My girlfriend has been a 15 year member at a shared artist studio. She has always paid her rent and maintained her area in a clean and neat manner. One of the agreements of having this space is that she must maker herself available 2 or 3 times per year to monitor the studio for an "open session" where students come and do work between classes, which they also offer at this place.
For the past year and a half she has been unable to perform this duty (for personal reasons). When the studio manager asked her about this she explained as best she could the situation. No further mention of this was made until a month or so ago when the quartery bill for the space did not arrive. When I called to pay it for her I was told there was no bill, and that I needed to speak with the studio manager. When I spoke with her she informed me that they felt it was time for her to move on and let someone else use the space. She said that she sent a letter to this effect but we never received one.
I told her this was unacceptable and that she did not want to give up her studio space which she has had for so long.
She told me she would need to think about it and get back to me.
A few weeks later my girlfriend went to the studio to do some work and found that all her stuff had been moved out of her space and put into a smaller space in a different section of the studio (moved from half member space to associate member). Another persons stuff was in her area.
I have spoken with the director of the center and am trying to get this fixed - but I am not sure how it is going. The studio manager contents that my girlfriend has not been doing her duty - which is true at this point - BUT she over the course of the 15 years as a member has done more then her share.
The art center in question receives funding from the state and operates as a non-profit organization.
My question is this... what legal rights does she have as a tenant. I don't think there was ever any kind of lease agreement signed. We never received any kind of communication regarding their intent to move her personal belongings and/or change her membership status to an associate member.
There are other issues regarding the current studio manager not keeping up her responsibilities and I could agrue with them for hours about this, but I want to know where we stand legally in regards to her rights as a tenant.
Thanks,
Charles
For the past year and a half she has been unable to perform this duty (for personal reasons). When the studio manager asked her about this she explained as best she could the situation. No further mention of this was made until a month or so ago when the quartery bill for the space did not arrive. When I called to pay it for her I was told there was no bill, and that I needed to speak with the studio manager. When I spoke with her she informed me that they felt it was time for her to move on and let someone else use the space. She said that she sent a letter to this effect but we never received one.
I told her this was unacceptable and that she did not want to give up her studio space which she has had for so long.
She told me she would need to think about it and get back to me.
A few weeks later my girlfriend went to the studio to do some work and found that all her stuff had been moved out of her space and put into a smaller space in a different section of the studio (moved from half member space to associate member). Another persons stuff was in her area.
I have spoken with the director of the center and am trying to get this fixed - but I am not sure how it is going. The studio manager contents that my girlfriend has not been doing her duty - which is true at this point - BUT she over the course of the 15 years as a member has done more then her share.
The art center in question receives funding from the state and operates as a non-profit organization.
My question is this... what legal rights does she have as a tenant. I don't think there was ever any kind of lease agreement signed. We never received any kind of communication regarding their intent to move her personal belongings and/or change her membership status to an associate member.
There are other issues regarding the current studio manager not keeping up her responsibilities and I could agrue with them for hours about this, but I want to know where we stand legally in regards to her rights as a tenant.
Thanks,
Charles
