My roommate (master tenant) is moving out of our apartment on July 31st. She’s had rent control since 2007 and we are paying far under market value. I’m interested in trying to stay in the apartment and have expressed as much to our landlord.

I know that I’m a subtenant and so will have to sign a new lease that is more in line with market value. My problem is that my landlord is stating that he can’t even have a conversation with me about it or about a new lease until the master tenant has vacated the premises. Could this be true? I want to get my ducks in a row and find out what the new rent will be so I know if I can afford it or if I need to move. Is there a legal reason that he wouldn’t be able to talk to me about a new lease before then? He’s looking for something in writing that says he can, and I’m not sure where to turn…

I wrote a column a few weeks ago that dealt with a similar issue, “Tenant Troubles: How Do I Get My Former Landlord’s Dead Hand Off Me?” In that case, the landlord was attempting to assign liability to a tenant who had moved out of her apartment. I ran through the reasons why the landlord’s attempt to control the former tenant was silly and logically impossible.

Like everyone, landlords can be silly and illogical. The last time I checked, but of course that could have changed by the time you read this, one doesn’t have to find a law that allows one to speak to another person. I’m assuming that you don’t have some sort of restraining order against the landlord that prevents him from having a conversation with you. If you do, it’s probably time to move anyway.

No, there is no legal reason that the landlord couldn’t negotiate a new lease with you that could be signed upon your roommate’s departure.

But there is a psychological barrier that prevents your landlord from discussing a new lease with you–passive aggressive behavior.

Passive aggressive behaviour takes many forms but can generally be described as a non-verbal aggression that manifests in negative behavior. It is where you are angry with someone but do not or cannot tell them. Instead of communicating honestly when you feel upset, annoyed, irritated or disappointed you may instead bottle the feelings up, shut off verbally, give angry looks, make obvious changes in behaviour, be obstructive, sulky or put up a stone wall. It may also involve indirectly resisting requests from others by evading or creating confusion around the issue. Not going along with things. It can either be covert (concealed and hidden) or overt (blatant and obvious). “What is Passive Aggressive Behaviour?”, by Andrea Harrn, MA, Counsellor/Psychotherapist and Clinical Hypnotherapist

(Please note that this is a British article. We spell behavior without a “u” and counselor without the extra “l”. We also drive on the right side of the road instead of the left. Is this a passive aggressive manifestation of the American revolution?)

Here’s the problem: Your landlord doesn’t really want to rent the apartment to you. The more you deal with him, the more human you become. That makes him uncomfortable. He knows, at least subconsciously, that he did nothing to deserve or merit the rent increase he’s requesting and he knows you know that as well. He’d rather rent the apartment to a new set of tenants who don’t know or care that just last month the rent was $2,000.00 and, magically, unjustifiably, the rent is now $3,000.00.

Like Bill in the kooky HBO series, “True Blood,” your landlord is a vampire with a conscience. He cannot justify sucking the blood of his friends and acquaintances, but he can rationalize the murder of those he does not know. He’s gotta eat fer Christsakes!

In classic passive aggressive fashion, your landlord would rather make up excuses to avoid you. He would rather see you disappear. If you won’t disappear on your own, he’ll make you disappear by 1) By suggesting a rent increase that is greater than he’ll ask on the open “market” or, 2) By informing you belatedly that he’s decided to “go in another direction.”

If you protest, or decide to assert any rights you have, beware, that’s when the fangs come out.

Landlord’s dead hand.

My sister and I are original tenants for an apartment in a San Francisco 13-unit building built in the 1920’s. Our lease is now month to month. I’m moving out, she’s staying, and her boyfriend is moving in. She received approval from our landlord for a replacement roommate per your previous posts recommendations. Included in the approval email the landlord wrote: 

“The replacement tenant will not be recognized as an Original Tenant (persons named on the lease agreement).  Also, rent and all liabilities (including any damages tenants are responsible for, etc.) will remain the liability of the Original Tenants and we will not accept rent from anyone except the Original Tenants.  No amount of your security deposits will be returned during this transition.  Essentially, Jessica is still a responsible party to the apartment.”

I’m interested in the last sentence. Why am I still a responsible party to the rent and all liabilities to the apartment when I can’t move back in at some later time and retain my Original Tenant privileges as noted in the post?

In law school we study wills and trusts. We read about rich assholes who create trusts and wills that disburse assets generations later, for example: I leave one million dollars to my granddaughter’s first daughter on the condition that she marry a goat on a summer solstice that occurs on the date of a full moon. This is called dead hand control–the dead hand of the ancestor reaching out of the grave to control the living heirs years into the future.

As I have written many times, landlords like to control tenants. This is a silly example of a landlord who cannot cut the puppet-master strings. He (or his lawyer) is so concerned about collecting every future dime that he thinks he can assign you future liability even when he knows you completely severed your contractual relationship with him. Impossible.

What if your sister stops paying the rent? She and her BF can certainly be evicted, but the landlord cannot name you in an unlawful detainer lawsuit, because he knows you’ve already moved out. Remember, an unlawful detainer is filed only to seek repossession of a unit. If the landlord names you he will be liable for malicious prosecution.

Are you liable for rent? The landlord knows you moved out. How can he charge you for services which he never provided to you? If he sues you, you cross-complain for malicious prosecution.

Are you liable for damages to the unit? Technically, your part of the security deposit could be at stake, but you probably already arranged for reimbursement of your portion of the deposit from your sister.

Will you be liable for intentional damage to the unit? Only if the landlord can prove that you carved the six-foot diameter goat’s head and pentagram in the hardwood floor under the bed. (I’m keeping with the theme above.)

Write the landlord and tell him that you are not responsible for the tenancy in any way because you’ve moved out. If you want to avoid an accusation of intentional damage in the future, invite the landlord to inspect and note the condition of the unit now.