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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
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    9

    Default What Happens to a Subtenancy When a Master Tenant Breaks the Lease

    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Colorado

    I signed a sublease with a Master Tenant which was authorized by the property owner and acknowledged on the Master Tenant's lease as authorized this past July. Everything was fine until about 3 weeks ago when I found out that our trash service had been cancelled. I confronted the Master Tenant about this and she claimed it was an error on her part. 2 weeks went by and our trash service finally resumed. Now I have come to find out that she has not paid our gas bill since July 27th, the electric/water is 2 months overdue, and the cable/internet is 2 months overdue. I have paid her for 3 months worth of all of these utilities and it seems like she is pocketing most of it and not paying the bills. I would have paid her more but she is lazy about getting me the amounts and I have to nag her all of the time. I am assuming it is because she is having SEVERE financial problems. I have spoken to her generally about any problems she is having and she confirmed that she did indeed have money troubles. When I get the mail I also see numerous collection letters and NSF charge letters from her bank on a weekly basis. I confronted her today about this and after a swift bout of irrationality she told me that she was breaking her lease with the property owner and was moving to Wyoming by the end of January. I contacted the property owner to confirm everything and inform him about the past due utilities that she had not paid. While I know I have no recourse with the property owner and I am obviously going to have to move myself, can I sue the Master Tenant for moving expenses (I will be moving to NJ so that will not be cheap) and possibly any differences in future rents over the original lease term? I am not necessarily interested in tort (though that would be nice under the circumstances) but I do want to recover anything that I am legally entitled to pursue. Both of our leases were to be through the end of August 2012 and I at least imagine that the property owner will be taking legal action against her also. Also, wouldn't she already be breaching BOTH my lease with her and her lease with the property owner by not paying utilities as prescribed in both leases? I also know that she has 'bounced' each rent check to the property owner for the last 2 months and while I have paid her my full portion every month including rent for December, she has yet to pay the property owner for this month. Going crazy and had a horrible day. Any insight would be appreciated.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    1,995

    Default Re: Master Tenant Breaking Lease with Landlord (Property Owner) and I Am a Subtenant

    Take a look and see if the sublease document has anything to say about the matter.

    My dad was a commercial LL, and a store tenant of his once had a subtenant, where the subtenant paid the tenant, but the tenant was in financial difficulty, and as in your case, the tenant often pocketed the money, the rent was not paid even though the subtenant paid on a timely basis. What he did was he took action against his tenant per his lease to terminate it, and excercised his option to have the sublessee rent assigned to him directly.

    Contact, or preferably write to the owner directly, and request that he advise you if you should continue paying the master tenant directly, or pay the owner instead. Another way is to issue a joint check to the master tenant, and the landlord, and the master tenant would then have to endorse it over to the owner, so he can't pocket the whole thing. Presumably, you cannot pay the entire rent yourself, or ask if you can secure a roommate to help, in which case you won't have to move.

    But if the tenancy is terminated, so is your subtenancy. I am doubtful that you would succeed in collecting moving expenses, or any differential in rent, as rent levels varies throughout the country in the first place. If you moved to a lower cost area, don't expect to pay the master tenant anything either since he is saving you money.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Posts
    9

    Default Re: Master Tenant Breaking Lease with Landlord (Property Owner) and I Am a Subtenant

    Thanks for the reply. I already contacted the property owner yesterday and he offered me the option of taking over the full lease with authorization to sublet up to 2 rooms. I politely declined his offer because while I can afford the full amount, I just prefer not to do it. I had been an apartment renter for 7 years prior and the only reason for me moving into a sublet with a roommate was to save money for finally finishing my undergrad degree. I have also had more than my fair share of bad roommates in the past and have no desire to be fully responsible for other people's actions. I did counter offer a co-tenancy proposition where provisions must be made so that each individual would be equally and proportionally responsible but he declined that offer. I understand why he does not want to do that because it is always easier to take action against 1 individual over 2 or 3 if necessary.

    Based on what I see in my lease listed under a 'Rent' provision I am required to pay the Master Tenant my portion of the rent only. I offered to directly pay the property owner my share but he advised against it and said that should any payment not be passed onto him, that I would not be liable for any unpaid rent. He stated that any legal action would be taken against the Master Tenant in that situation. However, there is nothing in my lease that specifically provides for paying any utilities to a specific person (Master Tenant or property owner) and I have decided that I will only draft checks for any future utilities toward the respective companies that request payment. At least they will get paid my share for the remaining tenancy.

    The bottom line is I have to move. I was laid off 3 months ago and while I have good credit and a substantial amount of savings and severance, I do not have any employment to verify. My only viable alternative is to move in with family for a month or 2 while I get back on my feet. Unfortunately, they live over 1700 miles away and that is going to cost quite a bit to get myself and everything I own out there. That was my main concern for seeking any compensation in that regard. Also, while it may sound a bit naive, I hate injustice. Given the financial situation of the person that I would be taking legal action against anyway, the probability of collecting any money from a favorable judgement would be low. In the end, I would be satisfied if it would simply be entered onto her credit history. I discussed this already with the landlord in an 'off the record' fashion and he seemed to share the same sentiment.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Posts
    9

    Default Re: Master Tenant Breaking Lease with Landlord (Property Owner) and I Am a Subtenant

    Based on information and advice I have received from multiple sources, I am going to personally give my own 30 days notice to vacate. There is an Early Termination provision on my lease that states:

    "Early Termination of Lease Agreement: Tenant shall give leaser no less than 30 days written notice of intent to vacate premises and terminate existing lease agreement. Should tenant fail to give such thirty days notice of termination, tenant will be considered in violation of lease agreement and in default of the security deposit, and the leaser will retain the security deposit in lieu of completion of the lease agreement."

    I will give my written 30 days notice tomorrow to the Master Tenant. I think my only other question would regard what I have to include in that written notice. Do I have to cite grievances, violations, or anything to provide cause for this termination or can I simply state my intent, pay what would be 14 days of prorated rent, and be done with it? The Master Tenant has given her notice for termination to end on or around January 31st (believe it or not I have not yet been given an official date) so that would leave approximately 17 days remaining on her term. Could I in any way be held liable for those remaining 17 days of rent or would it effectively be a mitigated loss under the circumstances?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    1,995

    Default Re: Master Tenant Breaking Lease with Landlord (Property Owner) and I Am a Subtenant

    I would give a written notice. In these cases, just to cover yourself, the more that is written, the better.

    Based on what you said, the master tenant owes you a few dollars, and I would include all those grievances in there. Not that it matters much at this point, but in the event they claim that your OWE this and that, hopefully, it would give her pause, and you might mention also you'll retain your right to sue.

    I agree with you that even if you sue, you won't be able to collect anything if at all, but if it makes you happier, go ahead and sue. If it was me, I would just give my notice, move out, and be done with it. It appears to me the LL is being very calm and correct on his part.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Posts
    9

    Default Re: Master Tenant Breaking Lease with Landlord (Property Owner) and I Am a Subtenant

    Notice given. All bullet point grievances noted and full deposit return demanded. I am not going to initiate any legal action against her but I think I set myself up very well to answer and counter in case she does. Term ends January 13th and she has received payment to cover up to that date. I am SOOOO the hell out of here by no later than the 2nd. Depends on how bad my NYE hangover is. Thanks for all of the replies (in both posts) and suggestions. Happy Holidays.

    Cheers

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