Revenge of the Landlord

[Player0]

Okay, once again I need the advice of the older, wiser, and more experienced members of this board. To recap on the old story, two months ago my wife and I decided we needed to move in to a new place. We no longer felt safe or secure in our old apartment. We basically rented the upstairs apartment in a two apartment house. I had lived there over three years, and the end of my third lease was to be up 8/2004. I paid rent on time every month, and paid up to 3/2004 before I left. I moved 2/16 so I even paid for two extra weeks. So there was 5 months left on the lease at $775/mo.

We notified the landlord in Mid-Jan that we wanted to move, and asked if they would let us out of the lease. The landlord explained that they would release us from the lease if we paid a penalty of $775 to them by 2/17. I never agreed to this term personally (my wife discussed it on the phone, and she never signed the lease).

I decided not to pay this penalty. First off, we had been checking the papers, and the landlord had placed the ad for our apartment in late january. They also showed the apartment to about 10 different sets of people one Saturday in Late-Jan. In the next couple weeks, the ad was removed, and strangely enough, no other house showings were planned. I assumed the house had been rented.

Also, the landlord has $675 of my security deposit. I felt real poorly about sending him $775, and then having him send me back whatever part of the $675 he felt he wanted too. We moved, did not leave a forwarding address or anything. I thought the case was closed.

This weekend, I received a letter from the landlord demanding we pay $450 or he was going to take us to small claims court. The bill was itemized:

$775 - Early Lease End Penalty
$ 50 - Key Replacement
$200 - Cleaning Bill
$100 - Door Repair
- $675 - Security Deposit
~~~~~~~~~~
$450 - Owed

First off, we were told not to bother sending the keys. Secondly, the apartment was never cleaned when I moved in, and we left it in better conditions. In fact, everything was clean except the movers packed the vaccum before we could get that done. Thirdly, the door repair charge was for something that was damaged before we moved in.

I sent a two-page letter back to the landlord explaining that I was not going to pay for that. However, I was more than willing to simply give him my security deposit in order to cover any lost rent and cleaning expenses, which should have more than covered.

I also outlined the reasons I felt that the lease was nullified due to his incompetence, and stated that I would countersue in small claims. First off, I have video evidence of the state of the apartment before and after moving in. Secondly, the heating system was broken, and we froze our butts off this winter, and i think from what i read thats enough for us to move out. Also, the roof was in serious disrepair, and had already caused us over $1000 in damage to our bedroom. It took him a week to repair the damaged shingles, which is what cause the serious leak. I would say that I have okay evidence, however if I have to seriously defend myself against a lawyer prepared offence, Im not certain.

I have not been to court before, well, small claims anyway. I am not sure if I need a lawyer there, or should seek council before hand. Im not sure of proceedings, I'm not sure what i need to do to prepare, and I'm stressed and nervous about this whole thing.

However, I AM NOT going to back down this time. I back down a lot in life. However, I feel that my ex-landlord is nothing more than a greedy slum lord. He left me out to dry literally when he neglected to repair my roof before a rainstorm a week later. He refused to make any improvements to my bathroom, which was absolutely disgusting. In fact, he had made no efforts to repair or improve anything in almost 4 years, but had no qualms about raising my rent $100.

I have no problems paying for something that is fair. I will pay REASONABLE cleaning bills ($200 for his kids to clean the place, and $50 for the keys is insane, and I wont pay anything for a door I didnt break). However, he failed in his duties as a landlord. I mean, we had to have 6 comforters on our bed to stay warm some nights because the steam-heat would simply shut down at 3-4am when it ran out of water. I had electrical boxes hanging out of the wall. And I was worried that at any moment, the place would fall down or spring a leak and cost me another few thousand dollars. That was NOT how I wanted to live the next 5 months.

So I took a risk, and I'm taking a stand. Any legal advice would be greatly appreciated, Im in way over my head.

[Synthohol]

i will get into it more later but right off the bat, #1 you were not provided with a "walk-through" before you left which you are entitled to, 2, cleanup fee is BS, there is allways a reasonable amount or normal wear and tear on an apartment, you are not liable for this. 3 uck+f him, the money he still owes you for your bed more than covers his BS.
ill be back later for more insight:)

[illmatik]

I agree w/ synth. Did you notify the landlord of the heating problems, if so did he not address the issue in a timely manner? If living conditions were unacceptable you should have (yeah I know hindsight is 20/20, but file it away for future reference..) filed a complaint w/ the orange county department of bldgs, and started to pay rent into an escrow account until liveable conditions were provided. This would have lit a fire under his arse to fix the problem [seeing he has legal and financial motivations to do so] and would have more than provided grounds for a penalty free release from your contract and full return of your security deposit.

Also, it doesn't hurt to fully photograph the place prior to occupation (as I can see you have w/ your current place ;) and after your stuff has been removed and a 'broom clean' job has been performed [according to my experience nyc closings etc]

Dunno if this helps or not, but you can probably make a case if you can prove this winter's heat was inadequate.

[illmatik]

Oh on the key thing. Be very careful there and pay attention to the type of lock and keys used. In security conscious NYC, uncopyable keys are often used (a.k.a medeco, mul-t-lock) where they can only be duplicated by registered owner or in the present of the serial card. These keys (my mul-t-lock's keys are $25 a pop) and my co-op's front door uses a special medeco which costs $20/key. They will charge a premium for replacement (in my case $150) for the inconveniece for the corporation's 'keymaster' to dig up the original key tag and docs and shlep down to have new copies made. From what I'm hearing, I highly doubt that is the case. If you have the keys, mail em back to take more ammo away from him.

[Synthohol]

see, Tom was not even provided with a walk through which is the lanlords responsibility to point out any damage you would be liable for at that time.
i believe any damage found after you left, he has to prove you did but since he did not look over the apt with you...he can suck eggs.

[ralf_c]

your landloard is an @ss.

it looks like your going to have to do your best at small claims court. what the hell is wrong with that fking guy? the roof collapses on you, you went lenient on the dipshit and he decides he wants you in small claims court for some thing so petty. i think his pissed because you didn't pay that penalty. in all fairness he owes you your deposit, damages from the roof incident minus the panalty fee.

[Player0]

uck+f him is right, and that is regardless. Look, I'm a fair and reasonable guy, and most importantly, lazy and a pussy. So I am not usually willing to risk court or other problems unless I feel I have significant reason. I understand that I had an agreement to rent the place for the full year, and that I am liable for that. I am not trying to weasel out of that. Look, if I thought I could have lived there for another 5 months, I sure as heck would of. Moving so soon and without savings was VERY difficult. But, again, it was necessary for our health.

Did you notify the landlord of the heating problems, if so did he not address the issue in a timely manner?

The heating system hasnt been working right for two years. The landlord new, and deducted rent off my downstair neighbors because he had to go in to the basement everymorning and refill the system. ALL the windows were in terrible condition, hardly any insulation factor. So when the heat turned off, it got cold fast. Even with the heat on, if it got above 65 I would have been surprised.

filed a complaint w/ the orange county department of bldgs

Yeah, you are the only other person to come up with that. It's one of the sticky points if my case goes to trial, because it seems as though I went from step 1 to step 10. However, there were many reasons for us to leave. Personally, I didnt feel that ANY action would have brought reasonable results. And would have created more stress on us. Plus our downstairs neighbors were also a source of stress. I am not sure if I should mention that in court or not.

Regarding the keys, they were never requested from the landlord (in fact, we were specifically told not to send them). They are your standard $1 house keys. They had one key. That's all I was ever given. $50 for a $1 key? Just silly.

I am only about 30-40% confident I could win in court without a lawyer, and with a lawyer maybe 70-80%. What I am not sure of is if I am liable for rent once someone else inhabits the apartment.

[ralf_c]

he owes you money, the way i see it. he has your deposit, he says you owe him that $450 bs fee after the deposit but the guy forgot to mention he never compensated you for the roof deal? the dumbass can't leave one enough alone! at the very least you guys should be even.

did you save the receipts of all the stuff you had to replace after the roof deal? you can stick that stuff at him.

[illmatik]

I'm sure if you brought up the heat issue, you can easily convince the judge. Especially try to make the case that you feared a rent increase you couldnt otherwise afford for something that is your right as a tenant (including fully secured doors).

[Player0]

Yeah, I got receipts for the cleaning bills, new mattress, bedding, pillios, air purifier, etc. That bedroom was SO moldy after that, I couldnt sleep without sneezing.

The landlord always blamed me for the roof leaking. Well, sort of. He claims it was my fault for not seeing the leak in time. And that the bed was fine. If you had smelled it, you would have know it wasnt fine. LOL.

[ralf_c]

Originally posted by Player0

The landlord always blamed me for the roof leaking. Well, sort of. He claims it was my fault for not seeing the leak in time.LOL.

what's a load of bullsh!t, stuff like really peeves me. how classic for a slumlord to escape goat a tenant for year of neglect. it is the manager's responsibility that nothing is a miss, my manager asks me about leaks when we get rain without fail! what was your building's manager doing while he managed your building? what planting flowers? gimme a break for crying out loud, some body just wasn't doing his job. that landlord is full of it. make sure you tell the judge the landlord didn't have to sleep on the smelly bed and moldy room. how would he know "the bed was fine"

thank god my apartment's manager set the landlord straight. i'd be supper pissed if was going through that crap your ex landlord is throwing at you.

[Player0]

I was pissed enough to move out. Like I said, that wasnt something simple. Moving cost me over $5000. Something like $1200 for the movers, $3100 for the new places deposit and double rent. Not to mention hundreds in curtains and blinds, cleaning stuff, various odds and ends. And we're not even done unpacking yet. I had to take a couple friendly loans to cover it all, and Im still hurting from paying those back. Not to mention my increased rent, heating costs, paying water and garbage, increased sales tax and internet cost.

So no. Moving was not ideal. Granted, I love my own place now, I feel so relaxed at home and comfortable. And Im a bit closer to work. But, I was going to move anyway in the summer for those two reasons. The reason for RUSHING the move was basically, I thought that at any minute, my house was going to collapse or burn down or leak and cost me all of my possetions, and maybe even my wife. I had every indication that this :mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2: wasn't going to do ANYTHING to EVER imrpove or repair the house beyond what was absolutely necessary, and that he had no respect for us.

The difference between a bad landlord and a good landlord is really just how much they respect you as human beings. NO landlord wants to spend money. But most of the decent ones will do what they have to do, like fix a leaking roof, or buy a liner for a rusted tub. I thought I would need a tetnus shot just to take a shower.

Its got little to do with me being irresponsible. I've rented other places before. I haven't had that much luck either, frankily. A place I rented up in Glens Falls (Near Lake George, NY if anyone is familiar) actually decided to show the appartment while I was living there. Except, they never gave me any notification. I woke up in bed at 8:30am with a strange guy standing over me apologizing. I didn't exactly have pajamas on, but luckily had blankets! The landlord was showing my apartment!! It happened a second time on a saturday when I was in the shower. I had to stay in the bathroom since i didnt have any clothes outside. She had the GAUL to ask to show the bathroom as well to the people. Both times she said her notification was her knocking on my door (and neither time did I hear it, so she just walked in).

The place I lived in after that was owned by two lesbians. One of them came kicking and screaming and bashing on my door at 11:30pm when I was in bed. She was like "Wheres the :mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2:ing rent, you're two months behind and I want the god damn rent or your getting the :mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2: out of here right now! I just got home from work and I dont have time to deal with this immature bullshit from you!" I told her "And I dont have to deal with your harrassment, this is illegal and if you dont leave I'm calling the cops" Shes like "Im going to harrass you as much as I want!!"

Turns out, I wasnt late with rent. Her 'wife' had neglected to write down the two checks I had in their ledger. She came home and was surly for some reason, checked the ledger or somethign and decided to come 'collect'. I didnt get much of an apology. Moved out there right quick as well.

Yeah...shit. I AM having bad luck now that I think back. :mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2:.

[Gregorach]

It's not just you mate... I've never had a decent landlord either, nor have I ever recieved a single penny of any of my deposits back, despite being repeatedly assured that there were no problems and the cheque's in the post... On the whole, landlords are (and always have been) the scum of the Earth.

I'm so glad I could buy my own place. :)