My mistake ...

K

kandlekid

I've been subleasing a room from the apartment I'm leasing to a guy for about 6 years now. Nice guy. But recently (February) temporarily disabled in an industrial accident. He was paid in cash all his life. No disability insurance, no 401K, no nothing. So I'm stuck covering his rent until his lawsuit settles (maybe 3-5 years). I don't want to evict him, since it was not his fault, but I've got to protect myself. What do I do ?

Moral of the story ... don't rent to anyone who has only been paid off the books.
 
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That's the problem with synthetic situations, they come back to bite you. Your only recourse, evict yourself and parts ways giving as few details as possible or absorb it with a fixed timeline having no guarantees at the end.

If you're really nice you can evict yourself immediately, pay the rent for 3months and that's that. The most balanced outcome, I did this with a girlfriend once and looking back it was the correct decision. You both made various mistakes, anything else leads to nothing good.
 
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kandlekid said:
I've been subleasing a room from the apartment I'm leasing to a guy for about 6 years now. Nice guy. But recently (February) temporarily disabled in an industrial accident. He was paid in cash all his life. No disability insurance, no 401K, no nothing. So I'm stuck covering his rent until his lawsuit settles (maybe 3-5 years). I don't want to evict him, since it was not his fault, but I've got to protect myself. What do I do ?

Moral of the story ... don't rent to anyone who has only been paid off the books.
More...


No. The moral of the story is to make a quick trip to see a lawyer rather than speculate what your options are. Also, you are speculating that his lawsuit will settle in his favor and he will have the means to pay you or speculating that he wont just skip town when he gets a settlement check. If you dont want to get some real legal advice then you can save a few bucks by just putting a big sign on your back that says "kick me" and walking around. It will come out about the same.

Remember, no good deed goes unpunished these days so your attempts to do the right thing for him put you at risk.
 
Yes, agreed about the no deed part, but still ...

Anyway he says he thinks he'll be able to start making rent payments next month (problem with worker's comp that may have been resolved). That being said, I think that I will draw a line in the sand ... start making rent payments next month or vacate. Hopefully, he will agree. If not, that's a real problem. In that case, unfortunately, I will have to get a bigger hammer. Legally, I can demand payment in 3 days (for the unpaid rent) or initiate an eviction (if unpaid after 3 days). I intend to inform him of this fact beforehand. Also, in NYC, I can sue in small claims court (w/o a lawyer) for up to $5000. But if he has no income, why sue ?
 
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Update, his worker's comp came through last year. Since then, he's paid me all he owes, and making rent payments on time (sometimes early, in fact).
 
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