Does our tenant have a valid countersue argument?

Question

Does our tenant have a valid countersue argument?

Anonymous Jan 18, 2014 5 views 1 answers

We had a tenant who rented a 3rd floor suite. He quit paying rent and moved out mid month without notice. We had a written agreement for 3 months, and verbal (documented) for month to month with 30 days notice either end. WE are suing for the terms of his lease and damages. He is countersuing b/c we had another renter move in. nothing covers this in lease, and it did not change his terms (e.g. he rents his room, bathroom, and use of common areas). the new person lived on a different floor and rented her room, bathroom, common areas.) Here are my concerns: 1.Should we keep his security deposit (in separate bank acct) as he did not pay for Jan rent and lived there half the month? We may not get anything else and he is refusing to pay Jan. 2. any chance he will win?

Kenneth Love · Accepted Answer · 2026-06-15T10:46:55+00:00

The law in these cases, is that when a tenant breaches the lease, he/she is liable until the end of the lease UNLESS you re rent the unit, then he is liable only until the unit was re-rented. So if he moved out in January and to got someone a month later, he is only liable up to that point. Whether he can get his security deposit back is based on what your lease says happens to it in the event of a breach. Also, NEVER have verbal agreements when you have a lease. Even if these verbal agreements are "documented," typically written agreements preclude verbal agreements. It is best to keep all agreements I writing, even if later added to the lease as an addendum.

Does our tenant have a valid countersue argument?

Attorney Answer

Browse by Practice Area

Browse by State