I am facing the possibility of being sued by my landlord, b/c I can no longer afford to pay rent, and moving out 4 months prematrurely. I can most likely come up with money later on, so I decided to leave and see what happens. My question is as follows: If I leave w/o paying, I do realize that the LL may sue me and obtain judgment, and I am ready for that. If I settle the judgment, will my credit history be spoiled? Or I can ask them to remove it as soon as I pay off the judgment.... if someone has any idea how this works, please let me know, because if by not paying, I am going to lose monye PLUS my credit hisotyr, I'd rather come up with money now.... thanks
If they actually obtain a judgement it stays on your report 7-10 years regardless of when and if you pay it. If you settle before a judgement is rendered there will be nothing on your report. You are way better off settling before it goes to court, both from the credit standpoint and financially. All the legal penalties can really add up.
Is there any way on this earth you can go to this person and try to talk to them and tell them that you are in a difficult position? I know your personal business is yours, but remember, you don't wanna be sued. I know most people just want their money, and don't care about your personal problems, but I would hate for your credit to be hurt when you could probably just talk to him/her. I know you signed a contract. SOME people are willing to work with you if they know you are sincere about trying to work things out.
If you approach most people and ask to work something out, they will avoid Court. Plaintiffs don't want court either, just their money. Maybe you can come up with a settlement or payments over time. That is what he would get with a judgement anyway. In most states you are not obligated to the rent payments when you didn't live there, especially if the apartment is rerented. Check your landloard-tenant laws. Find out your rights, then go see the landlord with a reasonable proposal. See if he will agree. Make the proposal in writing. If/when you get to court at least you can show the judge you are willing and have tried to work this out. Most judges will cut you a break for that. If worse comes to worse, IMHO judgements are one of the easiest items to have removed from a bureau report. The key is to have the previous address deleted before disputing.
thanks for your reply, Can you please clarify the point about removing judgments from the record? Even if I have my previous address reomoved, how would that help me remove the judgment? And is it possible to stop my lanlord from taking money out from my bank account or my wages, even if he gets a judgment, The thing is I am moving to another country for at least a year, is it possible to get a judgment against someone who is not even present in the country? thanks
One more thing, can a judgment be entered against me, if I am not physically able to go to court, if I am out of country, I thought the plaintiff needs to have a proof of notice. thanks
You have to be served the notice but, depending on the laws in your state, they may be able to serve you "by publication". Essentially, this means if the person seeking the judgment exhausts every possible means to locate and serve you he can do it by publishing it in a newspaper in the town he believes you are in figuring you would see it in the paper. I think I got that right, but then again I'm not an attorney nor do I play one on this message board.
SOMETIMES it is possible to SUB-RENT IT... Find a new renter for the rest of the time and maybe pay $200 + any lost rent before the new people move in...
