If I didn’t have a lease and left my rental without notice, canI be sued?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
If I didn’t have a lease and left my rental without notice, canI be sued?
I moved into a rear house in Indiana and although a year lease was given, I never signed it or returned it and it was never asked for. I continued to stay in the rear house and pay rent for a year and 3 months. When I left I did not give notice. Can the owner of that property sue me because I left without notice? He said he would sue me for the term of the lease but the lease had already ended. In addition there was nothing that the owner and I agreed upon after the lease ended. I just continued to pay until I found another place. Do they have a right to sue and if they sued would they win?
Asked on November 12, 2010 under Real Estate Law, Indiana
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
A lease is a contract, and oral contracts are enforceable. However, an oral contract that cannot be performed within 1 year must be in writing. Additionally, there may or may not have been a legally enforceable contract in the first place, without more details its hard to determine with any certainty. Therefore, since there was no formal lease in place (or if there was it was no longer enforceable after the first 12 months), you were a month-to-month tenant. Accordingly, in such a situation a tenant must give a 30-day notice. If they do not they can be held liable for 1 month's rent. But only 1 month's rent. Under state law, your landlord may apply your security deposit to any accrued rent.
Note: You would also be liable for any damages to the premises that your security deposit did not cover.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.