Background:
I’m renting a basement apartment in a private house from the owner.
I’ve been paying rent monthly to him via an oral agreement—there is no paper lease.
I could produce facsimiles (jpegs from my bank) of my rent checks if needed for the year I’ve lived there to establish this. I also pay utilities.
It turns out that he had been stalking and harassing his ex-girlfriend and the cops showed up with a search warrant for the house and an arrest warrant for him 2 weeks ago.
After an interesting morning involving the cops raiding the house with guns drawn early in the morning and taking him away in handcuffs–charging him with various felonies as I later learned, I wonder where I stand legally.
The cops photographed the house and took away evidence; they told me that my basement apartment wouldn’t be searched since I was just a renter, but they went through my apartment anyway looking for “weapons”.
I think he may have fled the jurisdiction. I haven’t seen or talked to him since he was released later that night. But when he did come back that night, we talked for about 15 minutes (he had to call his current girlfriend and didn’t have much time for me), and he told me that he might be “going away” and that I shouldn’t worry about rent and that I should just open his mail and pay the utilities.
I also specifically said to him that I didn’t want to know anything about the case and charges (i.e. don’t tell me whether he did this shit, and according to the probable cause in the search warrant—they have him on video tape, so, yeah, it looks like he may have done what they charged him with) because I don’t want to go to court and testify that I have any specific knowledge about this. If I don’t know anything about it as fact, what can I really testify to? I will not lie in court under oath, so I didn’t want to know.
Now, I thought “going away” probably meant jail time for him and that he wanted me to maintain his house and pay the bills while he was locked up. I had no idea he might be taking off—and I still don’t know where he is. It’s conceivable that he got out and went to the ex-girlfriend’s place and got busted without bail, or he could have fled. I don’t know.
My questions are:
If he put up his house as bail collateral and he has skipped, what are my options if I come home from work one day and find the place “confiscated” by the bond holders or local sheriffs. The jurisdiction is Prince George’s County, MD.
Do I get some time to get my stuff out—like 30 days? Even without a paper lease?
If he contacts me, do I have to report any communications to the police, assuming he’s fled?
To be honest, this is an old house and I’m wondering about firing up the radiators.
If I send an email asking about this and he’s a fugitive—is this illegal? He’s technically not a fugitive until he misses his court date, right?
If he is a fugitive, can I communicate with him at all without legal jeopardy to myself?
His hearing isn’t for another week or two, is there a legal difference as to talking to him before versus after his court date–assuming he misses it?
I’m just a renter in this house and have nothing to to do with the landlord’s legal problems–how do I make sure his problems don’t become mine?