Long story short, I had to sublet the living room of my 1 bedroom apartment in New Jersey to a guy named Peter. Peter and I had an oral agreement. Peter (by his own choice) paid rent in cash, and did not sign anything= thus we only have an oral agreement. Peter is a first year law student.
Peter has been a real asshole: late rent payments- which he paid in cash, inconsiderate, lost my cat!, etc.
anyway, he agreed to leave the apt by May 1st, as I will be leaving the apt then too. He agreed to leave by then, as my lease with the landlord ends then and I am leaving the country. (I have a month to month lease w/ the landlord.) Peter knows I will be going to Germany in May and need my deposit. Peter left me a message today saying I'll have to evict him b/c he doesnt want to leave by May. I need my deposit! The landlord doesnt know about Peter, but i think the landlord's secretary knows about Peter's presence (again not in writing). Im pretty sure the lease I have with landlord says no other occupants.
Anyway, this guy Peter is being a real asshole and threatened to stay at the apt and make my life hell. For one thing, I am the one of the lease, and my deposit is on the line. Even if I dont return Peter's desposit, he will be living rent free for months on my credit!
I have a few questions:
1. Do I have a landlord-tenant relationship with Peter as my tenant and me as landlord?
2. can the landlord evict me b/c Im not supposed to have a subletter? If that's the case, can the landlord withhold my deposit?
3. If I need to go thru eviction proceedings, I will not be able to make my flight to germany on May 1st (since Peter purposedly sprung this on me now and it's already end of March). What can I do in order to get Peter out?
4. Peter paid for his deposit in cash, everything was oral, nothing in writing. what rights does Peter have and what rights do I have?
5. I dont even care about keeping Peter's deposit, but how do I keep his in case he doesnt pay April rent, and how do I evict him?
6. What is the eviction law for illegal sublettors??
Any advice? Please help!!!
thanks so much in advance for reading

