[simmoja3]

Hello all,

Appreciate any feedback you experts may have on my situation:

1. Informal (i.e. Verbal) rental agreement for a room in a condo (in CA / Orange County).
2. Never explicitly stated any terms other than monthly rent.
3. "Landlord" was subletting the room to me, though his own lease with the actual owner prohibited subletting.
4. First rent payment was provided on the 3rd of the month (Jan 3rd).
5. "Landlord" was extremely lax about collecting (and sometimes cashing) rent checks. There was no formally defined payment instructions.
6. "Landlord" and I eventually had a falling out. He invited his girlfriend - heavy drinker, pot smoker - and her pitbull to move in without any discussion/agreement from me.

Given those facts, two potential issues that I'm trying to figure out:

A) One month (April), the guy I was renting from lost my rent check and never cashed it. I have no way of proving that I gave it to him. Next month's rent was paid on the 1st of the month (May); on/around the 15th of May we were talking about rent and he didn't remember what he'd done with the check, and upon checking my bank account learned that it had never been cashed. So, I wrote him a new check for April, which was cashed May 15.

QUESTION - Have to write a letter of explanation for my mortgage lender regarding this "30 day late" rental payment. But...
A - since there was no formal/written rental agreement (and the fact that he was subletting against the terms of his own lease), can this really be considered a late payment at all?
B - given that I wrote him a check for April first (but absolutely no way to prove it), is there an argument that this is not late at all, simply that landlord lost the check (again, we now have a terrible relationship, so hard to just go ask the guy)
C - given that the first rental check was provided on the 3rd of the month, and there was no explicit agreement on what day rent was due, do I have any basis for saying that rent was due on the 3rd by implication, so the check written on May 1st could be considered the April payment 28 days late (lender just needs no 30-day lates), and the next check written on May 15th was the May payment 12 days late?

B) After the girlfriend moved in, I told my (ex)roommate that I was looking for a place and planning on moving out soon. He responded, "ok, just let me know". A few days later I came home from work to find the place reeking of weed, her hanging out with a weed pipe in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other, playing with her new pitbull. I moved out two days later.

QUESTION - Is there any possible claim here that I didn't provide sufficient notice for moving out, given:
A - There was absolutely no agreement on advance notice made
B - He allowed another roommate to move in (this one not paying any rent)
C - He had no legal right to be "renting" any part of the place to me
D - My smoking a controlled substance in the house, he created an environment I was extremely uncomfortable in. My work requires random drug tests as a matter of course, and in general I hate the stuff.
E - My allowing a pitbull into the home, I felt he created an unsafe situation for my own dog, as well as significant possibility of damaging my personal property (all furniture in the condo was mine).

Sorry, I know this has become quite long, but as I said I've been told I must explain this "30 day late" rental payment as a condition for finalizing my loan documents, so any help would be hugely apprecaited!

[AK lawyer]

... QUESTION - Have to write a letter of explanation for my mortgage lender regarding this "30 day late" rental payment. But......can this really be considered a late payment at all?
...

Yes, simply explain that he lost it an that you gave him another one- within 30 days of when you assume it was due.

... QUESTION - Is there any possible claim here that I didn't provide sufficient notice for moving out, ...

Again, yes. If your lender asks about this, describe the circumstances.

... Sorry, I know this has become quite long, but as I said I've been told I must explain this "30 day late" rental payment as a condition for finalizing my loan documents, so any help would be hugely apprecaited!

It's not so much a problem of length, but of organization. :)

[ScottGem]

Have to write a letter of explanation for my mortgage lender regarding this "30 day late" rental payment.. . I've been told I must explain this "30 day late" rental payment as a condition for finalizing my loan documents,

What 30 day late payment. How did your mortgage lender find out about it? I sincerely doubt that your landlord filed a notice with a credit bureau about it. So this concerns me. It may not be this rental that they are asking about.

Second, a formal written rental agreement is not necessary to establish a landlord/tenant relationship. And the law requires a 30 day notice, so your landlord is within his rights to say you owe rent for the full 30 days. On the other hand, if he takes you to court over it, which he would have to do, you can argue that he was allowing illegal activities (smoking weed) which allowed you to break the lease.