Illegal Sublease Agreement?
I signed an agreement where I promised to pay rent for one month for an apartment as a sublessor. The main part of the agreement is as follows:
•Sublessee shall pay directly to Sublessor(s) $508.75 per month at the place and time provided in the original Lease and ANY UTILITY BILLS during the time of occupation.
•Sublessee agrees to abide by all the obligations and responsibilities in the original Lease, a copy of which is attached and made part of this agreement.
No copy of the original elase was provided, but I have read it now and discovered that it contains a clause expressly forbidding subleasing with no exceptions. Am I legally bound to pay the monthly fee to my sublessor, or am I released since the elase itself forbids subletting?
Re: Illegal Sublease Agreement?
It would be easier to answer if I had the lease in front of me.
However, this is a contract and covered by the law of contracts.
Where there are conflicting remedies, judges frequently try to rule what is the fairest to both parties.
In my opinion, if this were to reach a trial, the ruling would be against you, since you did, in fact, rent the premises. I might be wrong, though, but I still wouldn’t waste time, effort, and money pursuing breaking the sublease.
Robert L. Bennett
Law offices of Robert L. Bennett
2117 N. Baker St.
Bakersfield, CA 93305