Is a verbal agreement legal in collecting unpaid rent from a roommate?
Full Question:
I rented my spare bedroom to a coworker, he stayed for 3 months and then left 4 days before rent was due without paying. We had nothing in writing just a verbal agreement that he would give me one months notice before he moves out so I can find a replacement roommate. Is he liable for his portion of the rent and utilities he skipped out on?
Also it is 4 full months later and he still has a couch, coffee table, end table and some cups here. He has never come back for them. I even left them in the hallway for 30 days so that he could get them in case I was not home. The landlord told me to put them back inside because it was an insurance issue/hazard.
As of this week he has started to call me and my fiance 10 times a day, and our friends and family saying we stole his stuff. We have not heard from him in over 4 months! Can he take us to court for his belongings or are we covered by an abandonment of property law in Rhode Island since his belongings have been here over 120 days? If he sues can we counter sue for rent, utilities, and storage?
10/24/2007 |
Category: Landlord Tenant |
State: Rhode Island |
#10862
Answer:
The following is a statute:
§ 34-18-15 Terms and conditions of rental agreement. —
(a) A landlord and a tenant may include in a rental
agreement terms and conditions not prohibited by this chapter
or other rule of law, including rent, term of the agreement,
and other provisions governing the rights and obligations of
the parties.
(b) In absence of agreement, the tenant shall pay as rent the
fair rental value for the use and occupancy of the dwelling unit.
(c) Rent is payable without demand or notice at the time and
place agreed upon by the parties. Unless otherwise agreed, rent is
payable at the dwelling unit and periodic rent is payable at the
beginning of any term of one month or less and otherwise in equal
monthly installments at the beginning of each month. Unless
otherwise agreed, rent is uniformly apportionable from day-to-day.
(d) Unless the rental agreement fixes a definite term, the
tenancy is week-to-week in case of a roomer who pays weekly rent,
and in all other cases month to month.
(e) A tenant who is sixty-five (65) years of age or older or
who will turn sixty-five (65) during the term of a rental
agreement for a dwelling unit may terminate such a rental
agreement in order to enter a residential care and assisted living
facility, as defined in § 23-17.4-2, a nursing facility, or a unit
in a private or public housing complex designated by the federal
government as housing for the elderly. The tenant may terminate
the rental agreement by notice given in writing to the usual
person to whom rental payments are made. The notice shall be
accompanied by documentation of admission or pending admission to
a facility or housing complex described in this section.
Termination of the rental agreement shall be effective no earlier
than forty-five (45) days after the first rental payment due date
following delivery of written notice of termination.
§ 34-18-37 Termination of periodic tenancy. —
(a) The landlord or the tenant may terminate a week-to-week
tenancy by a written notice, in a form substantially similar
to that provided in § 34-18-56(c), delivered to the other
at least ten (10) days before the termination date specified
in the notice.
(b) The landlord or the tenant may terminate a month-to-month
tenancy or any periodic tenancy for more than a month or less than
a year by a written notice, in a form substantially similar to
that provided in § 34-18-56(c), delivered to the other at least
thirty (30) days before the date specified in the notice.
(c) The landlord or tenant may terminate a year-to-year tenancy
by written notice, in a form substantially similar to that
provided in § 34-18-56(c), delivered to the other at least three
(3) months prior to the expiration of the occupation year.