[envidia]

I recently moved into my boyfriends house to live with him. He currently rents next door to his parents..
Well, they wanted to lease to me, and I agreed. The rent was one weeks pay for me, and I paid it the 30th (before the month the lease was to start). I insisted on a lease, and got one, but it was not signed. The landlord did not want to sign a lease. Since then I have had to deal with the following:
1. A utility was put in my name, without my consent or knowledge. When I called the company at first, they refused to take my name off it, and then after my lawyer told me to try again (it was unlawful), finally it was taken off. I have a letter the company sent to my home, written by the woman who changed the names about the situation.
2. The landlords wife enters the house at all times day and night (and when we aren't home, she leaves the door unlocked). She roots through my belongings, and eats the food I have purchased. Her washer and disasher concurrently broke, so she comes over even more now. Between her and her son (my boyfriend), it is screaming match after screaming match. She has stolen his Birth Certificate twice from our home (even a copy I ordered because we needed it to go overseas).
3. They always turn the heat down, when they do not pay for it.
4. They are constantly bringing in potential roommates when I am not there, and showing them the room I am suppose to move into as the potential room (more recently two rooms were showed off, even though I was suppose to have 1br to myself in the 3br house).


Now, that being said. My boyfriend is on assistance. The assistance now covers the oil and the electricity (which I was paying before it kicked in). Just not the water (which I am paying 100 percent on)... and the landlord wants to up my rent 75 dollars citing that I should be paying for the wireless internet (that he gave me the password to use on my laptop,), and cable (which was there before I even moved in). In addition, he wants other potential roomates to pay their share of the utilities (which doesn't exsist).

I really don't know what my rights are at this point, or if I can do anything at all.

Someone, please help!

[this8384]

Who are you renting from exactly? You first say your boyfriend was living next door to his parents and that the landlords wanted to rent to you, then say that the landlord's wife is your boyfriend's mother... so he was renting FROM his parents? Or he & his parents have the same landlord?

Either way, a landlord needs to give a tenant prior notice before entering the property. State laws vary, but my state says I have to give 12-hour notice, with the exception of there being a danger to the tenant.

Putting the utilities into your name is not unlawful, and whoever told you that is a fool. Not everyone signs a rental agreement; is it illegal to put a month-to-month tenant's name on the utilities? No, it is not. Unless of course, you have some proof that the utilities are supposed to be paid by the landlord rather than by the tenant.

Personally, it sounds like your boyfriend has major parental issues and shouldn't be renting from or near them. If he can't stop his mother from using your belongings and eating your food, it may be time to move on to bigger and better things.

Also, how many people are you living with right now? If you're renting a 3 bedroom apartment, and said one bedroom is supposed to be yours, who else is living there?

[envidia]

My boyfriend is renting from his parents (who live next door).

My lawyer told me is was unlawful because if I had been charged, I would not be responsible. My name is not on anything in the house.


Currently it's a 3br. We are sharing one bedroom, until I can get my bed in from my parents house. That's leaves 1 extra bedroom to rent.

I hope I cleared it up...

[this8384]

You would be responsible. People the world over don't sign leases; that doesn't mean they're not liable for the electricity, water & heat that they use while occupying the premises. The flipside to that is that your landlord isn't allowed to tell you how hot or cold to keep your apartment; if the bill is in your name, it's your decision what to keep the thermostat at.

Did your boyfriend have a signed lease with his parents prior to you moving in? Again, with it being a family member makes it harder. If your boyfriend allows her to come over as his guest, she can come in anytime she wants to. Yes, it's not right(and might even be illegal) that she's going through your things, but can you prove it?

Also, you do not need to be home when she shows the apartment. She just needs to notify you that she is doing so.

What does your boyfriend have to say in regards to all of this?

[envidia]

Ok, I understand the name part. Maybe my lawyer we confused of the situation. Maybe if I explained it in depth it would make more sense. The situation with the oil was this...

My boyfriend get assistence (cant work due to cancer), so they would cover the costs to fill our heater (we were living without water or heat for a while in the winter, but that's another story). When the oil man came, they needed a signature to sign for the oil. Without the signature, I would be liable for all 600+ for the delivery and oil. This is all when I had no idea anything had been changed to my name. My boyfriend was with me, so he called his mom to sign for the oil. It literally took over 10 minutes of screaming back and forth until she finally signed, but reluctantly, and after stating that I would be liable for it, and so what?

My boyfriend does have a signed lease with his parents for 1 year. It ends in June I believe. He does not allow, nor want her to come over the house. It gets tricky though. Because he is on disability, he does not pay his rent (he gives them 180 in food stamps a month), so I am technically the only one paying rent.

I don't know if I can prove it as far as the going through my things, besides the fact that she's done it when my boyfriend was home. I can have plenty of character witnesses.

My boyfriend previous roommate was evicted, and took them to court and won, because the landlords wife cursed him off because he was playing music.. (this is the type of character I'm dealing with). He also did not have a lease.

My boyfriend wants nothing to do with her, nor do I.

[this8384]

I'd say the sooner you get out of there, the better. If your boyfriend is on disability, he could qualify for rental assistance.

Giving his parents his food stamps funds is illegal and based upon the way his mother treats people, I wouldn't put it past her to turn him in.

If she lets herself into your apartment without consent or notification, call the police. Like I said before, states vary on the amount of time a landlord needs to notify the tenants prior to entering the property; however, that gets waived if the landlord believes the tenant is in danger.

[envidia]

She busted a glass panel on out door (you know, the kind with the three windows)...

Because the door was locked and she wanted to get in...

Do you happen to know where we could get rental assistence from?

[this8384]

Usually the phone book has a section in the front for assistance by county. Also, he could qualify for Social Security disability if he's absolutely unable to work.

[Fr_Chuck]

This sounds like a "rooming" house where they rent bedrooms and the common area is used by all.
If this is the case, then it is not ** your house** it would be your bedroom but anything in the common area are public to anyone renting,
After that they may come into common areas and can show the other rooms for rent if you are merely renting one room.

[envidia]

But if I am paying rent, would the landlords wife be able to come and go into the house, no matter the common area or not, whenever she chooses?