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Boyfriend living me

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Boyfriend living me

Postby christophec » Sat Nov 17, 2018 3:07 pm

Hello,

I just signed a lease (regular blumberg lease) and my boyfriend wasn't supposed to live with me but because of last minute work opportunities, he decided to come stay and live with me.
The lease is on my name only.
Now my landlord is accusing me of subletting my apartment to someone else (in this case, I'm assuming they talk about him). I called them and they told me I cannot have a '' roomate''
But I read about the roomate law that say that one tenant can have a roomate unrelated family.

They threaten to take legal action for subletting my apartment (no one ever stayed or gave me money to stay in since I moved in).

So what does the law says? Is my boyfriend allow to stay with me as the roomate law says?

Nb: this is a rental building.

Thank you
christophec
 
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Re: Boyfriend living me

Postby TenantNet » Sat Nov 17, 2018 4:19 pm

Subletting is when you go away and let someone stay in your apartment for a period of time. The sublettor is also an under-tenant, meaning they pay a "rent" to you, the tenant of record. The operative part is that you, the tenant of record, are away for a time, usually due to work or other obligations.

A roommate is when a person moves into an apartment and shares the place. A roommate generally has his/her own room, but shares the kitchen, restroom, living room and so on. Roommates can also be undertenants (i.e., they pay you a share of the rent), or they can have a personal relationship. That last part is one of the LLs business. The LL has a right to know the names of all who live in an apartment, but not the nature of the relationship. (the Roommate Law has often been called the "live-in lover law").

Tenants are legally allowed to have at least one roommate (sometimes more). There are a number of articles on roommates on this site, as well as in the Reference Section of this forum.

So you describe your BF as having moved in to share the apartment with you. That is a roommate, not a sublet, and it is protected by law. See http://www.tenant.net/alerts/articles/roommates.html

I would send a certified letter RRR to the LL, tell them that you are still in occupancy, and you have a roommate, not a sublet. (the rules for sublet are different). Include a copy of the roommate law, the name of the roommate (but not the nature of the relationship) and explain that since you are not away, there is no sublet.

No matter, if they want to push the issue, they would need to commence a holdover proceeding, and given what you have related, if they tried that, they would probably be laughed out of court.

While we encourage you to protect you rights, understand that as an unregulated tenant, the LL can refuse to renew the lease when it expires, so you don't want to get the LL too pissed off.
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