How do I get out of this mess legally?

pragmatism_rules

Get the landlord to evict his mother and brother for being on the premises but not being on the lease. And if he isn't paying rent, you will be obligated to do so but you should be able to evict him for non-payment of rent. And then you can sue him in small-claims court for non-payment of rent. It wouldn't hurt btw to get independent legal advice as to the local laws at your location to remove the freeloaders asap.

Three important things. Before you do anything, take anything important (identification documentation, education and work records, photographs, sentimental items, favorite clothes, anything you don't want destroyed) and store it with family for a while until they are all gone as they could take revenge and destroy your property (because you are refusing to give them a free ride).

Secondly, get an independent witness and when they are out, take dated photographs of everything in case they destroy the place.

Thirdly, as soon as they are gone, get the landlord to replace all the locks even if you have to pay for this, in case someone has kept keys.

*****

Finally, if your boyfriend is the father of the child, file for sole custody with visitation for him before he leaves so he can't take your child with him (get that court order asap). And make him prove paternity and then file for child support. The courts will make him work and they won't let him get away with not supporting the child the two of you made.

Get ready for an ugly fight as this is what you are facing! Good luck and consult a lawyer!

trustno1

That is probably going to be tough one. But first of all, you did not say what state you live in. Every State has a "Landlord Tenant Act". I don't know how much they really vary from one another, but I think that most of them have some sort of stipulation that is a protection for women in that if he is violent, they have to let you out of the lease... but it doesn't sound like that is the case from what you have described.

Also, people break leases all the time and I don't think that the landlords in many cases go out of their way to hunt them down. But, then again, if you need the reference for when you want to rent a new apartment, they will not give you a good one.

Another thing is that it very much depends on the landlord him/herself. Sometimes, with a good excuse, a landlord will only make you pay up through the end of the following month after having given a 30 day notice.

Sometimes this is even written right into the lease.

Have you read over the lease and all the fine print? If you see nothing like that, then your first and probably best option at this point would be to have a talk with the landlord. Also, it doesn't seem right that you would be not only supporting him, but his mother and his brother as well. If they are not on the lease, you can legally kick them out. As a matter of fact, the landlord probably would anyway, as I think most property managers/landlords require that anyone living in the household over the age of 18 be on the lease anyway.

It's worth having a talk with the person you are leasing from..

best of luck

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