My 19 yr old daughter lived in one bedroom of a 5 bedroom house in New Jersey from Sept 2008 to Feb 2009 while at college. My husband and her housemate's father verbally agreed on a monthly rent of $575 for this room. NO lease was signed because he forgot to give us one. The 4 other housemates in the house did sign a written lease with the father. My daughter vacated, left college, and moved home due to sudden severe medical issues. (we have doctors letters and school letters as proof)

From the Real Estate forum, I learned that we may owe 1 month rent because of the no lease.

Small Claims Question:
The father is suing us for $2000 in small claims court for "failure to comply with terms of contract regarding payment of rent" even though we did not sign a contract. BUT... he is not the owner of the house. On record, the owner is his cousin. The father has not provided us any documentation that he is the agent for the cousin, who lives in California.
The father intended to fix up the house and buy it from the cousin. But the house needed too many repairs so he never purchased it. Our checks were made payable to the father. Now the cousin has put the house on the market.

Will this be thrown out because the father is not the legal owner? Should we mention this to the judge? Can the father legally sue us?

The father will have to show some kind of written proof to the judge that he has the authority to act on the cousin's behalf. That is usually in the form of a power of attorney but it can be something as minor as a letter. You should definitely mention it to the judge. If he can't show the judge some kind of proof then you should request that the case be dismissed with prejudice. That means that he can't file the case again.

Was all rent paid through September? Do you know if he had another housemate move in after your daughter left and when that was?

Lets assume that he will be able to provide proof that he's acting for his cousin. So you need to prepare the rest of your case.

Many thanks, Lisa, for everything. I think I can sleep now!

My pleasure. Good luck!

Sorry but it took me this long to post because first I had to stop feeling ill about the outcome.
We confidently decided not to mediate and asked the Small Claims Judge to try it on the spot.
The father did show some kind of written proof to the judge that he has the authority to act on the cousin's behalf as LL. Then the judge asked us if we had paid any rent to the father during the time our daughter lived there, and also asked if we paid utilities during that time. (we did) He ruled that there was an implied agreement even though there was no actual signed lease. He then awarded the landlord even more than he asked for! Over $3000! We lost big time. The judge said we left the landlord "high and dry" since the LL said he did try to rent the room and could not. He also said that there is no provision for breaking a verbal lease due to a daughter's illness.
Then, at the end, after his decision, the judge asked my husband and the LL if "you guys are still speaking?" and luckily my husband sucked it up and said yes with a nice smile. So the LL agreed, outside in the hall, to just take the $2000 if we could pay him that day. We did and now it is all over. But I really did think it was going to work in our favor after reading the posts here. Oh well, live and learn:(

But I really did think it was going to work in our favor after reading the posts here. Oh well, live and learn:(

First, thanks for coming back and letting us know the result. Second, I'm sorry you lost, but glad you were able to negotiate a settlement.

However, I'm not sure where you thought it was going to work in your favor. As long as the LL showed proof that he was acting legally for the cousin, you stood little chance of winning. The fact that you made payments is sufficient proof that a lease existed. So I'm not surprised that you lost.

As long as the LL can prove he tried to rent the room but couldn't find a tenant (not that surprising if this was student housing) then you are responsible for the rental to the term of the lease. Its also not surprising that the judge felt it reasonable that a student would rent from Sept to June.

Most impressed that OP came back and posted the results - gratifying and a learning experience.

To OP - thanks!