What to do if I sublet an apartment on a verbal agreement thatI would pay rent but now I’m being sued me for a utility bill but utilities weren’t discussed?
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What to do if I sublet an apartment on a verbal agreement thatI would pay rent but now I’m being sued me for a utility bill but utilities weren’t discussed?
I paid $550 a month which was agreed for rent. We never discussed utilities but I paid the bills as they came to the house; after the landlord moved out the bills stopped coming and were going to the landlord in their new location. Will suing me hold up in court?
Asked on January 18, 2012 under Real Estate Law, New Jersey
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If you had an oral agreement to pay rent on a monthly basis for a certain amount with the landlord where utility bills were not discussed as part of the monthly rental, the only way I would see you being legally responsible for unpaid utility bills would be if you actually paid them on your own in addition to the monthly rent and then stopped.
The reason why I see a possibility that you would be responsible for unpaid utility bills would be by your prior actions of having paid them in the past assuming you did. Your prior payments of any utility bills could be deemed as an admission by conduct of your obligation to pay such utility bills.
If you never paid the utility bills that you are writing about, then I see the landlord having a hard time proving your obligation to pay such under the verbal rental agreement that you have written about.
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