Boyfriend threatening to sue over wanting to breakup/move out
landlord tenant attorney Pennsylvania Aug 18, 2026
Location: Pennsylvania. I don’t want to go into a bunch of details regarding our relationship and all of the past issues involved, but to briefly summarize it: I’ve been with my boyfriend off and on for about a year and eight months. We separated for a few months after severe abuse of various kinds, but unfortunately I ran into some legal issues and needed a place to live last minute. We decided to get an apartment together and split the lease cost, and he’s the main leaseholder/tenant and I’m just an occupant. I only signed my name once at the end of the lease, so all liability regarding the apartment falls on him. After just a few short days, he has threatened multiple times that if at any point I decide to leave (due to intense emotional abuse/manipulation), that he will sue me for the entire cost of the lease and move back home. He has done this constantly, at all hours of the day. He has also escalated it to suing my parents as well, who have no involvement whatsoever with the housing arrangement. He has also threatened to have the locks changed and/or remove and destroy/dispose of my personal belongings and will claim ownership of whatever I provided. He’s stating that even though I’m not officially liable for the lease, that he can still sue me independently and is claiming it’s possible over the verbal agreement of me living here (nothing is in writing regarding any sort of payments, liabilities, etc.). I’m to the point of questioning everything and have no idea if this is possible. I’m genuinely terrified because I have no money for a lawyer and can’t risk losing all of my belongings. I apologize for the long rant and know it was a terrible idea to think this could work, I was just at risk of homelessness and thought his ”intensive therapy” changed him. Is this possible? Especially if I get a PFA, which I now believe is necessary? I’ve recorded all of the threats to help my case if it comes to that. Thank you to anyone who reads this.
