Can my landlord sue me for subletting my rental without permission?

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Can my landlord sue me for subletting my rental without permission?

I got a roommate for the last 9 months in their home. I notified them that a girlfriend and her daughter will be moving in. The number of occupants remained the same as the original lease seeing my ex-wife and son did not move in with me. 4 days before I was moving out they found out she was just a roommate and claimed they were going to sue me for her portion of the rent over the course of the 9 months. The only thing I see I did wrong here was not add their names to the lease. This cost me my deposit with a new landlord because of what they told them and they also kept my deposit.

Asked on August 5, 2011 Virginia

Answers:

FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

You need to carefully read your written lease  (ssuming you have one) with your landlord about the property you rented. Its terms and conditions typically control the obligations owed to you and you to the landlord unless in violation of state law.

If your lease has no prohibition against sub-leasing or a requirement that your landlord must approve a sub-lease or a new tenant, he or she had no legal basis for bringing suit against you for sub-leasing the rented unit without his permission. Even if the lease has a provision requiring landlord permission to sub-let, what are his or her damages? Rent is paid on a monthly basis and was never late.

If your landlord continues to threaten you about the lease, go down to your local landlord tenant clinic to discuss the situation or consult with a landlord tenant lawyer.

Good luck.


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