I am in need of some law advice.

Submitted by lolahey t3_zsxzn2 in washingtondc

Is this legal and binding? Edit: the sublease was illegal

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"Your call to the landlord company, because you’re an illegal tenant and by law not a tenant, has expedited your move out and is now being processed as a legal eviction to vacate the premises as the agreement between me and the corporate office is being terminated. I spoke with Ms. Rivers and the advisement of the corporate office is for me to make the determination and this is the agreement we reached.

That stated, you have 72 hours to remove your belongings from the premises and by law you have two more weeks to move out of the space as your 30 day notice was presented prior to this. I gave you ladies until February and your phone call unfortunately pushed up your date as the corporate office does not wish to honor the agreement I offered you.

I have contacted 7th District police department to ensure I am within the law, the corporate office is aware and in agreement, and a law enforcement officer will be accompanying me as an escort to regain possession as the superior (legal) tenant to ensure you are allowed to safely access and remove your belongings. Your “sublease agreement” that you spoke about should be reread at titled Sections “Events of Default” and “Remedies”. Also note point 13. Which states upon expiration or termination of the MASTED lease, which is mine, all other obligations are extinguished. An additional clause states either party may terminate the sublease agreement at anytime by providing a 30 Day Notice. I attempted to be fair as a friend and unfortunately your choice prevented that. Please expect law enforcement and mused to enter the premises within the next week. "

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88138813 t1_j1anrm2 wrote

  1. Talk to OTA ASAP

  2. Even if you blatantly violated the terms of the lease, there's a (very long) process that goes into formally evicting a tenant. It's not like 1 lease violation and your lease is instantly null and void. To me, it sounds like the landlord is trying to scare you into moving out on your own so she doesn't have to deal with the long formal eviction process.

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tealccart t1_j1bdlhx wrote

Agree. Eviction cases go through landlord/tenant court and the cases I’ve seen take about 6 months before there’s an eviction. Furthermore the police (MPD) do not carry out evictions, the U.S. Marshals do. OTA keeps a list of scheduled evictions that is updated at least monthly. Here is the latest list: https://ota.dc.gov/page/scheduled-evictions

Please also familiarize yourself with OTA’s evictions page: https://ota.dc.gov/page/guide-eviction. This page specifically says “Judicial process is required for all evictions. Any eviction must be pursuant to a court order, and must be scheduled and supervised by the US Marshals Service.”

And, most importantly, that OTA link says: ”Self-help evictions (where the landlord attempts to evict a tenant without the involvement of the US Marshals Service) are not allowed. Contact the Metropolitan Police Department if a landlord attempts a self-help eviction.”

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lolahey OP t1_j1asto2 wrote

What should we do in the mean time? I am out of the city for the holidays.

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LessDramaLlama t1_j1bdp0h wrote

As much as ditching your celebration would suck, your holidays are going to suck more if you lose your belongings. You might be able to stop the eviction, or you might be able to prove it’s illegal and get some sort of remedy after the fact. Regardless, if you want to safeguard your stuff, it’s probably best to be back in DC.

Whatever happens, it sounds like you’re losing your housing within the next few months. Time to get a storage unit and make plans to stay somewhere until you lock down a more stable situation. Probably best to apply for new apartments before an eviction potentially hits your credit report.

But, yeah, contact OTA as soon as possible. That may help delay any action taken by the landlord.

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tealccart t1_j1bfg6z wrote

OTA advises calling the police department if a landlord tries to evict you without a court order and US Marshals involvement. I put the OTA link in another comment.

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LegitimateFail3 t1_j1dx2lg wrote

Contact OTA as everyone else has said - (202) 719-6560.

Also when it's cold outside they literally do not do evictions. Evictions, when legal, aren't handled by the "7th district police" but by federal marshals.

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bubba0077 t1_j1cmcjc wrote

Also worth noting, they can't violate the original lease since they were not a party to that lease. A lot may hinge on whether they violated the sublease and whether they were aware the sublease violated the original lease. But IANAL, so see what OTA says (be prepared for those distinctions).

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GenericReditAccount t1_j1alws9 wrote

If your landlord is threatening to evict you, contact DC OTA, don’t rely on idiots on Reddit.

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lolahey OP t1_j1am0vj wrote

That’s the thing it’s was an illegal sublease so I am curious if we are covered by the law.

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GenericReditAccount t1_j1ane7p wrote

Still, this isn’t something you trust Reddit to answer for you. “But xxPissPot69xx said we’re fine!” isn’t gonna get you very far in court. Tenant Advocate can actually answer it.

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IcyWillow1193 t1_j1amyvw wrote

If you've paid rent, you are a tenant, and you are protected. Call OTA.

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leagle89 t1_j1anavk wrote

It also sounds like the person trying to evict you acquiesced to your presence, at least for a time. It may not be enough to convert you into a tenant for legal purposes, but it's not like you were squatting without anyone's consent.

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lolahey OP t1_j1arl25 wrote

There is an entire sublease.

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IcyWillow1193 t1_j1b0ku2 wrote

Money offered, access granted, and money accepted = tenancy.

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brodies t1_j1avruf wrote

This is all the more reason to contact OTA. The more complicated your situation is, the more you want expert advice, and they’re literally the experts and in your side.

That said, yes, you likely have rights as a tenant. That your sublessor didn’t have permission to sublease doesn’t likely change whether you have rights, and you’ll want to talk to OTA about rights with respect to your current apartment, the management company, and the sublessor. It’s not your fault they broke their own lease with the management company to sublease to you, and you probably have rights you can exercise in this situation.

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TheDeHymenizer t1_j1b5fg7 wrote

>That’s the thing it’s was an illegal sublease so I am curious if we are covered by the law.

DC has some pretty crazy squatter rights and it doesn't sound like they provided a legal eviction notice signed off on by a judge so yeah contact OTA asap and don't let the landlord bully you especially if you've been paying your rent.

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LegitimateFail3 t1_j1dylzr wrote

Your lease was legal with your landlord (the "master tenant"). It is the master tenant who is in breach of their lease with the property owner (if they didn't get permission to sublease). There really is no way for a subtenant to know if a master tenant has received permission to sublease. Contact OTA.

Have you been paying your rent? Hopefully something can be worked out with the management company once OTA is involved.

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breview t1_j1bts6d wrote

why do you keep saying this? what was illegal about it?

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CarlosDangeroso t1_j1d1fsj wrote

That's a bit harsh IMO. Other redditors already have said the same thing, so I think you are painting with too broad a brush.

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ekkidee t1_j1aqysp wrote

Yea. You need a lawyer ASAP.

There is zero chance the District is doing evictions in this cold weather. Even more so that it is over Christmas weekend.

The landlord is exposing themselves to some serious sanctions for this letter. They should know better and is probably hoping you won't push back. If they don't have a legal eviction notice -- which you would definitely know about -- then his threats could cause them serious trouble.

The bit about police is all bullshit. No officer will enforce this.

But you need to get in touch with OTA. If you can't do it tomorrow then do it Tuesday.

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mr_fun_cooker t1_j1bk16z wrote

Lawyer here. I’m not going to read your Reddit post. Go get a lawyer. Don’t ask your cousin, your friend, Reddit, or Google. Call a real-ass lawyer. The textbooks for criminal and property law in particular should just be titled “motherfuckers who said and did things when they shouldn’t have because no lawyers.”

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pgm123 t1_j1buzzo wrote

OP should call OTA. Others have said it, but it should be the first step.

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dmpastuf t1_j1e7bxn wrote

"Today is Shut the fuck up Friday, and remember friends, to shut the fuck up"

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LegitimateFail3 t1_j1e8fur wrote

Just a heads up since you are a lawyer. 99.99999% of L&T attorneys only represent landlords. OPs only option will be to call OTA or if they by chance qualify for a low income lawyer to reach out to one of the pro bono groups (who can be helpful - especially when facing an imminent eviction - although they will request a case number for proof). There's literally one tenant attorney that I know of who only reps tenants and I wouldn't really recommend them (having used them in one instance).

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CarlosDangeroso t1_j1d1nzc wrote

Unless you are connected. If you are connected, your cousin could send "some friends of ours" over to speak with the landlady to explain why she was looking at this thing through the wrong lens.

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IcyWillow1193 t1_j1amsxe wrote

This letter is a massive steaming pile of bullshit. They cannot do this to you.

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The_Sauce_DC t1_j1bflhd wrote

The police part is bullshit- by policy there’s no involvement in evictions and if they do show up call for a supervisor.

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Qdobanon t1_j1am2nq wrote

Contact the office of the DC tenant advocate

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stormcloudbros t1_j1bulky wrote

THAT IS SO ILLEGAL. Call OTA and unfortunately you’re going to need to return home to protect your stuff since they’re shady AF.

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LoganSquire t1_j1dt76w wrote

Once you get the immediate situation figured out, you can have a conversation with your landlord and the property owner about how much they need to pay you to vacate. You have all the leverage in this situation - in DC, a tenant can basically stay forever if they keep paying rent. And any rent increase after an attempted illegal eviction could be judged as retaliatory, which is also illegal.

Calculate your moving costs, the needed deposit for a new place, add a couple thousand $ for your troubles, and then offer that you can move out within a month if they guarantee that payment now plus the return of your full deposit.

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veloharris t1_j1awk3y wrote

Real talk advice? Do you have someone in the city who can move and store your things? If you can weather it, the best deal is to just get out of there and find a new place. The situation sounds sticky and complicated and any resolution you reach will likely still be unsatisfactory. If you have no other options definitely reach out to OTA.

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Estoril_BlueM3 t1_j1amyek wrote

It looks specific with references to violations and terms that allow the eviction. The lawful (legal) original lease supersedes any sublease. Not that it really matters (it doesn't), but did the sublease (yes, I know you say it wasn't a legal one) have anything to say on the subject? Are the passages cited in the eviction notice accurate?

If you are on an unapproved sub-lease, I doubt you have anything protecting you.

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lolahey OP t1_j1arpbl wrote

The lease says that either party can terminate with a 30 day notice.

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VoodooGirl47 t1_j1c1q85 wrote

So from what I've read, it sounds like someone gave the other notice. While you should easily be able to fight this at least temporarily, you should definitely consider whether it's best for you to do so, especially if they had given you notice and you weren't compliant to the sublease that you signed with the master tenant.

We definitely aren't hearing the full story even from just your side of things, so there is absolutely nothing that we could even help point out to you. Just call the OTA.

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LegitimateFail3 t1_j1esrcw wrote

Unilaterally? Usually it says that it has to be mutually agreed in writing yada yada. Regardless, there's lots of things in leases that aren't legal. CALL OTA IMMEDIATELY.

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