We were three friends who stayed in a house that one of us whose 17 is the legal owner now. His grandfather passed and left him the property. We moved in a month ago and I was the oldest at 21 so I had to get the lights in my name. Now that he's about to turn 18 next week, he says we got to get out. I believe we were used just for beneficial purposes. He typed up a lease with both of our signatures, should'nt that give me some kind of legal grounds? He says it doesn't because he tried to be tricky about a seal or something but doesn't the signatures alone mean something? Also, he complains that I'm a smoker and so is my girlfriend, but when we moved in he said it was OK as long as we smoked in our room. We all do illegal things. We smoke pot and he's a underage drinker, can he hold our wrong doings over our head and kick us out? Remember though, the smoke isn't the problem. He basically just used us until his birthday.

If you have a lease then he can't kick you out until the end of the lease term except if you fail to pay rent or violate the terms of the lease in some way. I don't know of any state that requires a lease to have a seal. The only things a lease requires to be valid are the names of the landlord and tenant, a description of the property, a rental amount and signatures.

As Lisa said a lease is a binding contract. You need to read the lease carefully and understand its terms. If the lease has an expiration date, then he can't terminate the lease until that date. If the lease is month to month, then he has to give you legal notice to vacate. That notice will depend on your area.

Most leases DO have a clause against using the premises for illegal activities. So he could get you there regardless of whether he breaks the law also. As for the smoking issue, unless the lease states that you can or can't smoke, he can't use that against you.

By the way, Eviction is a legal process. He can't evict you, only a court can. So he has to give you notice to vacate first. And that notice needs to give you a deadline that complies with the lease or the law. Only if you refuse to vacate by the deadline does he go to court for an eviction order.

Bottom line though, is do you want to live somewhere you aren't wanted? If he is letting you out of the lease, then I would look for new digs. Just tell him you need a reasonable amount of time to find a new place.

The lease that was made was only to get my foodstamps and register my daughter in school. You know, for residency verification purposes and he's not listed as staying there. Only my kids, my girlfriend, and I. he stated in the lease that I pay 400 dollars a month which was a lie. No-one pays rent, only utilities which are in my name. So technically I'm not behind on rent that really was never the case. He just used me for the lights to get turned on. Now I have no-where else to go right now and he knows that.

Please do not start a new thread for a follow-up question. Use the Answer This Question options. I've merged the threads for you (and moved them to the appropriate forum).

But that doesn't tell us what the lease says about term! That's the main relevant factor here. However, if the lease says that you are required to pay $400/mth rent and you can't prove that you have paid that, then you CAN be evicted for non-payment. You would have to prove that he waived or never tried collecting the rent.

And again, he can't just throw you out. He has to follow the legal process for your area.

If the lease didn't specify a term or ending date, and if the lease provided for a monthly rent, then it is assumed to be a month-to-month lease and he has to give you a minimum of 30 days notice before he can begin eviction proceedings.

... one of us whose 17 is the legal owner now. His grandfather passed and left him the property.
Was the grandfather's estate probated? Or do you just have his word that he inherited the house?

... now that he's about to turn 18 next week, he says.. . He typed up a lease with both of our signatures,.

If your "landlord" was 17 when the lease was signed, it's of doubtful validity. At 17, he probably didn't have the legal capacity to enter into a contract (even if he in fact inherited it).

Oh, and by the way, "probable cause" is a term used in criminal law. It has no application in a matter such as this. A landlord may, especially without a valid lease, evict for any reason. "Cause" is not an issue.

Good point about the landlord not being able to legally sign a lease. But that just puts the OP in a worse situation. Without a valid lease, he will be considered a periodic tenant and can be give 30 days notice to vacate.

And of course if he did a lease showing 400 dollars a month rent to be paid, the landlord could sue them in court for 400 dollars a month for every month they did not pay.

And what defense in court? We just did that to commit food stamp fraud ? You could not testify in court that it was merely a federal fraud ( crime)
So you could be forced really to pay the 400 a month even after he evicts you, for all the past months you lived there and did not pay rent