Warrior
Footballguy
Hi guys, I have a question I was hoping some of your lawyer-types could help me with.
I live in a house with two roommates. One roommate owns the house and I pay him rent each month for my room. The total rent is $550 per month (about average for this area) and includes everything (no extra for utilities, etc.).
We have another roommate moving in later this month and I caught a glimpse of his lease on the kitchen counter. He's paying the same amount per month, but I also noticed a section called "Tenant's Hold Over" mentioning his rent drops to $500 per month after 1 year. Specifically:
"If tenant remains in possession of the premises w/ the consent of landlord after natural expiration of this agreement, a new tenancy from month to month shall be created b/t L and T which shall be subject to all terms and conditions hereof except that the rent shall then be due and owing at $500 per month."
I've been living in this house for about three years and I don't remember this section in my lease, so I checked out of curiosity. Sure enough, the same paragraph is in my lease, except that it says $450!
One difference though...my lease is month to month from the beginning. "for a month to month term beginning on July 1, 2011. The lease will continue in effect from month to month until the parties give written notice of termination..."
I think the real intention of my roommate/landlord was to charge $550/month until the end of 1 year and then drop it to $450 (presumably because he'd like me to stay longer if I've been a good enough roommate to keep around for 12 months). I think the lease he used prior was 1 year and he changed it to month to month for me because he was ok with a monthly tenant at the time. He probably forgot about the Hold Over section when he did this.
With that said, I'm thinking that after the end of the first year, he just decided not to tell me about the $450 while I continued to pay $550...free $ for him because I overlooked that part.
I like my roommate. We're not good friends or anything, but he's an ok guy. I wouldn't want to ruffle his feathers but maybe I should say something if I've paid him over $2000 more than necessary over my time here.
What do you guys think? Should I ask him for something in return for all the extra $ I presume I've been overpaying (like a month of free rent)? Should I let it go because it was my fault for not noticing this earlier? Legally, would I have a right to anything? I don't know when the first term legally ended (at the end of the first month? Never?) and the Hold Over period started, since it was M to M.
Full disclosure: I completely understand and agree that I've been an idiot for not realizing this sooner and not bringing it up way way earlier. I totally forgot about this part of the lease as time went by. I'm planning on moving out in a month or two.
Any opinions, especially those of someone who knows what they're talking about, would be greatly appreciated!
I live in a house with two roommates. One roommate owns the house and I pay him rent each month for my room. The total rent is $550 per month (about average for this area) and includes everything (no extra for utilities, etc.).
We have another roommate moving in later this month and I caught a glimpse of his lease on the kitchen counter. He's paying the same amount per month, but I also noticed a section called "Tenant's Hold Over" mentioning his rent drops to $500 per month after 1 year. Specifically:
"If tenant remains in possession of the premises w/ the consent of landlord after natural expiration of this agreement, a new tenancy from month to month shall be created b/t L and T which shall be subject to all terms and conditions hereof except that the rent shall then be due and owing at $500 per month."
I've been living in this house for about three years and I don't remember this section in my lease, so I checked out of curiosity. Sure enough, the same paragraph is in my lease, except that it says $450!
One difference though...my lease is month to month from the beginning. "for a month to month term beginning on July 1, 2011. The lease will continue in effect from month to month until the parties give written notice of termination..."
I think the real intention of my roommate/landlord was to charge $550/month until the end of 1 year and then drop it to $450 (presumably because he'd like me to stay longer if I've been a good enough roommate to keep around for 12 months). I think the lease he used prior was 1 year and he changed it to month to month for me because he was ok with a monthly tenant at the time. He probably forgot about the Hold Over section when he did this.
With that said, I'm thinking that after the end of the first year, he just decided not to tell me about the $450 while I continued to pay $550...free $ for him because I overlooked that part.
I like my roommate. We're not good friends or anything, but he's an ok guy. I wouldn't want to ruffle his feathers but maybe I should say something if I've paid him over $2000 more than necessary over my time here.
What do you guys think? Should I ask him for something in return for all the extra $ I presume I've been overpaying (like a month of free rent)? Should I let it go because it was my fault for not noticing this earlier? Legally, would I have a right to anything? I don't know when the first term legally ended (at the end of the first month? Never?) and the Hold Over period started, since it was M to M.
Full disclosure: I completely understand and agree that I've been an idiot for not realizing this sooner and not bringing it up way way earlier. I totally forgot about this part of the lease as time went by. I'm planning on moving out in a month or two.
Any opinions, especially those of someone who knows what they're talking about, would be greatly appreciated!
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