Annarbor.com- Demens and BooBoo sued for $10,000 in back rent

Submitted by NorthSideBlueFan on

http://www.annarbor.com/news/michigan-football-player-and-former-teammate-sued-for-allegedly-not-paying-thousands-of-dollars-in-r/

Ugh. I HOPE it is simply a misunderstanding. Ignore Lee's headline that add's an extra 0, as it is only $10k not $100k.

Not to be a rumor monger, but maybe this has something to do with the PT issue?

pdgoblue25

October 22nd, 2010 at 9:29 AM ^

What kind of landlord lets someone stay at a place long enough to rack up that much in back rent?  I don't know about you guys, but every place I lived in at school required a co-signer for the lease.

We Do Not Sow

October 22nd, 2010 at 10:40 AM ^

I also had a roommate that went psycho on me and up and left. A few weeks after he took off I was served an eviction notice. Turns out the rent checks I was writing to my roommate each month never made it to the leasing company. As I later found out, we were actually 9 months delinquent and it took them that long to boot us.

maddogcody

October 22nd, 2010 at 9:35 AM ^

I might be way off, but I would bet Demens not seeing much playing time has something to do with this, and Demens being a roomate of BooBoo prior to BooBoo getting kicked off the team.

The old saying remains true: "Show me your friends, and I'll show you your future".

I hope Demens has turned it around, and helps get this defense performing the way we all want it to.

NateVolk

October 22nd, 2010 at 9:36 AM ^

Anybody with a few bucks for a filing fee, a paper napkin and a pen can create a law suit. It is immediately public record and then for higher profile people, on the internet.

We'll have to see how it plays out but this very likely is no big deal even if Demens is found to be owing them some rent. 

When I worked legal aid, a lot of times the kids had to leave the property for a variety of good reasons and the landlord couldn't find anyone to take their place. They sued for the losses for having an empty unit.  They'll often sue for the whole amount of the lease even if part of it was actually paid. They sue for the full contract amount.

Might be just a matter of the landlord doing a better job of advertising it. If they didn't advertise it and show it, it isn't the last tenant's fault.

kalamazoo

October 22nd, 2010 at 11:53 AM ^

I was thinking something similar...Demens could have tried to break the lease and prop mgmt said, well, you can't break the lease officially but we'll try to fill it after all other units are rented...(that's the way my complex does it). 

So for those that think, how could you let them get behind 2-3 months?  The answer is that if the complex had other empty units anyway then they aren't losing anything by not re-renting Demens pad.  Plus, they can make a larger splash when an extra zero is owed and when Demens gets more playing time.

joegeo

October 22nd, 2010 at 10:15 AM ^

Is that a person's financial matters are private.  I've coached at the collegiate level before and would never consider a player to be in the dog house if he were having money issues.  Honestly, I think it's shameful that they're talking about it in the ann arbor news and I don't think it's an appropriate board discussion.

kalamazoo

October 22nd, 2010 at 11:59 AM ^

I agree that it is too bad this is public. 

The bright side is that given it is public, we are able to come to Demens defense a little on this board since we know Boo-boo's history.  Perhaps even Demens appreciates that.

Captain Obvious

October 22nd, 2010 at 10:01 AM ^

Who cares?  There isn't a debtor's prison, guys.  He's not going to be running the stadium stairs because his credit rating dropped below 600.

The landlord will come after the players and their co-signers, if any.  They will settle, collect or declare bankruptcy.  Life goes on.  The distraction will be minimal at best for Kenny.

Maceo24

October 22nd, 2010 at 11:00 AM ^

It seems like news to me.  In Ann Arbor, what's going on these days.  You have the elections, the University is building new buildings, and sports=UM. 

So, if a starter on the football team has missed a year's worth of rent and has been on the bench for possible personal issues, isn't it news that this could be why he was riding the pine?

jblaze

October 22nd, 2010 at 11:24 AM ^

but 1) we don't know why he didn't pay the rent (there could be an issue, like no heat); 2) we don't know the portion that is Demens vs. BooBoo; and 3) this is not related to playing football. If this happened to you, would they suspend you from your scholarship or kick you out of school? No, it's just a debt.

Maceo24

October 22nd, 2010 at 1:38 PM ^

I agree that we don't know that it is all or in any way Demens' issue.  However, he is now the nominal starter at MLB and he, legally, owes somebody $10k. 

It may, in fact, be related to playing football.  He basically missed 6 games and nobody understands why.  Admittedly, this is speculation on my part and not hard news, but it is newsworthy, nonetheless.

If it happened to me, it would probably not even be in the paper.  But, I'm also not on the football team.  I'm sure they've been told to keep their nose clean as their failures will be reported on.  Again, it may be not Kenny's fault at all, but I think it is worth reporting.

GBOD79

October 22nd, 2010 at 11:30 AM ^

I am not sure why Demens owes this money, but my first thought was about the NCAA rule of not allowing scholarship athletes to be paid.

Its logical that between school and football Demens has very limited time to work and earn money. Maybe this is why he cant afford rent? Regardless, this may not be an issue if the players were given a stipend each year they are on scholarship. The schools make millions off them while they get sued for lack of payment.

MH20

October 22nd, 2010 at 12:10 PM ^

My brother lived at Hidden Valley Club for like five years.  Decent apartments and easily within walking distance of both the mall/eateries and the athletic complex.

My name ... is Tim

October 22nd, 2010 at 12:35 PM ^

1. I highly doubt a civil issue (like owing rent) would get someone in the dog house. That'd be a bit severe.

2. This is strange. Doing simple math this means that the two of them only paid like one month's rent, and then the landlord just didn't do anything for 12 months? As an attorney who's spent some time mediating landlord-tenant disputes, I have never seen a case where the landlord let the tenant stay on the lease after not paying rent for that long. You can sue after one month's rent hasn't been paid and can get them orderly removed from the premises if they haven't paid after a few months. The landlord may have a hard time getting all of this money since they didn't try to mitigate their damages at all.

3. Demens would likely be on the hook for all of us. Most leases with joint tenants hold each tenant liable for the whole amount. Good luck getting any money from Boo Boo who is sitting in jail with no job and probably nothing in his bank account.

BillyShears

October 22nd, 2010 at 1:40 PM ^

Okay, here's the question. If we think that this was the reason Demens didn't get on the field until last week then that means the coaches obviously knew about this. If the coaches knew aobut this, how did they let this situation continue? Wouldn't that have told Kenny to get this taken care of back in September?