PA law

[gusl]

My current lease ends in May 31. My job ends July 31. I won't be in town in the Fall (i.e. starting about September 1).

I want to stay for 2 more months. The landlord says he's ok with it: "just keep sending me those checks!", but doesn't want to bother with paperwork (i.e. renewing the lease for 2 months).

He just started showing the apartment to prospective renters. I have no reason to distrust him, other than my general disposition. Should I worry?

Comments

[gwillen.livejournal.com]

As I said to chrisamaphone: Legally, he's probably bound to give you 30 days' notice once you're no longer on a written lease -- that's usually how it works. If he verbally promises you 2 months, that's a verbal lease, which is less strong than a written one, but probably stronger than the "default" 30 days; but I have no idea precisely how binding it is.

And in any case, the law probably has very little to do with his actual behavior; so what you should be asking yourself is whether you think he would throw you out after promising not to (and/or how you would roll on Bluff:Law if he tried.)

[pbrane.livejournal.com]

plus: in basically every state, it takes a while to force someone out - if he suddenly gives you 30 days from the end of May to get out, if you're not out on June 30, it still will take him *way* more than till the end of July to actually get you evicted, even if you *didn't* pay rent.

Not that you should do this (it can go on your credit, for one thing), but he knows that trying to get you out sooner is a waste of time if he knows you're leaving July 31 anyways.

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

what would go on my credit? not paying rent, or refusing to leave?

[altamira16.livejournal.com]

Not paying rent would go on your credit.

[pbrane.livejournal.com]

an actual completed eviction would too.

[hermesbrain.livejournal.com]

For the same reasons the above posters have commented, I wouldn't worry about it. It does vary a bit from state to state, and I'm not an attorney, but my observation has been that it usually takes 90 days to get someone out at *least*, even if he were to begin eviction proceedings, which are annoying and expense.


In the worst case, he might steal your security deposit and claim that you overstayed your tenure, in which case you could bring him to small claims court -- this may or may not be able to be done remotely in PA. He's probably just being a good informal guy, but you never know.

I'm general, I'd suggest that you save your receipts or returned checks, especially for the last two months of rent, then forget about it when he refunds you.

[bhudson.livejournal.com]

It should be possible to download a one-page "lease extension" and put two signatures on it in about 30 minutes.

But as everyone else says, practically, he is both unlikely and unable to really do much anything, so it doesn't really matter. Especially if you're fleeing the country.

[chrisamaphone]

i'm in the same boat house and not fleeing the country (or even the city), though :P

(not that this is an argument for actual concern; i'm just sayin'.)

[bhudson.livejournal.com]

> not fleeing the country

Really? what's keeping you?

[chrisamaphone]

cmu lured me into its clutches for another 4-6 years.

[bhudson.livejournal.com]

That dragon is so devious.