How does 3 day notice to pay rent or quit work, no rental agreemt signed?

Question

Our landlord ( a friend)let us live in a vacant house for two years free rent. We never signed a rental agreement. He got fired and a realestate agent is now in charge, so they served us with a 3 day pay rent or quit notice. It is $20,000 worth of back rent. What can we do.

Answer 1

There is absolutely no way a Judge is going to believe that you actually owe this "friend" two years worth of back rent. People simply do not legitimately let someone slide for two years with no attempt whatsoever to collect. No security deposit, no rent ever, etc but suddenly you owe 20k. Yeah, right. His story stinks like a week old fish.

I don't know about every state, but in NJ if your landlord can not come up with proof that there was an agreement to pay rent (a lease, a written agreement, a single rent payment ever, etc) your landlord does not have a leg to stand on as far as trying to collect.

You just can't give someone a gift and then later claim they owe you 20k.

He probably just wants you to move so he can rent it to paying tenants.

Start creating a paper trail so you don't have civil troubles later on. Hire a landlord/tenant attorney to send him a certified letter detailing what happened (you agreed to let us live here rent free in exchange for care of the property, etc). Then let the lawyer negotiate an agreement to vacate for you.

He can force you to move, but he has to do it through the courts and with the proper notices. Since you never agreed to pay any rent, the notice you got is defective and therefore null.

If I were you, I would send him a bill for 40k for caretaker services just to give him a taste of his own medicine.

Answer 2

This is easy, but you better be careful. If you're admitting that you were not a tenant under a lease obligated to pay rent, then you're a guest. As a guest he can make you leave at anytime legally. However, I have no idea why he got an agent involved, this person should have came to you like a man or woman and told you that the situation was changing and given you time to move or adjust. On the other hand, if you try to claim that you have the rights of a tennant you in essence are admitting that some type of lease or agreement was in place. Hence, a good attorney would use your claim of having tennant rights to prove that there was some type of agreement in place and use whatever dirty lie as to why you didn't pay rent or you deferred it until a later date, etc... Even though there are no specific agreed upon rent numbers, the court can use it's best judement in finding a monetary ruling and decide what is fair. The good thing is, you got a free place to live for 2 years, don't hat your friend, I wish I had friends like that. You lived there free for 2 years for free, you should do anything to accomodate your friend and move asap, even though I'm sure he could have handled it a little better. Basically, leave, you have no rights, you're a guest not a tennant without a lease.

Answer 3

You are not evicted yet. The three day notice is the first step in the eviction process. If you pay within the three days, everything goes away.. If you don't, the landlord will file for an eviction hearing, which will be in 7 to 10 days (usually) If you pay your rent anytime before the hearing, the case should be dismissed. At the hearing, the judge will probably order the eviction if you haven't paid and give you a few days to move. If you are not out by then, the landlord will go back to court and ask for a bailifff's or sheriff's order and the sheriff will come and all your stuff will be moved out.

Answer 4

Depends on state law & you don't say what state. However, in most states a 3 day pay or quit notice applies only to non-payment of rent. If you truly have a rent free lease agreement, non-payment is not an issue. In that case the lease may have to be terminated, which can give you more time to vacate. See an attorney as soon as possible.

Answer 5

No lease, no agreement. Where are they coming up with $20,000?

Your rental rights vary wherever you go, but you definitely do not owe the new owners ANY backrent. The realestate agent is just trying to pressure you with invalid fees. If you did not receive an eviction notice, you're ok.

See if you can get a $1 a month lease from your friend all signed and ready to go for that real estate agent. That'd be sweet!

Answer 6

I am no lawyer, but it sounds like the new owner would like to make some income from the property. The notice says pay up or get out.

If you leave, they cannot collect the back rent, since you had a verbal agreement with the landlord. However, if you stay, you are asking for trouble. If you are willing to pay rent from this point, you may be able to negotiate with the new owners, but they probably have someone they want to move in right away.

Answer 7

A verbal agreement is enforceable but because of the amount shown it would violate the Statutes of Fraud which would require such an agreement to be in writing.
You do have only 3 days by virtue of the notice to vacate the premises but only if your Landlord Tenant Act so states. If you stay after the 3 days you would be considered a tenant holding over without permission and they would have to take you to court to evict you and to have a restitution of the property.
I would certainly talk to a local real estate attorney on the above mentioned opinions.

Answer 8

You need to move out. If there is no rental agreement you do not owe anything to him. If he decide to take you to court, he will lose he has no case against you. No one will let you live in the house without him collecting rent for 2 years unless it’s FREE or exchange for something and no 3 days notice as had been served to you prior to those two years. As for now you need to move out-they should give you at least 30 days notice to move out.

Answer 9

I would vacate as quickly as possible, but you have to have time to find anothe place. You have no agreement, unless it is a verbal 30 day agreement. You might get that to hold up in a court of law. If you can get your (landlord) friend to write a paper for you showing your agreement and you both sign it, you shouldn't have a problem at least staying 30 days.

Consult an attorney that deals with rentals.

Answer 10

Without a rental agreement, you are out of luck, but you can always talk to this person. You can refuse to leave....but expect the police to come involved if that happens. I wouldn't pay the rent though. Offer to pay the rent in the future, but you won't pay for the past rent.