60 day notice of nonrenewal

My son gave a 60 day nonrenewal notice to his landlord company. He accidentally only gave 59 days. He moved thinking everything was ok and now 3 months later we get a letter(from a collection agency) saying we owe them $1184.45 for a months rent he was charged for because he did not give 60 days notice. I tried contacting the landlord company but they say they no longer have anything to do with this because they sold to the collection agency. When we tried to explain things to the collection agency they said they don't have anything to do with what the landlord did or says. We do not feel we should pay for a months rent plus late fees for a month we did not know was being charged. We want to go to court to fight this but want some advice on our chances of getting anywhere considering my son did indeed give 59 not 60 days notice

Thank you
Kelly

If it says 60 and he didn't give 60 then he is w/o a strong point on that score?

Not only that but in many states the notice must coincide with end of a rental period or you will be charged the full next rental period. Not in ALL states but most. That means if you gave notice in the middle of a month...you don't get to just pay to exactly 60 days from then in your case but rather through the next full rental period.

I'm sure it's covered either in his lease or state law. Very few states are "literal day" notice states..CA is one.

So if he gave notice on the 2nd of a month and paid that month and the next, they "could" hold him to the next full month as well in some cases.

What I wonder about..what about the security deposit? Did they deduct from that too?

About the security deposit. They are now claiming that most of the security deposit was non-refundable money. They only credited $250 of the $600 they recieved. I am really not sure how they get to that.

The answer to this and the rental periods/termination requirements are likely ALL in the signed lease, receipt and other documents tendered during the tenancy and before/after.

While it's nice of you to ask for your son..no one on here can really tell you for your son what the LL did or what the SD explanation means or the termination requirements because WE don't have those documents and I suspect..that either do you - at least not all of them. If you do please elaborate much more clearly as to what exactly they say.

If your son has the documents review them with him. If not...he's learned a valuable lesson..READ EVERYTHING before you sign..if you don't understand something ASK THEN and ALWAYS get and KEEP copies.

Perhaps you need to let your son pursue this on his own..who knows..there may even be "another side" to the story....wouldn't be the first time.

That is NOT meant to upset/offend..just often times it is a reality...

We do have the agreement - including the contract. We would love to let our son handle this himself but the collection agency put our name on the document for collection. They claim my husband signed papers for co-signing. Our name is not on the contract and they will not send the documents they claim they have that include us in this action. My son's original contract does say he has to give 60 days and he only gave 59 days. However, it also says they must inform him if his lease goes to month to month. I do recognize that we may have to pay this but I think I am going to get some legal advise before I just pay the bill.

Sounds to me you don't have the full story or documents. It also sounds to me that your husband signed a "guarantor" agreement which would make you full responsible for the performance of the agreement by your son in its entirety. You don't say he did or didn't. Doesn't matter that your name isn't on the rental agreement IF a guarantor agreement was signed for the performance of that agreement.

It also sounds to me that you are asking the collection company for "backup". That is not their responsibility..the time to do that was before it went to the collection agency when the settlement statement/bill was sent to (probably) your son who likely didn't do anything about it.

I guess you're not understanding the "full rental period" vs literal day thing I tried to explain above..I'm sorry I failed you with that. BUT 59 days is irrelavant if indeed the notice must end at the last day of a rental period. CA is the only state I am aware of that IS a literal day state..might be only a couple others...

I have never heard "must inform you if it goes to MTM" as a term in an agreement. Typically a lease reverts to MTM OR automatically renews for the same term. Again..you can see SOME of the documents and we cannot see anything here so yes if you really think you should "fight" this you should seek the advice of an attorney. Good luck.

Thanks,
You're right my husband can not remember what he signed so we'll have to wait and see. But, the thing is we did not recieve any kind of notice that we owed any money. Not my son or us. The mail is sent here to my address and nothing from St. James Place or Sentinal Real Estate ever came here. And I did not ask the collection agency for the document I asked Sentinal. Anyway I did contact a lawyer and am waiting for him to get back to me. Thanks for the advice

Kelly

Depending on the exact details, since WI law requires that termination notice coincide with the end of a rental period, it may be that he owes an extra money or an extra day. We can't know from here since we don't have relevant info.

I'd also write-have him write a letter to the collection agency advising that the amount is disputed and that he-you will deal only with the original creditor. I'd send certified mail, showing on the letter that a copy went via regular mail.

If the collection agency actually bought the debt, they will respond accordingly.

Security deposits can't be designated non-refundable, though the lease might include a provision that the deposit is forfeit if he defaults.

I'd also expect landlord to answer to why notices weren't sent to the tenant at whatever new address he gave when terminating the lease. Don't expect judge to be happy with them if they don't produce a guaranty. (Not sure why your husband only has a copy of lease agreement and isn't sure of anything else he *may* have signed. If *your* name is on any notice, is it possible your husband forged your signature?)

Wisconsin has some very stringent laws about how leases are to be constructed, etc., to the point where I recall folks have gotten judgments for what they paid for the entire lease period back over some silly (and immaterial) foul-up by the landlord in the lease. So read everything very carefully and compare to state regulations.

Don't know why landlord would have to give notice of the lease going month-to-month, though you can inquire with local real estate attorney whether that counts under WI law as an "automatic renewal". Problem is if this goes to court, someone may not be above manufacturing a copy of such a notice and saying it was mailed. Same with notice about not returning security deposit/damages. Depends how smart landlord is.

http://www.legis.state.wi.us/rsb/code/atcp/atcp134.pdf

http://www.datcp.state.wi.us/cp/consumerinfo/cp/cp_laws/landlord_tenant/lt_relationship_details.pdf

I wanted to update those interested on my progress on this issue. Was given advice on how to dispute the charges and what state statues to site when disputing them. I have sent in a letter of dispute to the credit collection agency, Sentinal Real Estate and St James Place. I was advised that most likely one or all of the companies involved will try to contact me and negotiate a deal. I not I have a form from the "Fair Practice Agency" that I am suppose to fill out and send into the state after 30 days. I at least feel like I am doing the right thing in fighting the unfair costs.