landlord taking things personal?

[cardsrfixed]

Hi I live in Virginia. My wife and I began renting a townhome from her aunt in aug of 2008 2 weeks later my wife and i decided to seperate. she went to live with her parents and Im staying in the house. So this month rolls around and ive had to pay new deposits for utilities transfers plus some legal fees and money to her so im gonna be a week late on the rent I can pay it + late fees on the tenth. I go to her aunts house to tell her and they tell me they want me out of the house by 10/30/08. And hand me this paper which states:

Chris,
As Mary explained to you over the phone last week, the lease which you and Nicole sighned is now null and void, considering one of the sighnees has left the premisis and has broken the contract. The contract was with both parties and their stated income.(we never filled out an app or stated an income) Mary generously offered to allow you to rent the premisis on a trial basis under certain conditions, a primary one being to pay rent on a timely basis with in a 5 day grace period. Your failure to do so indicates a lack of commitment on your part to honor your commitmen. As of this date (there is no date on this form anywhere but its the 4th today) rent is late. In light of these facts we are giving you a notice to vacate premises by 10/30/08. These conditions must be met to avoid legal prosacution.

So can they do this and for the record the wife only left three weeks ago and i already have gotten a second job to bring in more income i just got a little behind due to new child support split in half income and etc. Yod think they would want to keep the hous rented . Anyway any input would be very welcome. Chris

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Your landlord may be taking things personal (after all, she is the aunt of your wife) but they have handed you a Pay or Quit notice based on the fact that you owe rent.

Keep in mind that a landlord cannot evict you without an actual court order to do so. The first step in filing is exactly what they've done; served you with this notice. If you fail to comply with this (and with the paper alone you cannot be evicted) their next step is to file in court for the actual eviction. This is usually done in Small Claims Court as this court does not require the use of attorneys and is set up to deal with cases of fairly small monetary value.

This takes time and in the meantime you sound as if you will have the money to pay them; if they accept this rent then they will have no case against you for eviction. They may choose not to accept the rent and continue with the eviction process. While this is going through the court system you can remain in the rental unit.

When you get to court you explain that you did have the rent money (and fees) and attempted to give this to the landlord but they refused. In my state the court can order the landlord to take this money and the issue of eviction is voided.

It is actually your wife who, by moving out, broke HER part of the rental lease, not you. In cases like this, the remaining tenants are typically not removed by eviction as they are not the ones who broke the lease.

Gail

 

[cardsrfixed]

thank u very much for the insight