We (my, my wife, and my 8-year-old-daughter) decided to rent our guest room. The woman who moved into the room seemed like she might be a good tenant. We met with her three times and shared two meals with her before deciding to move forward. After living here a week, however, she began to exhibit unstable behavior and we're frightened. Today she threatened to sue, and I feel as though I should hire counsel, but I am afraid I can't afford it.
On her move-in date she was supposed to sign a lease. It was a boilerplate lease that covered a lot of details which weren't particularly relevant to the room. She said she didn't want to sign a lengthy lease, and I initially understood the reservation. She responded with a written agreement of her own which included the bases that I wanted covered, but then she didn't sign that either. (She emailed it to us, which seems to be an argument in my favor. Without the drama that has unfolded since that day, it would seem that refusing to sign a lease or a rental agreement would be sufficient grounds for me to evict her forthwith.)
The room was supposed to be rented "furnished". She said that she wanted her own bed, and her agreement said she would store our bed at her expense. We found a place in our basement for our bed instead. She then moved a lot of furniture into the room and moved our furniture into our living room (a desk, a bedside table, and some small amenities). We conceded and found places to store our belongings. The next day, she set up a small office in an adjacent room, which wasn't part of the agreement. She moved some large cardboard boxes into the living room which contained things she apparently didn't have space for in the room we were renting.
Now, all of this would be resolvable if we had the opportunity to address it with her. She becomes agitated and aggressive very easily, yells, and has indicated that she refuses to talk to my wife under any circumstances.
At the end of the first week we tried to talk with her, at which point she said she would be moving out. She said she would start to look for a space. The next day, we tried to talk with her again, but it also didn't work. To protect ourselves, we delivered her a 30 day notice and began the eviction process. She accepted the notice but hasn't opened the envelope. I mailed a copy of it to her so there would be no doubt that we indeed gave her a 30 day notice.
Last Saturday she demanded that if she moved out early we would have to reimburse her for her rent. I offered to split the difference with her if she moved out early and left the room in good order. Today she claimed that we were trying to make the situation unbearable so she would be forced to move out before she could find a new room. Then she threatened to sue us.
I'm curious, before I hire a lawyer (which it seems like I ought to do) whether or not she has any grounds to follow through on this threat, or if it's just meant to scare us more.
Thank you very much for your response. I guess I should also add that I own the house.
On her move-in date she was supposed to sign a lease. It was a boilerplate lease that covered a lot of details which weren't particularly relevant to the room. She said she didn't want to sign a lengthy lease, and I initially understood the reservation. She responded with a written agreement of her own which included the bases that I wanted covered, but then she didn't sign that either. (She emailed it to us, which seems to be an argument in my favor. Without the drama that has unfolded since that day, it would seem that refusing to sign a lease or a rental agreement would be sufficient grounds for me to evict her forthwith.)
The room was supposed to be rented "furnished". She said that she wanted her own bed, and her agreement said she would store our bed at her expense. We found a place in our basement for our bed instead. She then moved a lot of furniture into the room and moved our furniture into our living room (a desk, a bedside table, and some small amenities). We conceded and found places to store our belongings. The next day, she set up a small office in an adjacent room, which wasn't part of the agreement. She moved some large cardboard boxes into the living room which contained things she apparently didn't have space for in the room we were renting.
Now, all of this would be resolvable if we had the opportunity to address it with her. She becomes agitated and aggressive very easily, yells, and has indicated that she refuses to talk to my wife under any circumstances.
At the end of the first week we tried to talk with her, at which point she said she would be moving out. She said she would start to look for a space. The next day, we tried to talk with her again, but it also didn't work. To protect ourselves, we delivered her a 30 day notice and began the eviction process. She accepted the notice but hasn't opened the envelope. I mailed a copy of it to her so there would be no doubt that we indeed gave her a 30 day notice.
Last Saturday she demanded that if she moved out early we would have to reimburse her for her rent. I offered to split the difference with her if she moved out early and left the room in good order. Today she claimed that we were trying to make the situation unbearable so she would be forced to move out before she could find a new room. Then she threatened to sue us.
I'm curious, before I hire a lawyer (which it seems like I ought to do) whether or not she has any grounds to follow through on this threat, or if it's just meant to scare us more.
Thank you very much for your response. I guess I should also add that I own the house.
