My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Chicago
I recently moved to Chicago from Seattle because I wanted to give a new city a shot and was able to find a room through a couple of friends I knew there.
A month before moving, the sublessor's roommate offered the room at $600 a month no utilities for three months. I told him I'd give it some thought and would get back to him in a day or two.
After thinking about it, I tried to reconfirm I understood the agreement--$600 a month for December, January, and February. If in fact I understood his offer correctly, I said my answer was yes, I would take his deal.
Things get tricky here because he never actually replied to confirm our deal. The next text he sent me was a full day later, with pictures of new decorations he put up in his living room--completely irrelevant to what I'd asked him the day before.
So there was an offer, but NO confirmation from his side about what we were agreeing to.
I ended up moving in, disregarding how little we actually talked about how long I'd be staying and what amount of rent I was obligated/agreeing to pay.
I stayed for December and January (paid rent for both months), but ended up leaving on the 3rd of this month, February, without notice because I felt unsafe in my living environment with him (toward the end of January he began harassing me because of my mental health issues. My therapist advised I get out of there ASAP for the sake of my well-being).
I got an e-mail from him yesterday saying that he saw a lawyer and I'm still liable to pay him rent 'til the end of the lease, which apparently includes March as well, but wasn't discussed.
The only proof of an oral agreement that he's using are the same text messages I would use to defend myself. What he was offering was unclear, and because of that, I never fully agreed or gave a clear yes or no. He allowed me to move in without clear guidelines to what he was expecting of me.
In his e-mail he said
"Failure to send payment will result in you having to pay the full amount, my legal fees, and the day off work (which they valued at $500) I'll have to miss to show up in court.
$1140 owed + $500 lost wages + $250 legal fees = $1890 total
They are prepared to put a lien on your car/trust and/or garnish your wages as soon as the judge gives the go ahead."
tl;dr Roommate never confirmed how much rent I was obligated to pay or how long the remaining of the lease was in our extremely vague oral agreement and now he's trying to sue me after I bailed unexpectedly (due to feeling unsafe/being harassed by him). Is an oral agreement still considered binding even though he (the person offering the room) didn't confirm our rent agreement of $600 for three months when I asked? (proof from texts)
I recently moved to Chicago from Seattle because I wanted to give a new city a shot and was able to find a room through a couple of friends I knew there.
A month before moving, the sublessor's roommate offered the room at $600 a month no utilities for three months. I told him I'd give it some thought and would get back to him in a day or two.
After thinking about it, I tried to reconfirm I understood the agreement--$600 a month for December, January, and February. If in fact I understood his offer correctly, I said my answer was yes, I would take his deal.
Things get tricky here because he never actually replied to confirm our deal. The next text he sent me was a full day later, with pictures of new decorations he put up in his living room--completely irrelevant to what I'd asked him the day before.
So there was an offer, but NO confirmation from his side about what we were agreeing to.
I ended up moving in, disregarding how little we actually talked about how long I'd be staying and what amount of rent I was obligated/agreeing to pay.
I stayed for December and January (paid rent for both months), but ended up leaving on the 3rd of this month, February, without notice because I felt unsafe in my living environment with him (toward the end of January he began harassing me because of my mental health issues. My therapist advised I get out of there ASAP for the sake of my well-being).
I got an e-mail from him yesterday saying that he saw a lawyer and I'm still liable to pay him rent 'til the end of the lease, which apparently includes March as well, but wasn't discussed.
The only proof of an oral agreement that he's using are the same text messages I would use to defend myself. What he was offering was unclear, and because of that, I never fully agreed or gave a clear yes or no. He allowed me to move in without clear guidelines to what he was expecting of me.
In his e-mail he said
"Failure to send payment will result in you having to pay the full amount, my legal fees, and the day off work (which they valued at $500) I'll have to miss to show up in court.
$1140 owed + $500 lost wages + $250 legal fees = $1890 total
They are prepared to put a lien on your car/trust and/or garnish your wages as soon as the judge gives the go ahead."
tl;dr Roommate never confirmed how much rent I was obligated to pay or how long the remaining of the lease was in our extremely vague oral agreement and now he's trying to sue me after I bailed unexpectedly (due to feeling unsafe/being harassed by him). Is an oral agreement still considered binding even though he (the person offering the room) didn't confirm our rent agreement of $600 for three months when I asked? (proof from texts)
Subleases: Being Sued by Sublessor's Roommate for Unclear Agreement on Rent Owed
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