What to do if my now ex-boyfriend and I are on a lease together but I haven’t lived there for 2 1/2 months and have asked him to please take me off the lease?
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What to do if my now ex-boyfriend and I are on a lease together but I haven’t lived there for 2 1/2 months and have asked him to please take me off the lease?
I told him that if he wanted to continue living there or if he couldn’t afford it on his own, then we would have to break the lease together because I would not be able to afford to pay. He agreed to take me off the lease at first but now when I ask him to sign the papers he refuses and says he’s taking me to small claims court. Since I moved out he has gotten roommates. In the last 2 months he has been threatening and very hostile.
Asked on December 21, 2012 under Real Estate Law, Nevada
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
Your ex-boyfriend 1) is not required to agree to let you off the lease and 2) could not take you off the lease anyway, unless the landlord also agreed; to release a party from a contract (which is what a lease is), requires the consent or agreement of all parties to the contract, which would include the landlord.
Therefore, he can hold you liable for your share of the rent under the lease. However, he cannot collect rent from you and also from a new roommate or sublet; any amounts the new roommate(s) are paying would be an offset, or credit, against any amounts which you would owe him under the lease.
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