Full question:
I lived for six months with a couple of friends. I had a verbal agreement with my friends to pay them for living in one of their bedrooms. We were all evicted because my friends were not paying their rent. Now my friend's landlord is suing all of us for back rent, despite the fact that I am not on the lease agreement, I am however listed as a resident. She claims that I was not on the lease because I was at work and that she had intended that I sign the lease. I was there when the lease was signed where she claimed that I wasn't being put on the lease so my friends would still have control of the apartment when I enlisted or if we had a falling out. She now denies this conversation ever took place. We lived at the apartment for six months, I wasn't listed as a tenant on the lease nor was there a space for me to sign the lease. Am I responsible for the debt accumulated by my friends or am I just being dragged into this because I have a job and steady income?
- Category: Landlord Tenant
- Subcategory: Lease Termination
- Date:
- State: Alaska
Answer:
Determining your liability will depend on the specific facts of your situation and how a court interprets them. Factors that may be considered include whether you paid rent to your friends or had an agreement to pay the landlord directly, as well as the terms of the lease. Typically, if you're not named on the lease, you're viewed as a subtenant, paying rent to the tenants on the lease, who are responsible for the entire rent to the landlord. However, under Alaska law, if you accepted possession and paid rent, the lease can still be considered effective against you, even if you didn’t sign it (Alaska Stat. § 34.03.030).
Contracts, including rental agreements, create obligations between parties. A contract can be oral or written, and while oral contracts can be enforced, they are often harder to prove. If a breach occurs, remedies may include money damages or restitution, which aims to restore the injured party to their prior position. In your case, if your friends failed to pay rent, the landlord may seek the full amount from any resident, including you, even if you were not on the lease. You may need to seek contribution from your friends separately.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Legal statutes mentioned reflect the law at the time the content was written and may no longer be current. Always verify the latest version of the law before relying on it.