Sub-Leaser Stopped Paying Rent. How to evict legally?

Question

Hello,

Thanks for taking the time to read this and any advice you can give. I'll outline the situation below.

-The apartment being sub-leased is in Syracuse, NY.
-It was a verbal agreement, made between a friend acting as a proxy for me, and Person A and Person B. (I am not in the state)
-I unfortunately did not get anything in writing.
-Person A was paying rent to first my friend (who sent to me), then to my Land Lord directly. So there is proof of a verbal agreement.
-This year, I took over payments, Person A was always late. Then Person A stopped paying rent and has refused to contact me despite people speaking to him directly and handing him letters for me.
-I just discovered Person C is living in the apartment now with Person A. Person B moved out. I never gave approval to a new person to enter the sublease. Person C claimed to be a "bad person" and with nothing in writing, doesn't have to pay rent.
-Person A, B, and C never filled out an application with my Land Lord, which the Land Lord claimed was state law. They were told to do so.
-The apartment is partially furnished.

Since this is a sublease agreement and verbal, without a defined end date (could be considered month to month in that sense), I believe all I need to do is give them 30 day notice that the sublease is ending? Or then do I need to go through court?

I plan to be back in state, in July (lease also ends in July), so after the 30 days has passed... I plan to be in my apartment till lease ends (so court would take too long, anyway). If they refuse to leave, could I just report them for trespassing? Technically, since they are in there by violation of state law (didn't fill out application with Land Lord and Person C never asked for my approval), can't they be considered trespassers?

I plan to take them to civil court to try and recover what's owed, but going to do that after they are out of my place and away from my stuff. Getting them out is the main concern.

On that note: Any law against having someone on the lease go in to the apartment and collect some of my things I don't want them damaging?

Thanks for any input provided, and yes... I do plan to consult a lawyer too for the civil suit, just hoping to avoid the cost of eviction since I can't really afford it at the moment.

Account Closed · Answer

When you sublet, you become a landlord.  So, since you are a landlord with tenants who are not paying rent, and who do not have permission to be there, simply evict them all.  You don't have to know all of their names.  Just list the ones you know and a bunch of John and Jane Does.  That should cover everyone.

You can hire a local attorney to handle the eviction for you, or do it yourself.  You can hire a process server to serve the occupants, or you should be able to just post the eviction notice on the door.

Note to landlords reading this: This is another great example of why month to month agreements are better than leases.  If you force a tenant to be responsible even after he wants to move, then you will be dealing with messes like this.

Alex Jones · Answer

And I have now been informed by the Land Lord, that a third person has been living there since March, so the rent increased by $300. However, they never provided any notice nor did I ever give permission for three people to stay in the apartment.

The lease does say they charge $300 extra for a third person, but I can't believe it would be legal to increase it without notice, and without checking with the legal tenant if they approved a third person subtenant.

Trusted the wrong person and dealing with a slum lord. Loads of fun all around.

Alex Jones · Answer

They actually had been paying on time for about 5 months, then it started going south.

The Land Lord already knows and will be changing the locks the day the lease ends. But I want to be in my apartment that I am paying for in July. So time is a factor, and yeah, the situation is messy. Seems completely unfair that I legally can't just remove them, since there is a person there I never approved to begin with.

Just hopeful I can get lawyer / court fees covered in any judgement.

Thanks for the responses.

Cerwin Haynes · Answer

This sounds like a somewhat convoluted situated that got real messy.

If I understand this correctly, you sublet your apt to two people, with a friend handling the affairs for you. Doesnt sound like either you or him screened properly for sub-leasers - you have to act like a landlord and find people who are most likely to pay rent on time every month. You said that person A was always late - that's was an initial red flag right there. It also sounds like person B was the responsible one(?) and they left, leaving you with two non-paying subletters in A and C.

It's the landlord's responsibility to evict, but *you* have been paying him or her every month on time, and its still your apt. So why would he/she evict? I agree with Greg that you'll need a special lawyer thats well-versed in subletting to advise you. Verbal agreements are legally binding, but you'll need a paper trail (payments/receipts) for proof.

As far as the eviction goes, if I were you, I would talk to the landlord and let him know you will not renew the lease after July. Once July ends, the landlord will need to serve a Notice to Quit which gives all tenants 30 days to move.

Thomas S. · Answer

With or without a lease they are still legal tenants in most states. You will need to go through the formal process of eviction if they do not leave. This will be likely as they are living for free and will want to continue to do so till evicted.

A landlord from NY state will have specific info on evicting but most likely you will need a specialty lawyer to handle the eviction.