Advice

[kgdlg]

Seaopgal I think the issue is that she has no evidence of a new lease being issued. This may totally be the bad of the property manager but if she sent a letter being asked to be removed from the lease, she also should have gotten evidence that this actually happened (had prop man or roommates send her a new copy just to make sure). She also should have received her portion of the deposit back at this time. Because none of these things happened, she remained on lease. Hopefully she can plead her case to judge and roommates don’t throw her under the bus! I have a lot of sympathy for OP here because having this on your record will not be easy. However this is also a cautionary tale to always always close the loop with your landlord.

Share This

[seaopgal]

Thanks, kgdlg … maybe I am misreading it, but it sounds to me that her lease expired at the end of September, after she moved out, and that there is no subsequent lease (or lease extension) with the continuing tenants. She is done as of the end of the lease. The continuing tenants are on a month-to-month tenancy.

There is nothing wrong or unusual about the fact that a new lease was not issued. The landlord cannot continue to apply the terms of the old lease after it expired to her or to the continuing tenants. However, she may still be liable for damages or any back rent owing prior to October 1 end of lease.

(When I mentioned taking a copy of her “new lease,” I meant her current lease or other proof of rental for wherever she moved to. This will help show that she does NOT live at the place from which she is being evicted, that she did not stay on after the lease expired and that she did not enter into the month-to-month tenancy.)

Share This

[waterworld]

Westcoastdeb: Please don’t give up on the notion of getting legal advice or assistance from a lawyer — there are several options for pro bono representation or free legal advice. I know lots of people navigate these issues on their own successfully, but it doesn’t always work out that way. I am a lawyer and I have seen what a difference good legal advice, or just walking in to court with a lawyer, can make. Given that your name remains on the lease, it makes sense that the property manager has included you as a party to the lawsuit. It may be quite easy, however, to get the case dismissed (as to you, I mean), so you can move on with your life while the holdover tenants deal with the eviction. It’s also possible that the landlord or property manager was not entitled to keep your security deposit, in which case you could get that money back.

There are lots of ways to get connected with a pro bono lawyer, or to at least get good legal advice. You may be eligible for pro bono assistance through the King County Bar Association Neighborhood Justice Project, which has lawyers available daily at the King County Courthouse. You can get more information here:

http://www.kcba.org/pbs/HJP.aspx

The King County Bar Association also runs Neighborhood Legal Clinics, where people can meet with lawyers and get advice. There’s a clinic Tuesday evenings (other than the third Tuesday of the month) in West Seattle. More information on the legal clinics is here:

http://www.kcba.org/pbs/nlc.aspx

You can also get free legal advice and assistance through the Northwest Justice Project or Columbia Legal Services. Either of those organizations can be reached through the Northwest Justice Project website, at

http://nwjustice.org/

Another resource is washingtonlawhelp.org, which provides a directory of resources based on your legal issue. The housing issues page is at:

http://www.washingtonlawhelp.org/issues/housing

Finally, Seattle University Law School runs the Access to Justice Institute, which has compiled a 16-page guide to legal clinics and hotlines. It’s available in pdf format on this page (the url is long, so I made it tiny):

http://tinyurl.com/kclegalclinics

Good luck!

Share This

[Author]

Posts