My Niece and her "friend" signed a lease to rent this home together, my niece can not move in due to her roommate has invited her boyfriend and another man to live with them. Both men are not on the lease, nor do they have a job and are refusing to leave. My Niece moved all her belongings in and the first night there her "friends" boyfriend slammed her against the wall and refuses to leave.

I feel we should go calmly discuss the situation to the landlord and request the her name be removed and our main question is, is the landlord obligated to refund the 650.00 my niece paid for rent and part of the deposit.

I'm not sure of the lease agreement, whether it is a "non-refundable" deposit or what the contract states as my niece is only 19 and not very mature when it came to entering into this house sharing contract with her now "ex friend" and what law is here in Oregon in such a situation.

I feel that if we approach the landlord in a respectful manner and inform her of the violations to the lease with these 2 extra roomies that are not on the lease the very day they moved in and how she had to move out one day later, I believe (at least I hope the landlord will do the right thing or at least be bound by the laws in Oregon to take some action...

What is her legal right in a situation such as this?

Thanks for your input we need to resolve this 2-morrow... :confused::confused:

Hello skitty:

Immature or not, she's an adult and will be held to account like any other adult.

I think a frank discussion with the landlord is in order, but I don't think he's going to comply with your wishes.

Right now he has TWO people he can go after if he's owed money. Why would he reduce it by half?

In terms of her deposit and her rent, she's not going to get her rent back because the landlord didn't do anything wrong, and she MIGHT get her deposit back at the end of the lease IF the apartment is left in the condition it was in when they moved in.

But, you KNOW that's not going to happen.

Hopefully, the "friend" will pay your niece's part of the rent from now on... But, you KNOW that ain't going to happen either.

In your meeting with the landlord, ask him to evict her. Maybe moving people in is a breach of the lease.

excon

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Originally Posted by skitycat

i believe (at least i hope the landlord will do the right thing or at least be bound by the laws in oregon to take some action.....

What is her legal right in a situation such as this?

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You aren't hoping the landlord will do the "right" thing, but the FAIR thing. At least fair from your prospective.

As far as what your niece's legal rights are, read the lease, it spells them out.

Without reading the lease, your niece is probably stuck. She signed a lease and committed to occupy and pay rent for the unit for the term of the lease. Since both she and the roommate signed the lease jointly, they are each responsible for the rent. Depending on how the lease was worded, each could be responsible for all or only half the rent.

Your niece can't just move out, she committed to the lease. The landlord has no obligation to return the rent, and only an obligation to return the security at the end of the lease term.

The really fair thing to do, would be for the roommate, who created this situation, to ask the landlord if he will change the lease, replacing your niece with her boyfriend and/or the other person. Then have the boyfriend reimburse your niece for what she laid out.

When the boyfriend attacked your niece she should have called the police. She might have a case against the roommate for violating their understanding of just the two of them sharing the unit, but that would mean going to court.

I think the best your niece can hope for is that the roomie continues to pay the full rent and then maybe she gets her deposit back at the end of the lease. She can hope that the landlord is a very nice person and just lets her out, but I don't hold much hope for that.