What Legal Options are Available when a Subtenant does not Adhere to an Agreement?

[zddoodah]

Hmm so from what everyone is saying, it seems like the general consensus is that I would be able to win the judgment just based off the email i sent him and his text saying that he checked the email and everything sounds good.

I'm not going to purport to characterize what anyone else wrote, but what I wrote was the following: "I think that text would be extremely helpful. A signed, written agreement would not be needed." Without having read either your email or the responsive text and knowing exactly when they were sent in relation to each other, no one can draw any truly informed conclusions.

That being said, just to cover all the bases before making a final decision, is there anything that he could do to somehow to win the judgement?

In the abstract world of all that is hypothetical, virtually anything is possible.

If not is there any action he could do to not have to pay after losing the judgement?

Yes. He could move to the other side of the country, which would make enforcing your judgment more difficult and expensive. Or he could file bankruptcy.

Whether it be appealing the wage garnishment and winning, or just outright refusing to pay if the judge gives him an order to pay?

As I informed you in my prior response, the court will not "give[] him an order to pay." The court may enter a judgment in your favor, which means you have the right to try and enforce the judgment. That's not the same thing as an order to pay.

 

[banana_hammock]

Litigation is never a sure thing but I tend to agree that the odds are a bit in your favor.



No way to predict.



He could do lots of things. Quit his job and live off the grid. Close out his bank account. Skip town. There's no way to predict any of that. Do you have any idea what kind of work he does? How long he's been employed? How important is job it to him? If you had some idea you might be more comfortable with the idea of suing.



The judge doesn't order him to pay. The judge signs a paper (the judgment) that says how much he owes you. Then it's up to you to use whatever methods are available. If you petition for wage garnishment, the judge signs a paper ordering the employer to pay you part of the defendant's earnings each paycheck. If you petition for a bank account levy the judge orders the bank to take money from the defendant's account and pay it to you. All that is overly simplified, of course.

Even if you can't collect, there is always some satisfaction that the judgment will stay on his credit report for many years and may one day screw him up if he has to buy something on credit and can't qualify.

I mean yeah you're right it would be hard to predict exactly what he would do. But I just meant realistically/practically speaking if he wanted to continue his current life as is. I don't know too much about law and stuff so just wondering if there were any loopholes, strategies, etc.. he could practically do to win the case or not pay the money. I'm thinking his primary argument will just be that he never explicitly agreed to all the terms/conditions (only implicitly through payment of rent and notice of 30 days).

After some research, I found this:

"An enforceable bilateral agreement requires an offer, an acceptance, consideration and a meeting of the minds upon all the essential terms of the agreement."

I'm pretty sure he will use the argument that there was no clear acceptance or meeting of the minds upon all the essential terms of the agreement, which resulted in a very non-solidified agreement, and that it was my own fault for not taking the due diligence to follow a more formal approach. Or something of that sort..

Either that argument or that he did notify me and put in effort to find another roommate replacement but was extremely difficult due to the COVID crisis b/c the apt was very close to NYC (aka blame it on corona). Not sure how valid of an argument either of those are and I may be overthinking this..But like I said I'm just trying to hope for the best and prepare for the worst..

I know he works for a rather well known tech company in IT and that his job is important to him. So I know that he will definitely try to defend him self from getting a wage garnishment so his company doesn't find out.

 

[mightymoose]

You are overthinking it.