Is it legal for a property management company to give permission for a renter of a multi-room rental property to tell one tentant they may occupy the room of a tentant who provided a 30 day written notice, per the lease, but who is still paying rent ...

Submitted by Trena Ramirez on

Jurisdiction: 

Area of Law: 

Question: 

Is it legal for a property management company to give permission for a renter of a multi-room rental property to tell one tentant they may occupy the room of a tentant who provided a 30 day written notice, per the lease, but who is still paying rent on that room, the person could take over that room. Would the one renter who is out but still paying be release of his obligation since someone else is occuping the space and rent is being collected on that space? Also note a securit deposit was paid on the room that was rented and now with someone else in that room, how is that legal?

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DakotaLegal's picture

 

Submitted by DakotaLegal on

 
Just to keep it more clear, I’m going to talk about these questions based on believing you’re the one who has the original rent on the room and was hurt by this eviction. This is so that your question will get some background to decide what rights come from that original lease, and what problems may come up if that lease is broken by the management company or the landlord. You can try to get low-income rental assistance by talking with a tenant advocacy group through the Texas PIRG…http://www.texpirg.org/.
 
We will also need to look at any ways they may argue you broke the lease. Maybe the person who took your place is going to say you consented?
 
As a rule, a property management company and the rental agent are going to share a common responsibility to follow the lease. If one of them violates your rights, or breaks the lease, then they both are probably liable to you. This is called “agency” theory, and Texas courts have found a management company and landlord shared liability in a lawsuit. This can be important if you decide to sue (which we’ll discuss at the end). Here’s lawsuit saying that you should have gotten notice of eviction, and then notice of a lawsuit for the landlord to take possession from you: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/tx-court-of-appeals/1394514.html .
 
One assumption I can’t make is how long your original lease was for. It’s not uncommon for residential leases to be a year, or sometimes even six months. The length of the lease can be changed to a “month to month” lease, if you have been there for more than a year, and didn’t sign a new lease. Then, as I say, the lease probably changed to a month-to-month: in that case, the management has breached the lease by essentially evicting you. So, without being able to answer the question about being a yearly lease or not, we’ll concentrate on the Notice issue. You indicated that no matter how long your lease was for, you had a written right to end it with a 30 day notice. Regardless, the burden was really on the landlord to prove it followed Texas law, and it doesn’t appear to have done that: http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PR/htm/PR.24.htm.
 
Take a careful look at the lease and see if there are any phrases or clauses regarding damages. The lease may even give the landlord some power to replace a tenant earlier, if the Notice to vacate wasn’t done properly.
 
It is possible that they may argue you breached the lease and were not “evicted.” This would have to rest on the damages part of the lease. If you failed to make your monthly payment on time, this also could be grounds fro evicting you. The problem with evicting you, though, is that Texas has those basic laws, protecting you from simply being thrown out without notice.
 


  • Wrongful Eviction

 
There will be an issue about what kind of damages they may owe you, and what you want to do about it. It was once a more common practice for landlords to keep security deposits, without regard to accounting real costs to the tenant.
 
If you had extra costs involved in losing the lease, be able to show these damages in writing. Keep in mind there can also be a claim for associated costs…did it affect your job, or cause the loss of property and require you to replace property?
 

  • Deciding To Sue In Court

 
You can bring a claim in Texas small claims court. Here is a step-by-step guide: http://www.texasbar.com/Content/NavigationMenu/ForThePublic/FreeLegalInformation/OurLegalSystem/HowtoSueinSmallClaimsCourt.pdf.

All Comments

DakotaLegal's picture

 

Submitted by DakotaLegal on

 
Just to keep it more clear, I’m going to talk about these questions based on believing you’re the one who has the original rent on the room and was hurt by this eviction. This is so that your question will get some background to decide what rights come from that original lease, and what problems may come up if that lease is broken by the management company or the landlord. You can try to get low-income rental assistance by talking with a tenant advocacy group through the Texas PIRG…http://www.texpirg.org/.
 
We will also need to look at any ways they may argue you broke the lease. Maybe the person who took your place is going to say you consented?
 
As a rule, a property management company and the rental agent are going to share a common responsibility to follow the lease. If one of them violates your rights, or breaks the lease, then they both are probably liable to you. This is called “agency” theory, and Texas courts have found a management company and landlord shared liability in a lawsuit. This can be important if you decide to sue (which we’ll discuss at the end). Here’s lawsuit saying that you should have gotten notice of eviction, and then notice of a lawsuit for the landlord to take possession from you: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/tx-court-of-appeals/1394514.html .
 
One assumption I can’t make is how long your original lease was for. It’s not uncommon for residential leases to be a year, or sometimes even six months. The length of the lease can be changed to a “month to month” lease, if you have been there for more than a year, and didn’t sign a new lease. Then, as I say, the lease probably changed to a month-to-month: in that case, the management has breached the lease by essentially evicting you. So, without being able to answer the question about being a yearly lease or not, we’ll concentrate on the Notice issue. You indicated that no matter how long your lease was for, you had a written right to end it with a 30 day notice. Regardless, the burden was really on the landlord to prove it followed Texas law, and it doesn’t appear to have done that: http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PR/htm/PR.24.htm.
 
Take a careful look at the lease and see if there are any phrases or clauses regarding damages. The lease may even give the landlord some power to replace a tenant earlier, if the Notice to vacate wasn’t done properly.
 
It is possible that they may argue you breached the lease and were not “evicted.” This would have to rest on the damages part of the lease. If you failed to make your monthly payment on time, this also could be grounds fro evicting you. The problem with evicting you, though, is that Texas has those basic laws, protecting you from simply being thrown out without notice.
 


  • Wrongful Eviction

 
There will be an issue about what kind of damages they may owe you, and what you want to do about it. It was once a more common practice for landlords to keep security deposits, without regard to accounting real costs to the tenant.
 
If you had extra costs involved in losing the lease, be able to show these damages in writing. Keep in mind there can also be a claim for associated costs…did it affect your job, or cause the loss of property and require you to replace property?
 

  • Deciding To Sue In Court

 
You can bring a claim in Texas small claims court. Here is a step-by-step guide: http://www.texasbar.com/Content/NavigationMenu/ForThePublic/FreeLegalInformation/OurLegalSystem/HowtoSueinSmallClaimsCourt.pdf.