Okay, I signed a lease saying that I was going to be moving in with this girl and her roommate...?

Question

I did this at the beginning of June. I decided not to move in with her and told her this at the beginning of July and now she's saying that I have to pay for July's rent. She had asked me for July's rent and said that I had to sign the lease again to get my name off of it. She sent her boyfriend to get the check and I never signed the lease. 3 weeks later, the check still hadn't gone through and she never made me sign the lease, so I put a stop payment on it. Now, she's saying that her landlord is evicting her cause my check didn't go through. Am I obligated to pay for July's rent? What's the worst that could happen if I didn't?

Answer 1

You signed a lease so you're legally obligated to its terms. You owe not only for July but potentially for the entire balance of the term of the lease. If you do not pay up, you can be sued. Such a suit would almost always be successful.

Don't know what you mean by getting your name off of a lease by signing a new one. That simply makes no sense at all.

Answer 2

What jurisdiction are you in?

Some states have what's called mitigating damages. That means that the landlord ((LL) who in this case is the roomie that you agreed to live with) has to try to find someone else to move in. If she finds someone to move in before the end of July then you will only be responsible for the pro-rated rent for July.

Google "landlord tenant law" or "landlord tenant handbook" and your city or county name. You'll get a ton of awesome hits. If you need more specific info send me an e-mail through my profile with your city and/or county and I'll get back to you. Well, GL!

BTW, it is true that in some jurisdictions that you may be responsible for rent for the entire lease term. However, if you haven't signed a lease yet (and don't do it if you haven't) then the entire term would only be 30 days.