Question about renting a room

[Ravin the Poet]

I currently rent a room from someone as I go to university. The agreement was two people (him and I) to share a house, and that was that. But as it stands now I think I have taken more then my fair share of shots, and today was the last straw.

Just before X-mas, my roommates mother died. The father lives in the same city as us. Today they moved the father in to this house. This house does not have another bedroom. It has two rooms the one I have the my roommate, and two not completed rooms downstairs. Right now he is staying in the living room. His bed is there and dressers and I think this has gone to far.

In November, my roommate gave me and my girlfriend this little speech about her staying some nights. He said "The terms of our lease state 2 people living together" and said she could stay 1-2 nights. Fine with us, we stick by it. He owns the house, but I feel as a tenant, he can not just let his father move in like this without it counting as a break in our agreement. Even worse, he didn't tell me. I found out Thursday (today being Saturday) about this because I told my roommate I was having people over for a poker night, which didn't happen because of all this moving.

So as I stand, I am fairly mad at the situation and not happy with any of this. I got no warning, and feel our lease has been broken. My rent is $400 a month, and with his father moving in, I don't want to pay this month in full. I don't think its fair that now I have to share with someone else. Why does he stay here for free when I got to pay? I have two months left, and I have made up my mind on leaving, so really that isn't the question. Its more about keeping things right. I can't have friends over now because his dad took over the living room, and this house isn't big, so we don't have space. My room is fairly small as well and can have two people plus me stay here comfortably.

So my question is...

What are my options?
Should I pay him this month in full, noting also my rent from next month is $400 which is already paid?

I feel I should give him a check for $200 dollars. So for the next two months he gets $600. I believe that is fair for a) not warning me and b) breaking our lease agreement.

What do you think?

Thanks.


Ravin

 

[Guest]

 

[pleaz_me]

I agree, Scalywag. If you approach your roommate with your concerns , it's more apt to go over better. If you just "short-change" the rent, he's apt to make your next 2 months miserable.

Hope everything works out well!

 

[Ezzy]

It is for 2 months or 60 days, if I were you I would be prepared and happy to go thirds on the rent but that is as far as I would go. You can oeither make a stink about it and fnd somewhere else to live the last month, if you make a choice and unilaterally cut off the cash you are the one in breach of your agreement and could be evicted on short notice.

So basically my question is if you don't get the answer yoou want to the rent reduction, then move out and stay friendly don't cut him off without warning.

 

[SweetErika]

Do you have a written lease/tenancy agreement, Ravin?

You may gain some insight on your rights and such from the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal. If nothing else, I bet they can suggest a good course of action for you and/or make sure your plan is legally sound. Ontario has a Tenant Protection Act, and it seems he's both ruining your reasonable quiet enjoyment and has failed to give you proper notice of taking the property for personal use. There's a subsection of the law that says your tenancy can be terminated for having too many persons, and I'd imagine that goes both ways. He may even have to compensate you for breaking the agreement. Here's the law.

Now, I'm not suggesting you turn this into a legal battle, only that you learn your rights and use Ontario's Rental Tribunal agency to your advantage (and also for your protection because you don't want to end up owing him or getting sued). Because the father's occupying a common area, you may be owed a larger reduction in rent for the duration of the lease. However, it's very unwise to figure that out on your own or just hand him the reduced amount, as others have said.

So, my advice is to read through the Tribunal's site, and contact them on Monday about the situation and your options. There's a toll-free number at the bottom of this page.

 

[Ravin the Poet]

Thanks all. My mother and I talked about it, and she agrees I need to be compensated for this. She believes my rent should be $200 for the remaining months, which means I pay nothing more because oh my deposit. Basically, if he says "no I am not changing the rent" I will refuse to do any work around the house. That will be his job. I also will basically do as I wish. I still have rights, and I will invoke them. I will have people over when I want, and basically if he has a problem with it, I will tell him to shove it up his ass.

I will read through these laws, and I will bring them to him if he doesn't comply or gives me a stink. But yes, I am not coming back here. We have a written lease, and he is breaking it. He never gives me warning on anything and we don't share. He basically holds the "I own this house" thing over my head all the time.


Ravin

 

[SweetErika]

Thanks all. My mother and I talked about it, and she agrees I need to be compensated for this. She believes my rent should be $200 for the remaining months, which means I pay nothing more because oh my deposit. Basically, if he says "no I am not changing the rent" I will refuse to do any work around the house. That will be his job. I also will basically do as I wish. I still have rights, and I will invoke them. I will have people over when I want, and basically if he has a problem with it, I will tell him to shove it up his ass.

I will read through these laws, and I will bring them to him if he doesn't comply or gives me a stink. But yes, I am not coming back here. We have a written lease, and he is breaking it. He never gives me warning on anything and we don't share. He basically holds the "I own this house" thing over my head all the time.


Ravin

Just be careful if you're going this route, Ravin. Witholding rent could be seen as breaking the lease; unless your mom's an attorney with knowledge in rental law, you're still best off running your plan by the Tribunal people. You don't want to get evicted for non-payment of your lease or have a miserable two months.

 

[massage45678]

rental issues

I've studied a lot about landlord/tenant issues due to a few disputes with my landlord. If your landlord owns the house then he's free to let his dad move in and let him stay there free of charge. if you agreed to pay 400 a month and don't pay that he be able to issue you a 3 day notice to pay or get out. if you don't pay he will be with in his legal rights to call the sheriffs department and have your forcefully evicted. This will make it extremely difficult for you to rent another apt. This doesn't seem fair most states and countries don't give tenants a lot of rights. The most tenant friendly city is Seattle wa.

I currently rent a room from someone as I go to university. The agreement was two people (him and I) to share a house, and that was that. But as it stands now I think I have taken more then my fair share of shots, and today was the last straw.

Just before X-mas, my roommates mother died. The father lives in the same city as us. Today they moved the father in to this house. This house does not have another bedroom. It has two rooms the one I have the my roommate, and two not completed rooms downstairs. Right now he is staying in the living room. His bed is there and dressers and I think this has gone to far.

In November, my roommate gave me and my girlfriend this little speech about her staying some nights. He said "The terms of our lease state 2 people living together" and said she could stay 1-2 nights. Fine with us, we stick by it. He owns the house, but I feel as a tenant, he can not just let his father move in like this without it counting as a break in our agreement. Even worse, he didn't tell me. I found out Thursday (today being Saturday) about this because I told my roommate I was having people over for a poker night, which didn't happen because of all this moving.

So as I stand, I am fairly mad at the situation and not happy with any of this. I got no warning, and feel our lease has been broken. My rent is $400 a month, and with his father moving in, I don't want to pay this month in full. I don't think its fair that now I have to share with someone else. Why does he stay here for free when I got to pay? I have two months left, and I have made up my mind on leaving, so really that isn't the question. Its more about keeping things right. I can't have friends over now because his dad took over the living room, and this house isn't big, so we don't have space. My room is fairly small as well and can have two people plus me stay here comfortably.

So my question is...

What are my options?
Should I pay him this month in full, noting also my rent from next month is $400 which is already paid?

I feel I should give him a check for $200 dollars. So for the next two months he gets $600. I believe that is fair for a) not warning me and b) breaking our lease agreement.

What do you think?

Thanks.


Ravin

 

[SweetErika]

I've studied a lot about landlord/tenant issues due to a few disputes with my landlord. If your landlord owns the house then he's free to let his dad move in and let him stay there free of charge. if you agreed to pay 400 a month and don't pay that he be able to issue you a 3 day notice to pay or get out. if you don't pay he will be with in his legal rights to call the sheriffs department and have your forcefully evicted. This will make it extremely difficult for you to rent another apt. This doesn't seem fair most states and countries don't give tenants a lot of rights. The most tenant friendly city is Seattle wa.

Um....Ravin's in Sarnia, Ontario. They have a Tenant Protection Act and a Tribunal to mediate landlord-tenant disputes, as I posted. Your advice on paying rent would generally apply (though their process for notice and eviction are different), but even here in WA, the fact that the father is permanently occupying a common living area is a mitigating factor. In Ontario, it seems notice would have to be given for something like that, and the dispute on breaking the lease and rent needs to be handled through the Tribunal (or possibly an attorney). Still, I agree just reducing the rent is a very, very poor idea.

 

[Ravin the Poet]

I just don't think its fait that now I am trapted in my room and can't go to the living room because his dad is there. And I feel some notice had to be given.

I have a contract for a house with 2 people in it, not three. He gave a stink about my girlfriend staying before, and refered to that part in our lease. I'll see what he says, since today the rent is due. But I am looking at an apartment today, so I wont be here much longer.


Ravin

 

[Guest]

 

[SonOfAGhost]

Basically you're free from the lease 60 days after you found out pops was moving in, and you'll have to pay $400/month for each of those months, less what you've already paid for that time.

It certainly sounds like he wants you out at the end of your lease. I'm sure he doesn't like having no living room either and his dad probably feels pretty awkward with the situation. For the small amount of money involved I'd imagine he'd agree to waive all rent for the remainder of the lease if you find a place and move out sooner. If you 2 were friends prior to becoming roomates, I'd imagine he might let you live rent-free until you find a place as compensation for the inconvenience.

If you leave at 60 days from when you got notice (or sooner) you might be able to convince a tribunal to reduce what you should pay for that time. The rules however are mostly set up for tenants having a completely seperate residence from the owner, be it a different property or just using the side door to access a basement apartment. Sharing space with the landlord combined with extenuating circumstances of a death in the family definitely clouds things if you had to go a legal route. Not dealing with a corporation as landlord though you shouldn't need lawyers if it goes to tribunal.