My story:
-Found the boat on Craigslist (housing for rent), moving here to take a new job in SF from Seattle
-Paid $2000 deposit, plus monthly rent of $1130. Moved in November of 2012. Signed a 12 month lease (the Affortable Yacht Leasing lease), thinking it was a landlord/tenant relationship
-Laid off in mid-Jan. Let Theo know I was out of work, and if he wanted to find another renter, then we could exit the lease agreeably.
-He found another renter quickly and asked I move out end of Jan, stating I'd have my deposit back mid-Feb. I moved out on Jan 31
-Multiple attempts to contact him via email and phone over several weeks. Never heard from him again until I tracked him down in person at the marina, when he said he didn't have my deposit and I'd get paid when he had money. This went on for several more weeks until I filed in small claims court on Mar 21.
-On Mar 22 he made up a bogus claim to the Sausalito police that I was threatening him (ironically, it's all the folks in the marina that tell me to kick his ass and squeeze him to get the money; it's not me saying that), and then he sent an email that said he owed me nothing.
He showed up today in court and said I broke the lease. In fact I didn't break the lease, he rented the boat to someone else and told me to move out. He seems to think his AYL lease is water tight, and that he's not beholden to any landlord/tenant rules because he states is for Tangible Personal Property, not Real Property.
