Should I charge my friend rent?
A good friend of mine asked to get a place together this coming school year. I am fortunate enough to be staying in a house that my family owns, so I don't have to pay rent. It has 3 bedrooms, so there is enough room for her (she did not know about the house when she asked). If she is willing to stay in this house with me, should I be charging her rent? We were planning on me getting roommates so I could charge them rent and get a little income for college, but it feels a little wrong charging a friend. Would it be okay to charge her a cheap rent amount, that way I still have a bit of income from it?
Can I be sued for not paying a friend rent? It was all under the table. The neighborhood association doesn’t know he has tenants, and we only had a verbal agreement through text message.
Can I be sued for not paying a friend rent? It was all under the table. The neighborhood association doesn’t know he has tenants, and we only had a verbal agreement through text message.None of this is legal advice - I’m not a lawyer!Let’s unpack this:You’re asking about if you can be sued for non-payment of rent, so it would seem your friend is threatening to sue you for back rent.“It was under the table.” I don’t know if you knew this ahead of time or not, but renting a place to live “under the table” can put you in serious risk for a number of things. If you can’t prove you live someplace legally, it’s easy to keep you out of that place.The neighborhood association doesn’t know… Okay, they don’t know. is it against their rules? Or do they allow tenants in certain situations? Either way, that’s between your friend and the NA. He has an official relationship with them, you don’t.“We only had a verbal agreement through text message.” No. Once there’s documentation, it’s not a verbal agreement. A verbal agreement is when two or more people discuss something, come to an agreement, and there is no documentation, through a paper trail, emails, text messages, audio or video recordings, or anything else. If you discussed that 1) You would live there and, 2) That you would pay rent to him, then you have a rental agreement. All your friend has to do is use screenshots or the message history on the phone to prove you have that agreement.So, yes he can sue you with a good chance of winning. (Actually, in the U.S., you can sue anyone for anything and even if it’s frivolous, they’ll still have to pay a good chunk to get the case thrown out.) While there is no signed lease, the text messages are proof you agreed to pay money.Think about that; Text messages prove you agreed to pay your friend money. You aren’t doing that. You gave your word and there is proof you did, yet you’re not following through.Yes, your friend can sue you and stands a good chance of winning. Whether or not the NA knew about it is irrelevant. That’s your friend’s problem, not yours (and not your benefit or help to get you out of paying what you promised to pay).
My friends pay to live with me in my house. Should I report this rent to the CRA?
If you share the total rent payable than you don't need to declare as rent received. However for Provincial tax credit purposes you should only declare your portion of the rent paid. If you are a home owner and your friends are paying you to live with you, than they are your tenants. The money you received should be declared as rent received. You can also deduct the relates expenses. The net amount would be taxable.
I gave a friend $500 to help with her rent, and she said she'd pay me back in two weeks. I haven't heard anything from her since then, and it's almost been a month. What could this mean?
Were you clear that the $500 was a loan and not a gift? Was there a mutually agreed upon time that the money would be paid back? Did you obtain a signd promissory note? You haven’t heard from her because she doesn’t have good news and is avoiding you. Chances are she just doesn’t have the money. If she couldn’t afford to pay her rent, it may mean that she has other debts as well and is in over her head. Then, of course, there are those people who “borrow” money with no intent whatsoever of paying it back. It doesn’t matter whether or not you know her well as a friend, relative, or aquaintence. It’s her character that counts. Five hundred dollars is a lot of money, and you are suffering from anxiety (who wouldn’t be)? No one likes to be in this position. Whether she pays you back or not, consider this as one of life’s lessons. We all like to help others, but take caution then next time a situation like this presents itself.
Should my roommate's boyfriend have to pay rent?
I moved into an apartment with my best friend about a month and a half ago. She was single at the time. Then about 2-3 weeks ago she started dating a guy that we work with. Ever since then he has stayed at our house every night. He showers here, keeps clothes here, and does his laundry here. Everyone thinks he should be paying rent, and I've said that he needs to but Mollie says "well we were the ones that got the apartment and he doesn't even have a room" so he shouldn't have to pay. He says he has his own apartment (which Mollie never been to) and that he'll be paying rent at 2 places. Not my problem! I shouldn't be having to pay for him to live here and I'm getting tired of it. Do you think he should be paying? What should I say to Mollie to let her know I'm serious?
How can i ask my friend nicely if he has the rent?
Tell your friend that the rent is overdue and that you don't have the money until two weeks later, and ask your friend to prepare the check and you'll pay back when the money is ready.
I have a friend who needs help paying rent and doesn't have a job? What can they do to avoid being evicted?
I practice landlord tenant law on a regular basis and I can tell you from experience what not to do:Don’t ignore the landlord. Talk to them about the situation. Many are usually willing to give you some leeway if you’ve been a good tenant in the past. Good tenants are hard to find; landlords will go out of their way to help if it means you will continue to be a good tenant.This assumes a great deal as I don’t know the entirety of the situation, but as a landlord/tenant attorney I can tell you that 90% of the problems crop up when the tenant refuses to talk to/acknowledge the landlord.A few more things you should be aware of:Start looking into housing assistance. There are many programs (both State and Federal) that can help in this regard and getting started sooner rather than later is key. Find and contact your local Housing Authority.As Jennifer Ellis suggests: look into emergency aid programs locally. Many municipalities have these specifically designed for this kind of situation.Speak with any locally run legal aid clinics about the eviction process. There are many of these across multiple jurisdictions and they can help you understand what you can expect from the process, the time constraints and the specifics of your situation.Keep in mind that the vast majority of jurisdictions in the U.S. take significant time to evict someone. You may have a few months to get things in line before you are forced to move out.Use your time wisely.
BEST-FRIEND/ROOMMATE refuses to pay rent (long story please help)?
So this mess started when my best friend of 15 yrs ask if she could move in with me, my husband and aunt. She wanted out from her parent’s house. She had to move back because of a break up.I needed help with rent. I told her the rent for everyone together was $1,050.00 per mo. I said $300 seems fair the room you’re getting and she agreed! She came to me a few days later and said is there any way I can pay you $200 instead of $300? I knew she was technically without work so I said $200 is fine. But I have never seen her without her cigs, coffee, $150per mo droid phone or gas. Easy to say she has it. But we were friends so I let it go. The 1st mo went good I liked having her here. The rent was due on the 1st I reminded her on the 28th she said she would have it. I didn’t bug her again. The 1st rolls around I knock on her door and ask for the rent.she says “ oh im not giving it to you I want a receipt. Ill pay him later”. I said ok well I’ll make sure he writes u a receipt. She said she wanted to meet him. I said ok will tell him youll set up a time to pay him today. 2 days later she finally pays him.I wasn’t happy. But I was nice. This month!I reminded her 26th on. She said she had it and no worries. I was sure she was not going to make that mistake again. My landlord owns a market my husband and I work there with him of the weekends. Her excuse for being now days late again was she could not in anyway get ahold of him. But she refused to give it to us to give to him. Meanwhile I need to be hospitalized and may need surgery. I know random well it was a shock. My landlord told me he did talk to her and she never showed up to pay and he waited twice for her. She is now over a week late. My husband was very nice. He knocked on her door and he said can I get rent from you the landlord is getting angry. She said “I don’t have it. I couldn’t reach him and I had other bills. My money is first come first serve”. My husband got mad at this point and said “fine then get out”. She tried to say if I were her friend I wouldn’t do this to her. She even said this was the first time this has happened. Is she forgetting last mo. I mean she has only been her 2 mo. How can she forget?I can’t see myself trusting her or being close with her ever again and I also want her out of my home. I want other people’s take on this?!!? if you need more info just explain what.
If I live with my best friend and his baby and his girlfriend should I pay half the rent or should he pay more and I pay less?
My personal opinion? I think rent should be paid per room. If your friend and his girlfriend are using two rooms because the baby has a separate room, then they should be paying for 2 rooms.Sometimes apartments have a master bedroom, which is bigger and nicer ,than the smaller one, and the person who gets the larger bedroom pays a little more in rent. Not always, but sometimes.The utility bills should be divided between the 3 adults.That’s the way I think seems fair, but it all depends on what the 3 people think works for them. There are many permutations on possible arrangements, and it all should be worked out ahead of time, so no one feels that they are being taken advantage of.