Schmitt v. Force (2011)

Citation: Schmitt v. Force (2011)
Parent Document: Schmitt v. Force (2011)
Jurisdiction: Vermont (state)
Effective Date: 2011-03-10
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4489909/schmitt-v-force/ ↗

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With respect to the residential lease agreement, Judge French held it to also be void and
unenforceable. As an offshoot of the romantic relationship, the Court deemed suspect Schmitt’s
claim that the lease was a voluntary agreement with separate support in the mutual
understandings of the parties. The Court found Force’s account credible when she stated that
Schmitt assured her that there was no need to rent the sewing room to a third party, and that
Schmitt would accept housework in lieu of rental payment from Force. The Court found that
Force did in fact provide such housework prior to the filing of the RFA by Schmitt, which
constructively evicted Force from the home. Moreover, the lease was executed after the two had
already been co-habitating, and almost a month after the two entered into the “mattress contract.”
Additionally, Schmitt did not collect a rental security deposit from Force as stipulated in the
lease, which further indicated to the Court that this was not a serious landlord/tenant
arrangement, and thus should not now, after the relationship has failed, be enforced.

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