been sentenced? So what exactly are they asking to be dropped – the conditions of her bail that require her to not verbally or physically threaten your sister?
It seems like you need to talk to a lawyer to crystallize the issues. Most will give a free consultation.
Why not bring civil charges for the tort of assault and battery, these she could use as leverage and something that she could drop – since she cannot really force the prosecutor or judge to drop anything (criminal vs. civil distinction) except by undermining their case, which may subject her to perjury.
At least for IL there are remedies and there may be similar remedies in your state. For instance in IL – The Safe Homes Act allows anyone in a household, including children, who are the victims of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking or sexual violence (domestic or sexual violence) to end their lease early and leave their home. It does not matter if they have a written or an oral lease.
Similar laws can be found in part at [www.landlordassociation.org] or [www.ncdsv.org] and obviously you may want to tell ppl what state/city this is in, or even better post a copy of the lease and black out all identifying info. You can find resources for help through a little browsing from this page (such as [www.dca.ca.gov] ) which has a listing of legal aid clinics in Ca.
Also as a general comment, I am not sure how anyone can render GOOD advice without either knowing the disposition of the case, the state and city that the case is in, or by looking at the lease.
The best way to negotiate is to know exactly what the facts are and certainly the best way to break a lease is to do so within the implied or explicit terms of the lease, or modify that lease.
@Pylon83:
Er, not really true, though it depends. Not sure where you read up on such things, but there are cases of just that – the landlord being liable. Read (the easily accessible vs. lexis or westlaw articles)-
[www.tosublet.com]
[www.chazing.com]
“A landlord has the duty to a tenant and a guest of the tenant to warn of known dangers that the tenant or guest is not likely to discover. Known dangers may include a potential violent attack by a third party. Landlord liability is determined by whether the attack was reasonably foreseeable. Reasonable foreseeability depends on several factors, including: the occurrence of similar offenses either on or within proximity to the premises; or security problems associated with the premises. In the residential setting, liability can be based on a landlord’s failure to make reasonable provisions for locks and keys, and for the safe condition of the common areas pursuant to Section 83.51. Czerwinski v. Sunrise Point Condominium, 540 So.2d 199 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989).” [www.strosslaw.com]
Also, try the implications by such clauses as [www.mountprospect.org]
Hmm…she could sue the landlord and a win win situation where both parties would want her to get out of the lease would occur. Though again this depends on state law.
@Curiosity: Er rereading we are talking about the second charge which is pretrial?
@Curiosity: From my understanding, she was just released on bail and not sentenced. The conditions of her bail contain the non-violence clauses. The charges are still outstanding.
For all interested, this is in TN. To everyone who offered advice and/or links, it is much appreciated. It will give her some food for thought on how to proceed. I’ll offer an outcome when I know it, but I do know that the lease is broken and she is moving, so the 30-, 60-day notice to the landlord is unfortunately not a possibility. As a lot of people mentioned, safety is first and foremost, and if the money can be recouped, it will be. I can’t comment much on the roommate and her parents because I haven’t been involved in those conversations, just getting it second hand, so apologies for being vague about that.
Thanks again.
Forget it. Just tell your sister to sell off the roommate’s stuff. She’s not going to be needing any of it in jail.
Don’t drop the charges by any means. Contact a lawyer for some advice at least to find out where you stand. Also consider small claims court. There’s a lot of good advice in these comments.
@smitty1123: then why bother to comment?
@ucdcsteve:
Since it is in TN you may want to contact various Law Schools about Pro Bono (for free) clinics – sometimes they can still help depending on what they offer. [www.law.utk.edu]
Also you may want to call Pro Bono Clinics some in TN are here: [www.abanet.org]
These may help at the very least mitigate the damage.
I would NOT drop the charges over something as stupid as a lease break fee. There is no way the fee is more important than your sister’s safety. She should pay it and move out and make sure her name isn’t associated with any of the bills in the house, like internet, electricity, gas, cable, etc.