Judgement filed for apt I didnt live in anymore

[tek12]

My jurisdiction is: Maryland

I moved from an apartment that I shared with a roommate in Jan of '04. I turned in my 'Intent to vacate' and paid my portion of the rent for Feb. as well as the 30 days notice carried over a month. It turns out that my roommate did not move and began to not pay rent. I was told that because he did not sign a new lease (we were on a month to month) that my intent to vacate form was not honored. I then had to reurn, get the old rommate to sign a 'Lease Waiver' form, which like the former notice, was not honored when he again did not move.

Long story short, I received a judgement on my credit report (I was not served a court notice, but was told that the ex rommate was). On top of all of this, the management company can't produce a copy of the signed lease. Now, I am in danger of losing my job because of the judgement.
How could I have been sued without being properly served? And without a lease?

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

You are correct; if a defendant in a lawsuit is not served, the lawsuit typically cannot go forward. Each person named in a lawsuit has the legal right to be aware of the suit and, if they wish, to respond to this in court.

There are some strange issues with your. case. An oral agreement on a lease in your state that is less than one year is legally binding; therefore, while a written lease is useful (as it spells out the details of what is expected) it is not required. If your roommate continued as a month to month tenant it did not matter that they did not sign a written lease.

A tenant on a month to month lease need only give 30 days notice that they are terminating the lease. While your posting indicates that you did.

You play no role in being responsible for your roommate failing to pay the rent after you terminated the lease and moved out. The roommate should have been sued for eviction, not the both of you.

Contact your local court (these cases are typically handled in Small Claims) to find out more details when this judgement for eviction took place. You may need to consider filing your own suit against the landlord/management for an illegal eviction and judgement against you.

Gail

 

[tek12]

I was told that I should file a Motion to Vacate because I wasnt properly served. Isnt there a time limit on that? Also, is there a way to have a Judgement corrected instead. I'd rather just have my name removed from the current judgement if possible, but I'd like the guilty party to still be responsible.