Landlord & Tenant

Adjustor Jack: Here's what happened

mjed12 — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:58:46 GMT

Per my previous thread:

Here's outcome of Motion for Relief hearing: Judge recommended stay be lifted so that both parties may pursue the validity only of the initial claim filed by the landlord against me as well as my counterclaim against the landlord. The judge said her attempts to collect money on the judgment, do anything related to such are violation of Automatic Stay. He said he wants the case returned to State Court, determine validity of the case and have both sides heard---then if a judgment is still in my favor, we bring that back to Bankruptcy Court to be in my filing. He said that would be most efficient process in settling the dispute.

Your thoughts on why this may have happened? You think the bankruptcy judge may have felt I have a counterclaim outweighing hers? Or wants to question her original claim I defaulted on?

I think I may need a lawyer now on this one. Your thoughts?

Smoke in apartment

DMS244 — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:03:40 GMT

What are the tenant's rights and landlord's responsibilities when cigarette smoke from an adjacent apartment seeps into the apartment of a non-smoker with asthma? Can the lease be broken under those circumstances with no penalty?

Evidence of Cleaning

DMS244 — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:01:15 GMT

My daughter moved into an apartment in West Reading, PA that was not clean. Now that she's moving out the landlord wants to charge her for cleaning and paint touch up, citing, among other things, a stain on the carpet and marks on the walls which were there when she moved in. Before we pay, can we legally demand evidence that he actually paid money for cleaning and that the apartment has indeed been cleaned?

Mobile Home;landlord right to privacy

Justdandi — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:48:33 GMT

Hi,

I own my mobile home and pay rent in a park. The landlord of the park is having water issues. There is always water running; all year; down the road and it is alot of water. I have been here 17 years, since these new owners took over for the last 5 years, we get a notice twice a year that someone has a toilet or sink leaking or running. We are on a well.

This year the landlord decided that they are going to do a house to house search to find the leak. They said that they are using some type of special GEO tracking equipment and that we have to let them in our homes to find the leak. They also said that we will be charged for using the equipment 45$ plus whatever the hourly rate of the person using it is, plus the amount it costs them to fix the leak. My husband is a plumbing inspector. He says that this is a scam and he has checked our home there is no leak. I have told the landlord this. She called last night at 9 pm said that she would be here today (Saturday) to do the scan and I would have to let her in my home. I was not here. My skirting is apart and not put together correctly.

My questions are these. Can the landlord force me to let her into my home? Can she force me to pay fees for pipes that are outside that need fixed? Is she responsible for the skirting?

Landlord Possession?

RS — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:11:03 GMT

I have a month to month lease with my tenant. My tenant has mainly paid on time. I would like my tenant to vacate the home and they refuse.

All the Lee County Florida eviction forms (3 day and other) seem to only apply to non payment. My lease states clearly that it is month to month.

Am I able to evict and use the same court process even though the tenant rent is paid. I would like to give them 30 days and evict if they do not comply.

Thank you in advance.

Landlord sold all my possessions because I was Late on Rent

utahgirl — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:00:36 GMT

I have a friend who rented a guest room from his landlord. It was set up with no lease and the landlord asked him to pay cash monthly. He was to pay 700 per month and last month was 450 late. On the 21st of that month, the landlord told him he couldn't come in until he paid the remainder. He called him the next day with 200 and asked if he could give him that and than give him the rest in a week (he had just lost his job) and the landlord said no. He also kept his dog and all of his stuff by asking for his key, which my friend gave him. He's tried to call and went up one other time but the landlord never answers. Finally my friend went up there the other night (probably about 25-30 days later). When the landlord opened the door, he said he'd paid someone $200 to haul his stuff to the junk and everything was gone and to leave or he'd call the cops. All of his closes, bed, tv, couch, everything is gone. He did give him the dog finally.

Is this legal and what rights does this tenant have? Nothing has really been in writing so is it going to be his word against the landlord? Should we file a police report for stolen/missing goods first so we have it documented. We don't know what to do. This is in Utah.

advice on renting house

yvette77 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:56:11 GMT

We are moving out of state and plan to rent our house in VA. Would appreciate any advice on drafting a lease, doing background and credit checks.

Subletting Fee

WendyKM — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:35:33 GMT

I live in Nebraska and I am trying to determine whether my landlord can charge me a subletting fee. They have given their permission for me to sublet my apartment, but are trying to charge a fee for this service. The lease does not say they can charge a subletting fee and I cannot find any law which gives them this right, or prevents them from doing so.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thank you,

T.M.

my apartment has no hot water!

katiee — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:21:31 GMT

my apartment building (6 units, we're all in the same boat) has been without hot water for two weeks now, in addition to having virtually no water pressure. The management company (despite being informed of this since day one) finally got around to sending out someone to write up an estimate today. No repairs made today, just an estimate. The water pressure has always been terrible in this building, we've never been able to do our dishes in the kitchen, since it would take an hour plus just to fill the sink, and the last time we had them send someone out they informed us that there was nothing that could be done save repiping the entire building. that was the last we heard. my question is, since our water bill is the only utiliy included in our rent, how plausible is it to demand a credit to the rent I have paid for this month, because we have been unable to use our water? not to mention I have to drive to a friends house anytime I want to shower wash dishes, etc. Their water bill has to be next to nothing, as it's not limited to our unit, the entire building has no hot water or pressure. No to mention if they have to repipe the entire building, and the management loves dragging their feet, the chances of us having our water back anytime in the next month seems unlikely. If I was able to request a credit, how would I do that? are there any specific tennant laws/rights I can cite to back this up? Any advice is appreciated.

Tenant Judgment in Bankruptcy Case

mjed12 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:31:48 GMT

Hoping Adjustor Jack has a good recommendation on this issue. You will see my other posts but this is really applicable to this forum only as of now.

My previous landlord's default judgment for me breaking a lease is in my Chapter 7, I am pro-se. I am awaiting discharge of all my debts and the trustee has filed the report that I am exempt from having property taken from me to satisfy creditors.

The previous landlord is filing an adversary proceeding. She "believes" when I initially rented to her I gave her an landlord reference that was a "friend". She never called this reference I gave her informally, took an application or anything from me confirming my employment, nothing. She just maybe liked me and handed the keys.

She now wants to go back and do a credit check, call the reference and see what my situation was prior to renting to her. She is claiming I rented from her on "false pretenses". What false pretenses, I went there viewed her apartment, she said I could take it if I had the deposit.

My claim is this: she can't go back and do a check now. She should have did it to protect herself. Not my fault she just handed me the keys and trusted me that I would not break a lease or end up filing for Chapter 7 due to income loss and have to move out of highly priced apartment. Although yes, I sympathize with her loss of money, at same respect isn't it her risk to conduct screenings?

She is trying to do ANYTHING to get this claim paid by me in installments. She is bringing in every avenue possible.

My thought is she has no leg to stand-on? Without an application, credit check or anything done by me in the beginning- what can she really do now?

How to get back security deposit

NH2479 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:58:13 GMT

we have vacated the appartment on July 31st 2009 and sometime in September we have received letter from previous appartment leasing office saying that I will receive $400 back(after calling them multiple times)... so far we haven't received any security deposit back... we don;'t know what to do...I called them many times and every time we get response that they will clear in 2 weeks...

Deposit

djm1951 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:21:55 GMT

Good Morning. This is for Ohio. My niece and her fiancee' put a deposit down on an apartment. They changed their minds and went to get their deposit back and they were refused. This was within 3 days. Is this legal or do the apartment office have to refund them? thanks.

Doug

conflicting traier liens in a mobie home park

LL George — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:34:48 GMT

I own a trailer park in RI and one of my tenants has just moved out and told me she is abandoning her trailer on which there are UCC filed liens by the bank, the local city (for back taxes on the trailer) and me for back rent. The trailer is not worth enough to satisfy everyone. The bank is not foreclosing as they say they have access to some (escrowed?) funds to keep them current for the time being; the town feels they come first on any proceeds and are just waiting for someone else to act and the only thing I know how to do is to evict the tenant/owner but she has already moved out and I am not sure this resolves the issue of the liens. How do I get this resolved (if possible without spending months or years in court)?

without prior notice of termination, eviction app filed HELP

waynecool — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:17:10 GMT

Hi sir,
I really need some help for this. In October, my brother went to pay the rent as usual with his cheque at MetCap Living management (Toronto). The cheque was accepted initially but was rejected few days later saying that only the tenant cant pay by cheques. My brother was confused and went back to the management and told them he was the one paying the rent all along and asked them to double check the situation. The cheque was taken once again and a week later, it was returned again, saying that only tenants can pay the rent. So I fished out my lease agreement and realised that I am the tenant and my brother was the occupant. It was already more than 2weeks into the month by that time. I was having midterms so I told the management that I will try to get the cheque soon. So I found a day when I was free to go to the bank and order a cheque book. The bank told me that it would be sent to me in 2 week's time. Eventually I recevied the cheque and paid the rent on the last day of the month.
Soon after, I recevied a mail in my mailbox saying the landlord filed an application to evict me because I did not pay my rent. I thought it was a warning but no, it was an actual application already filed. I had to pay the rent (which i already did by then) and a $170 application fee for the landlord's application fee if I do not want to go to the hearing.
I thought it was unfair because through out the whole incident, I was not given a warning or a termination date that I would be at risk of eviction. I have never even heard of such an eviction application by the landlord in my life. I went to the government website to check such cases out at http://www.ltb.gov.on....
and indeed, I was supposed to receive a termination date in a notice before I could be charged. Right now i want to see if I should fight for the case because I am a poor student and do not have adequate financial support to spare for such cases. The landlord said I will have to pay $330 if I lose the case, and I am not even sure how she came up with that amount.
Right now I am afraid they might make up some evidence saying I have received a letter of warning with a termination date on it. Because I did not receive it does not mean that they can not claim that I did. That is the only worry I have. What should I do now?
Xavier

NH - Roomate is doing drugs, how do I get out?

Tsweet — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:28:32 GMT

If I moved in/signed the lease for a year within a month of finding out my roommate is buying and doing drugs in my apt and I want to get out of this situation, what is my best course of action without incurring penalties for breaking my lease?

If any more information would be needed or if anything in unclear please let me know, I’m just trying to keep it simple. Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Help RAW SEWAGE!!!

proudmommy — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:10:11 GMT

Ok, my best friend has this issue with her apartment building that the apartment complex is well aware of and she wants to break her lease because of it. Can somebody help or give any advice if this is a lease breaker and who she should call to get the issue fixed? This is in Texas.

Multiple times her toilet along with the other tenants in this buildings have backed up onto the carpet. We are talking about *** and urine backing up onto her carpet. Like I said earlier this has happened multiple times before. She was awaken yesterday morning by a contracting company who wanted to come in and wet vac the THREE INCHES of sewage that came 4 feet into her apartment. Apparently somebody else called it in and the apartment complex sent this company in to vacuum up the sewage. They did not clean the carpets or do a very good job of getting it up.

I went to her apartment yesterday and helped her clean it up to the best of our abilities. We rented a rug dr. and sucked up as much as we could and the steam cleaned the apartment multiple times. We know that it is not "clean" but it is better than what it could be.

Her upstairs neighbors who also had this same issue apparently did nothing to clean up the mess other than what the contractors did and the left over mess is now leaking into my friends shower through the ceiling.

She has a letter from the apartment complex dated MONTHS ago stating that they would fix the issue, clean or replace her carpets and she would not be charged for the damage. Needless to say they never fulfilled the promise. This letter is written on company letter head and signed by the property manager.

The apartment complex is well aware of the issue and have stated that the tree roots have gotten into the septic system and is causing the issue. They have not mad any attempt to rectify the problem.

Please any advice is welcome she cannot live like this, with the toilet backing up at least once a month.

Thanks

Michigan eviciton dismissed. why do I have to pay legal fees

mouse0419 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:32:24 GMT

I am in Michigan, and rent a lot in a trailer park. The corporate office was adding all sorts of charges to my account. I had them audit the account, and they found over $400 in mistakes on thier end. They corrected my account and my next month's charge was less then half, which I paid early, before the 1st (due date). It fixed the account. 5 days later they send and eviction notice to appear in court. When addressed, they said ignore it. It was then dismissed in court. They continued to go to the court, had it dismissed, then sent me a bill for the legal fees. Am I legally responsible to pay these fees? When Checking with other tenants of the park, they too had problems with over charging. Which the corporate offices fixed their accounts to. But only to the ones that complained and asked for an audit. how many people had been charged legal fees, to compensate the park for gaining additional income? and why do I have to pay them, or anyone else?

Pennsylvania Holdover tenant and security deposits

holdover — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:53:45 GMT

I was a holdover tenant in a rental unit. The lease ended on October 31, 2008. The property was vacated on November 30, 2008. The landlord refused payment of the rent for November and filed suit. He was awarded posession and one month's rent plus late fees. He continued to refuse a rent payment until the property was vacated on November 30, at which time he accepted a cashier's check for the November rent.

30 days came and went, and there was no letter explaining damages or a refund of my security deposit. I filed suit for double the security deposit. On January 25, fifty-six days after the property was vacated, the landlord hand-delivered to me a list of damages, which I won't go into, but most were bogus. The letter essentially stated that I owed him $480.

He later filed a counter-claim against me for $1630.

After nine months of continuances, the ruling by the DJ was that I was entitled to nothing, and he won his counter-claim.

Did the DJ rule correctly, or should I appeal this?

commercial property woes

jjohnson2009 — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 03:04:15 GMT

Hello, I live in georgia and run a restaurant. I have used 3 1/2 years of my 5 year lease. the commercial waterheater broke and I was wondering if it is the landlord's or my problem to fix it. nothing is mentioned about the water heater in the lease. If I was to sell or close the restaurant, the waterheater isn't something I would take with me and is part of the building.

the lease does state I am responsible for repairs ie plumbing and hvac unit.

any help would be great

thanks

j johnson

security deposit

leyton71 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:33:00 GMT

I am writing to find out what I can do about my security deposit. Upon moving into my apt 5yrs ago I was required to pay a deposit of $400 in which the apt complex kept all of at the end of my tentency. I had requested they do a walk-through before I left and the manager of the complex said it wasn't necessary and said basically all that would do is give me tips of what I could improve (cleaning-wise) to get more of my security back. I was upfront with the manager in telling her all that was wrong with apt..the carpet was shot in which she said not to worry about. The carpet I had was not a new one and they had planned on replacing and I had told them there was a hole in wall from a dresser I had. Then manager said I would be charged to patch them no big deal and also asked if I was a smoker and I said I was...she said there would be a 90$ fee to repaint and seal for a 1 bdrm apt. In last few weeks I was there I went through the entire place cleaning...and cleaned all the walls/appliances/count... to get the nicotine off. The day before i left I asked again if they would like to do a walk through and manager said the girl who was in that particular day was new and never did a final inspection before. So what I did was took pictures of the entire apt to make sure I covered myself and in case the people that came in after to clean up or repair accidentally damaged something I would have the pics to prove it wasn't there before I left. <br> <br> Few days after move I get a letter back from the complex saying basically they used all my security for damages and replacing appliances. The inspection sheet they sent said the fridge/dishwasher&nbsp... yellow from nicotine damage and had to be replaced for $100. Which isn't true I have the pictures that show them being sparkling white. ( I am an ex-landlord and I am very familiar with removing nicotine from the walls - it was basically prepped for them to come in and apply Kilz then repaint in which I said they said would cost $90 and the appliances were free of any discoloration/nicotine) They also said the bathroom vanity counter was covered in nicotine...which again I have pictures to prove it was white and clean they charged me 61$ to replace the vanity. I called apt complex to dispute the charges and manager wasn't in - called back the next day and spoke to manager and she said the fridge was yellow and covered in grease and same goes for the bathroom vanity..I said I had pictures that says otherwise. The manager became irate and said "well I can refund you for the appliances but I will have to charge you for more stuff and basically will cost me more than my deposit to restore the apt back to where they could rent it...and she was doing us a "favor" by not charging me. She said if her boss had found this out she could lose her job if she didn't charge us accordingly. She basically threatened me and I don't know what do. I am at a loss of 181$ <br> <br> Ist off I think that final inspection sheet where they noted all the damages they found is final they can not go in and change things around and add additional charges like she said. 2nd - The appliances/vanity: The fridge (which was kinda old) was cleaned inside and out and was sparkling white as rest of appliances. dishwasher (which i never even used in the whole 5yrs I was there) was old...bathroom vanity was old. I think they charged me to "upgrade the apt" nothing was wrong with any of them. What doesn't make sense if there was so much nicotine damage why didn't they mention anything about the stove ? Only conclusion with that is it was "newer" Any suggestions on what I could do ? Because I feel as if I was screwed and have been threatened if I try and dispute this

Ex boyfriend moved out and left all his stuff

Fedupwithex — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:34:20 GMT

I would like to know what can I do to get rid of the belongings of a person who left the house that we both lived. He left last year in December, I do not know where he is nor do I have a phone number for him. We were speaking back and forth through e-mail but for the last 2 months he is not responding to my e-mails. I asked him when he was coming to get his things and he kept telling me soon. Every time he said he would come he was a no show and did not call. So finally in September I got fed up and put his things in storage, I let him know where they were and how to retrieved them. Also, I told him if he can't come and get them how much he would have to pay for the month until he can come and get his things. He responded to that e-mail so I know he got the message but has not responded to any of the messages since. It is now November, he has not paid the bill and the storage place is going to sell his things to retrieve fees due to them. Can he hold me liable if they sell his things? How much time is reasonable enought before it is determined that he abandoned his property? He is not pay any storage to me nor the storage place and It has been 11 months so far.

Please help,Thanks!

I was given 30 day notice for being unsatisfied!!

C,O,T Mom — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:27:11 GMT

I recently told my landlord that he needs to get rid of the mold and fungus mushrooms that is growing in the house that my children and myself currently reside in. He basically told me that all his houses has these issues, that he doesn't know what to do about it. I then too brought up the repairs that he's stated (in writting) would be repaired within 3months of the day he handed me the letter of I will have all repairs mentioned in your letter repaired within 3 months if you don't agree to the 3 months then consider this your 30 day notice!!! I told him 3 months it is......guess what?....I've given him MORE than 3 months... NOW he says that he's only going to fix what he considers to be an emergency!!! (WTH is MOLD and FUNGUS?!!! I HAVE Sooo MANY PICS of EVERYTHING THAT'S WRONG!!! Can he evict me for not being a satisfied tenant due to him not doing his job? What Can Be Done About This? I've been his tenant for 2 yrs. ALWAYS -ON-TIME WITH HIS RENT!!

Being sued by landlord... terrible situation... need help!

kevinoh03 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:32:42 GMT

Greetings!

Where to begin... OK, my wife and I are being sued by a previous landlord. Apparently, there were damages totaling in the neighborhood of $1500. We are being sued for that, in addition to court costs. The problem is, we left the place about 10 months ago, and I honestly don't remember receiving and invoice. Now, I noticed that the forwarding address that the rental company had was spelled wrong (I can't say whether it was their fault or mine, again 10 months ago) which could obviously lead to a mistake. We've also moved again since then (we're not nomads, we've just had some terrible experiences with landlords) and we did have a mail forward in place.

Considering all of that, the documents that we received were filed on September 21st and they just arrived at our current address today (November 13th), so it took about a month to get here, and we live within the county in which we are being sued. To compound the issue, we have to respond (continua... decide to pay, etc.) by at least seven days to the scheduled court date... which is November 25th, giving as a whopping 5 days to figure out what course of action to take. Just wait, the situation gets even better. It's Friday afternoon, meaning that most lawyers are out of the office, or at least not taking phone calls, and considering the weekend, that leaves us with 3 in which to seek counsel.

Needless to say, I'm a bit vexed by all of this. We're not deadbeats, I'm sure we could come up with the money via some payment plan (I pray that is an option) and I certainly want to avoid any garnishments, defaults, additional fees, and so forth. I just wished we had some more time with which to take this all in and properly deal with the situation. Any help or advice would be extremely beneficiary and I would be eternally grateful to find an expedient solution to our situation.

Thank you in advance,

Kevin

Cut Lock from storage unit

jared75 — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:10:40 GMT

Hello,

I have a friend who has a storage unit that she got behind on the rent. The storage place has "locked over" her unit 3 times. She told me that she has cut the lock off 3 times. Not her lock but the storage company's lock. She told me that she has a pair of bolt cutters in her car. Is she possibly looking at criminal charges? Or just civil penalties? My friend has told me that she doesn't really want the stuff that is stored.

Tenants have many issues w/proj. manager in HUD complex

carrie00beth — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:52:13 GMT

I live in a HUD approved housing complex. Several of the tenants here are having problems with our project manager. There are so many I don't even know where to begin. First, she got a DUI on her way home from WORK because she totalled her vehicle in an accident, which leads to she is always drunk at work and extremely hard to deal with, she doesn't file papers in a timely manner (it took a full year to add my newborn to lease), she has tried to enter apartments when a tenants doesn't answer door, she doesn't show up for work during scheduled office hours (only two days a week) and hands out violation papers when we don't get a hold of her (which is almost impossible), she has stated that if she is not in her office that we need to go a block down the road to an elderly complex (where she also works) to get a hold of her, repairs aren't made in a timely manner, she lies ALOT (I caught her lying about trying to get in my apt. and I know she did cause I was home), she doesn't give copies of the papers that we sign, she has verbally abused a boy by accusing him of setting a fire when he was in school at the time and the police officers who respnded even commented about her coming to work drunk.....the list goes on and on. These complaints are not just my own, but those of several tenants. We have made attempts to contact her supervisor (we were not provided the number and had to track it down through the internet) and he is in Maine which is a long distant phone call and he always sides with her and says she the best manager he's ever had and threatens us with eviction if we continue to harrass her. We think we deserve to be able to talk to her civilly (without her being intoxicated), her showing up for work during office hours and our paperwork done timely. What can we do about this situation?