moving out of house with no lease

Richland, WA Viewed 1157 times. Posted about 1 year ago in Landlord / Tenant

Two of us moved out of house we were renting along with 2 other people, with no notice given. Two people remain in the house. We had never signed a lease. Landlord said she would bring by a lease 7 months ago. Never did. Landlord now wants $250. because we did not give a notice. Are we required to pay? Can she damage our credit? We paid rent for the time we were there and left the basement of the house clean, and no damages. We lived in the basement and shared upstairs kitchen and basement laundry room with other tenants. - Is this your question? Add additional information

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Answers (3)

Don Waggoner

This attorney is licensed in Florida and 1 other state. Posted about 1 year ago.

There is little likelihood the landlord can do anything legally. Agreements pertainingg to the use of land, here the rooms/space you were using, are required to be in writing. If not, there is no legal agreement. However, if a verbal agreement were to be upheld, it will depend on what the landlord and you can get the judge to believe was the agreement. I think, that if you had no written agreement, you could leave anytime you want without notice and the landlord has no recourse.

J Patrick Diener

This attorney is licensed in Washington. Posted about 1 year ago.

Mr. Waggoner is correct, leases must be in writing to be valid. The landlord can try to claim that you had some oral agreement obligating you to pay $250.00 when you moved out, but success on that claim will largely depend on what proof of that agreement the landlord can present. Merely the fact that you were living there and paying rent doesn't by itself imply additional terms of a valid lease. So, unless the landlord can present evidence, either in writing or with other witnesses that can confirm the agreement, then you should be fine.*

*This is not intended as legal advice but merely general legal information. This answer is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship, and no such relationship has been formed as a result of this communication.

Thuong-Tri Nguyen

This attorney is licensed in Washington. Posted about 1 year ago.

The WA State Bar Association and the WA Office of the Attorney General both publish pamphlets regarding landlord/tenant issues. The WSBA's article is at: http://www.wsba.org/media/publications/pamphlets/landlord-tenant.htm . The AG's article is at: http://www.atg.wa.gov/uploadedFiles/Home/Safeguarding_Consumers/Landlord-Tenant/Residential/landlord_tenant_booklet.pdf .

Your living situation likely was covered by WA Chapter 59.18 RCW, Residential landlord-tenant act. The text of the statutes is at: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=59.18 .

If you read the articles, you may note that you likely had an oral agreement with the landlord. That oral agreement likely is enforceable.

Both you and the landlord likely was bound to give notice before ending the agreement. Tenants who fail to give proper notice may owe rent.

You may want to consult an attorney. Depending on your facts, you may have some defenses or counterclaims against the landlord.

AG's article

WSBA's article