Leases & Rental Agreements

Another security check unreturned case

myok12 — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 20:31:26 GMT

Hi,

My wife and I have recently moved out of our old apartment in NYC.

Our agreement was for two years, and we asked our landlord -- through our realtor, which manages all correspondence -- to terminate it a year earlier, permitting there will be a replacement. This was about two months before our requested termination date. We already knew of another person wishing to take our place, and so everything seemed to be moving in the right direction. And so, we moved out on August 1st, one year after the agreement commencement.

But, without clear reason, the approval process of the new tenant and so the moving in date were delayed until August 28th, even though there was a hefty month and a half time to get everything ready in time. Our landlord says he had lost a month's rent and so don't plan to repay the security deposit. We feel that the landlord procrastinated as he know he has our security deposit (our original approval and moving in duration was 3 weeks, as oppose to this one's of a month and a half). We have paid all rents in time, including the last month's rent, for we assumed we would get our security deposit back.

How should we follow next? Should we just continue sending angry letters back and forth? Should I threat with a small claims suit? Should I actually sue?

Ready to clarify as needed.

Looking forward to your responses.

Not giving my Security Deposit back

khilona — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 17:27:45 GMT

I live in an apartment complex (Metropolis, NJ 07302). When my 1 year lease expired, I got a certified letter regarding the lease renewal. since I wasn't sure whether I wanted to move out or not as I was graduating and was waiting on job offers, I did not respond to that. I kept paying my monthly rent on time.

I got a job offer in Maryland and I went to the office to give them one month's notice. They are telling me since I didn't respond to the certified letter, I have automatically renewed the lease. There was nothing as month to month according to them and they told me if I leave next month, I will be breaking the lease and I will not get my security deposit ( which is 1 month's rent for my studio, 1400$)

Should I hire a lawyer? Do they have the right to do that?

Landlord Never Refunded Security Deposit

Iluvcats — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 18:34:40 GMT

I live in MD and moved out of my home on August 6, 2010. I did not attend my final move out inspection but did take pictures as to the condition the house was left in. I cleaned it up and left it nice. After the move out inspection I expected to hear from my landlord. I did not. It has now been 5 weeks with nothing. I know MD law states the landlord has 30 days in which to notify the tenant in writing if they are not getting their security deposit back and why and 45 days in which to return it. At this point what do I do? Do I just wait 45 days and file in small claims court? My deposit was $1700. I do not believe my landlord has the money to give me and did not put it in an interest bearing account. I know I can sue her for 3 times the amount. How do I go about doing this? Thanks.

must break my lease - safety issue

JoeBob1793 — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 17:43:17 GMT

facts:

have averaged 4-7 scorpions EVERY day since the beginning of summer

-have paid myself for 3 pest visits

-informed landlord of it 2 weeks ago and he says "Gosh, that's too bad. when we lived here, we would only find 6-8 per week!"

-he paid for one treatment last week, and I've been stung twice since.

-was never disclosed scorpion problem

-no treatment has been effective

-i have been stung 5 times this summer

- i have three small kids (7,4,6 months) and none of them have been stung. YET.

-have 2 dr notes stating it's unsafe for the kids-

-have note from my attny saying landlord is in breach by not rectifying the situation in 7 days (per Tx statute)

-i have a half dozen emails to him expressing my frustration

I have a year left on this lease. This place is completely infested, apparently it always has been, and I want out. Have I covered my case ok? I don't really care if he keeps the deposit, I just don't want him to sue me for a year's worth of unpaid rent.

California - Notice of Possible Asbestos?

Desert Diva — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 07:19:25 GMT

I am ready to rent a condo in California that has "popcorn" ceilings. Is a LL required to notify a prospective tenant of the possibility of asbestos in the textured ceiling, similar to the EPA lead paint notice? Can that be addressed in the lease, like the Megan's Law Notice?

Treble damages

Annie2U — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:29:10 GMT

I had filed a suit against former landlord for return of security deposit. Judge ruled in my favor. Landlord has appealed to district court. My attorney has proof that landlord has not used security deposit for repairs as he testified he had done. Attorney is filing motion to amend my complaint to include treble damages. He has tried to explain to me that this is covered in Chapter 75. I'm not following how Chapter 75 establishes treble damages nor how it relates to rental agreements. Could anyone shed light for me?

Lease Agreement Jurisdiction

dipurple — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:54:11 GMT

I have a lease agreement that a New Jersey attorney obtained a default judgment against me. However, when I read the lease terms it states: "Consent to Colorado law, jurisdiction, and venue. This lease shall be deemed fully executed and performed in the State of Colorado and shakl be governed and construed in accordance with the laws thereof, and Lessee hereby irrevocably submits generally and unconditionally to the exclusive jurisdiction of the District Court of County Court of Larimer, Colorado. In the event either Lessor or Leasee brings any judicial proceedings in relation to any matter arising under this Lease Agreement, the parties further agree that such matters shall be adjuged or determined by the District or County Court for the the County of Larimer, Colorado. Lesee further agrees that service of process in any such action shall be sufficient if made by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the address of Lesee as set forth herein." Based upon my reading of this lease agreement term the judgment should have been initiated in Colorado and not New Jersey. Can I challenge the New Jersey default judgment on these grounds?

3 Day Notices & 7 Day Notices

Leelee10 — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:34:28 GMT

I am in southwest Florida and have sent tenants a 7 day notice for not putting the water in their own name. They basically refuse so that we as the owner have to pay the bill then send in partial payments toward the bill. They are also late with their rent. Can I send them a 3 day for the money the owe as well as the 7 day notice?

Termination of Tenancy

lulu36691 — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 01:49:12 GMT

My tenants are on a month-to-month lease. Last month they paid the rent late, but paid it by the middle of the month. I asked them for the rent this month, today, and was told they didn't have it, and did not know when they would have it, possibly by the 20th of the month. The husband said he had just started a new job, the wife doesn't work. This is his third job in a year. Prior to July, they had a $1200/mo. social security check each month for the wife's son, whose father had died. The son turned 18 in May, and the social security stopped in June when he graduated from high school. Since the ss has stopped, they seem to have trouble paying the rent. Feeling uneasy about this, I gave them a Termination of Tenancy and gave the to November 1 to vacate the premises. There are other issues, but they are hard to prove. My question is this - if they bring me the rent before the 1st of October, should I accept it? If they don't give me any rent, do I have to wait until November 1st to start eviction proceedings.

EARLY TERMINATION FOR COMMERCIAL LEASE

Elodie11 — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:22:00 GMT

We have signed a commercial lease agreement of 3 years due to terminate march 2011. However we are trying to get out of it early and in the lease agreement there is no clause mentioning early termination fees. What's more it does say that quote "we shall have the hold the lease premises for and furing the term which shall be , unless sooner terminated pursuant to the other provisions hereof the periof of the3 years"; but there is no clause mentioning no right to early terminate.

can we move out without concern?

Now she is asking for money

insurancemadness — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:25:06 GMT

Property is in Georgia.

I gave the Tenant a 70 day notice (more than required) that I was not renewing her lease when it was due to expire at the end of October. Tenant called me saying that 70 days was not enough time for her to find a place and asked me to send her a letter of recommendation, in which I did.

A week later she called to tell me that she is moving out 'that' weekend and she did. She left the keys with a trusted neighbor. On September 1 (yesterday) she call me asking when will I return her security deposit. I reminded her that there are two more months left on the lease and she said that she do not owe me any more money but I owe her.

In the lease it states that Tenant had to give a 30-day written notice of intent to surrender the property. I received no such notice.

Do I have any legal obligation to give her the security back?

Landlord not acting on written notice of request for repairs

MBR1970 — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 01:32:31 GMT

I am attempting to determine my legal rights to break my current residential lease (Alabama, Shelby County area). The landlord of this residence has failed to provide written notification for repairs, remediation for mold, foundation repairs and the replacement of a heating / air condenser.

Upon moving into the residence, the dual heating systems were not working and were not replaced or repaired for three weeks after occupying the dwelling. Subsequently, they were repaired. Upon the arrival of warm / hot weather, both AC units were in disrepair, found to have freon leaks and were "recharged" by multiple companies before it was determined the units needed to be completely replaced. In the middle of the AC problems, the basement of the home flooded due to weather conditions no less than five times from June 17, 2010 to date (August 30, 2010). Multiple photographs were taken and sent to the landlord, multiple email messages, text messages and voice messages were exchanged to have the flooding problem dealt with.

One AC unit was replaced during the flooding events, however, the return duct work sat in water for three weeks and this particular unit had NO filtration system to filter the air. The AC repair company stated the return needed to be "cut back" up to five feet, raised two feet off the floor and replaced and a filtration system added. The "Landlord" was given the estimate for this work, however, never responded to the repair company and the work has not been done. The second AC unit has a freon leak and has been "charged" with freon three times and the AC repair company stated it needed to be replaced as well. The landlord was advised of this situation and repair need, however, he has chosen not to respond or reply to any contact, written or phoned.

The basement is growing visable mold on all surfaces, drywall is buckled and falling in some areas, crumbling off the masonary walls, and the problem is causing a significant health hazard to me and my three minor children (I have an immune disorder and a daughter with a bronchial disorder). Multiple attempts have been made to the landlord for remeidation for mold and removal of the damaged drywall and other surfaces with no response. Over $5,000.00 (plus) dollars of personal belongings (furniture, new construction items ie: lighting fixtures, plumbing fixtures, hardwood flooring, tile flooring, wool area rugs, etc...), were destroyed in the first two initial basement floodings. The landlord did have his insurance agent come to the residence to survey the damage, but was told as I was told, because it was flooding to an environmental issue and poor maintenance to the dwelling, insurance was not going to cover my belongings or the costly repairs necessary to the residence. The landlord stats he "does not have the liquidity to repair the home." I sent the landlord written notification via certified mail and email that I would be holding the rent until the proper repairs were made. Since that date, the landlord has sent a "foundation specialist" to determine an estimate for repair (which was between $14 thousand to $20 thousand dollars, with foundation repair on the exterior and interior, gutter re-routing, drainage installation, etc...). I have since had ZERO contact with the landlord regarding repairs or remediation.

I have secured another residence and will be moving due to the extreme health hazard I am exposed to, lack of a working AC unit in the bedroom dwellings of the residence and failure to abide to the original rental agreement. In short, what legal recourse do I have to obtain my deposit back, pay for moving expenses and possibly replace my belongings lost due to the flooding? Also, should I go ahead and contact an Attorney due to the extreme problems listed herin?

Thank you in advance.

Former co renter skipped rent, creditors contacting me

ryanbonline — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:21:13 GMT

My former roommate (co-renter, on lease) refused to pay a month of rent and now the creditors are holding me responsible for the remaining amount. I have already explained to them this situation and they have responded claiming that they have made attempts to contact him and that I am still "jointly and severely liable for each provision on the lease." and thus am responsible for the remaining debt. Some time has passed and they have sent it off to a debt collector, who is also demanding full payment from me. The unfortunate situation is that I, at the time, had no checking account so i paid my portion of the rent in cash to my roommate (however he had his checks written by his mother) so there are no records of my payment. I had contacted my former roommate between time and told him he needed to pay the amount, to which he said that he would give me the money and that I could do it, I told him that was his responsibility and not mine. Obviously he never did pay, and it seems no real effort was made to contact him because a relative of his was working for the original company who owns the apartments we were renting from. My intent after receiving the letter from the debt collector is to contact them (debt collector) and let them know the telephone number that I have of my former roommate so they may contact him (I'm not sure how well this will work as he has a history of changing phone numbers due to poor credit). I guess ultimately I am posting for any type of advice on how to resolve this unfortunately convoluted issue, and any assistance would be helpful and greatly appreciated.

Im co-renter on lease agreemnt with my now Xg/f & want out.

mjoyl — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:47:54 GMT

I live in Columbia, S.C. & im a co-renter on a lease agreement for a two bedroom apartment tha i shared with my (now X-g/f)girlfriend, the other co-renter on the lease. We moved into the apartment 2gethr & both signd a joint lease agreement in Nov of 2009 & the lease agreement wont be up until Feb of 2011. But after a few months of living 2gethr, we wern't getting along at all & it wasn't working out, so I broke up with her in July of 2010 & I moved out of our apt in mid July. Id already paid my 1/2 of the rent for July & I didn't wana leave her hanging & was trying 2 do the right thing, so I went ahead & paid my 1/2 of the rent for August too, even tho I wasn't gona b living there anymore. Now shes stayn there by herself & says she expects for me 2 continue 2 pay my 1/2 of the rent until the lease is up or she'll take me 2 court for 1/2 of all the rent due for the remainder of the lease agreement. I talked 2 the apt managment about me getting off the lease early & they said that my xgf would have 2 sign a form releasing me from the lease early which she refuses 2 do. I checked into it and read over our lease agreement and according 2 the lease, we can both break the lease if we give a 60day notice, but we BOTH have to agree to break it. We'd just lose our deposit, which is no big deal, because it was only $200, because i have really good credit. Our rent was almost $1000 a month, which we each paid half of each month while we were both still living there. I have tried really hard to work this out with her and to be reasonable about it, but she refuses to compremise, because she is angry because I broke up with her and she did not want to break up and now she is being spiteful about everything. I already paid half of August's rent and was willing to pay half of September's rent inorder to give her time to either move out or find another roommate if she wanted. That would have been over 2 months notice. But she says that she doesnt want to move out and she doesnt want another roommate either. She wants me to continue to pay half the rent for the remainder of our lease even though I am no longer living there. So i have not paid any more rent since I paid for August and do not plan on paying anymore, because it's not going to do any good anyway. I just want my name off the lease and I want to be done with this situation, but I can not afford to keep paying rent for several more months at a place i am not living. She says she is going to take me to court if I do not continue to pay. Can she actually sue me for half of the rent due for the remainder of the lease agreement? And would a judge actually award her that? What can i do to make her let me off the lease? Like I said before, this is in South Carolina. So if somone who knows SC lease laws when there are co-renters involved could give me some advice and let me know where I stand on this with SC law, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

Duplex With Pool

JPINVEST7 — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 04:18:41 GMT

Hi,

this is my first post hopeing someone can help me. I am looking at a house(duplex) to buy in the state of Florida the duplex has a pool between the two units. One unit is a 3B-2B and the other is a 2B-1B so I am sure if I rent these units out I will have kids staying there; my question is how do I protect myself from getting sued if someone drowns in my pool?

Is there something I can put into a lease that would help protect me? There is a cement wall around the pool so that kids next door can't get in without jumping the wall.

Thanks

Landlord rights to enter my apartment?

Chole10 — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 16:26:29 GMT

I have lived in my current apartment for 2 years and starting the 3rd this month. I renewed my lease with a management company 3 months ago and then a new company took over and I have had nothing but problems with them. They keep sending me threatening notices that I am late on my utitlity bills when the bill due date has not even arrived yet. I have confronted them twice.

Yesterday I came home to a note saying that they had entered my apartment recently to inspect for "beautification" purposes and keeping the complex looking nice. I was left a notice saying my blinds were broken and I had 48 hours to replace them or face a fine and possible eviction. First, the blinds aren't even broken. I checked them all thoroughly and had a friend do the same and there are no problems.

My main concern though is whether or not they had a right to enter my property to do this without a prior notice? I have a standard TAA (Texas Apartment Agreement) lease and I cannot see that they do. If I read it correctly, it seems they have to give notice they will do so or can only enter if there is a threat of danger or emergency or if I call for repairs. Help! If they broke the agreement, I want out of this lease. Is that possible?

Tenant's Lease is almost up. . .

insurancemadness — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:26:16 GMT

My tenant's lease is up at the end of October. I want to send out a letter of non-renewal. Is there a set time that I should give the tenant? I re-read the lease and I did not find anything regarding the amount of time I have to give notice. Is 45 days enough time or is it suppose to be 60 days?

RV Park Rental Agreement and Fees - AZ

donalddenier — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:23:33 GMT

The RV park where I rent a space recently announced that they increase rent and specified an amount. At that same time they announced that they will begin charging separate fees for garbage collection and sewer services citing Arizona House Bill 2123 as their authority to do so. That bill, when enacted into law, was placed in the ARS Title 33, Chapter 10 33-1314.01, a section of law that deals specifically with the rental of dwellings and had all mention of RV parks removed. Chapter 19 deals specifically with the rental of spaces in RV parks.

After reviewing other State Statutes, it appears to me that the RV park owners/managers have:

1. Used the wrong law to justify their actions.
2. Increased rent by imposing a fee that takes effect on October 1, 2008, well before the renewal of our rent period in May 2009.
3. Deceptively masked the increase in rent by presenting it them as "fees".
4. Failed to provide me with a written rental agreement. After two requests for a written rental agreement (ARS Chapter 19, 33-2105) I was provided with copies of my rent receipts and was told that no other document would be provided. The rent receipt does not meet the requirement for a rental agreement described in detail in Chapter 19.
5. Although promised in their announcement letter on June 27, 2008, there were no clarifications or additional information offered, My written questions and my requests for a written response were ignored, and the local manager referred all questions to the corporate office in California.

I have few resources and feel compelled to hold the corporation and park management accountable for compliance to applicable AZ law. I asked the state legislature to intervene and they declined. I filed a formal consumer complaint with the state attorney General, and they indicated that this is not a consumer issue and that they would not take action.

What options do I have?

Changed my mind after signing the lease...

nilaking10 — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 04:00:39 GMT

After I found a place through a realtor, my father and I decided to go ahead and sign the lease, paying the deposit without the property being cleaned up thoroughly to move in. The realtor stated it would be ready a week before our move in date which would be in a couple of weeks and stated most people sign leases before the place is ready. At my current place we saw that our lease would expire one month after move in date and decided we would have to pay for two months of rent because we didnt want to lose the new place. I was uncomfortable with the fact the realtor stated most places are not ready to move in and people tend to sign before hand but still proceeded to sign the lease. We checked out certain measurements for current furniture and saw that it would be impossible to fit in the new apartment. Now we want our money back for the deposit and back out the lease...Please tell me what are our options???

Home invasion, physical assault & theft in my apartment

logontokartik — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 03:03:33 GMT

Hi,

I stay in an apartment complex, Gated Community. The gates were broken for 5-6 months and because of which some unknown people entered the apartment complex. They came to my apartment with a gun and physically assaulted me and my wife and robbed all the stuff from my apartment.

Because of this i was hospitalized, jobless for a month because of psychological imbalance and was forced to move out of the place. My wife who is 5 months pregnant need to go to councelling to make sure she feels secure.

I am thinking of sueing my apartment guys for the above. Can you please advice?

Thanks.

Ex-girlfriend left in a 14 Month lease, can i sue her?

iloveMOM — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:43:36 GMT

Okay, so I went and got an apartment with my Ex-girlfriend over just 4-5 months ago in March. She moved out says that she wants me to take her off of the lease. I literally have this in her own written words inside of my Gmail account. Obviously she has no intention of paying any part of what’s left on the lease. We are signed in for until April 2011. I have 3 questions.

1) Is it possible for me to sue her for the remaining 10 months on our lease, without waiting until the end?

2) Would I really need a lawyer in this case or couldn’t I take her to civil district court and sue her?

3) What happens if she decides to take off and move out of the state between now and next year in 2011?

Georgia Security Deposits

mdrosser — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 02:46:36 GMT

I rented a house and fulfilled the lease requirements. The landlord--a property management company wants to keep my whole deposit of 1695.00. They stated the whole house needed painting again but it did not. There was some dirt on the walls from normal wear and tear such as where the main door opens and around light switches and the hallway. It was not enough to where it could not easily be touched up. I also have 3 small children. I cleaned the whole house when i moved and left it in great condition. The paint on the walls would come off if cleaned, it was very cheap paint.

The law is somewhat ambigious, the landlord has not sent me any form of communcation, a letter, email or even returned my phone call in 30 days. I do not know what they took out of my deposit.

Do i have any recourse?

Can they legally charge me for carpet cleaning as this is part of normal wear and tear? I think it is in Georgia but i am not a lawyer.

I am also a new landlord and own property in South Carolina.

Any help regarding this situation is greatly appreciated.

Breaking Commercial Lease - No language in our contract

Furious Styles — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:22:28 GMT

We had a five year lease that expires in September 2012;

We built a hair salon in a shopping center and business has been good one we realized fairly early on the land lord had no intention of maintaining or improving the conditions of the shopping center.

Over a year ago the first main anchor in our shopping center (a large deli) left.

It is directly next door and has gone unoccupied for well over a year.

We even offered the landlord to take half of it (it was actually 2 units that were combined) for us to expand and he declined.

2 months ago the other main anchor a large gym exited our shopping center virtually overnight.

Our shopping center is now devoid of life.

If we stay here I feel we will go down with the ship.

This has greatly hurt our walk in business now and we can only rely on repeat clients and more advertising.

In my last conversation with landlord he made a passing comment that he "can't be bothered with this place anymore".

Flash forward to this week. I space becomes available in a hugely populated shopping center up the road.

National chains in a busy spot that also would allow us to grow immediately and hire more workers rather than losing biz where we are and laying people off.

I grabbed our lease and looked it over - there is nothing, zero, zilch in the way of language regarding early termination of lease.

At this point I'd be fine bailing and giving him the 2 months rent security to let us go.

He is not easy to deal with and I believe he will not negotiate.

At the same time I don't know if he'd seriously spend money chasing me in court either.

If not could we change our corporate name and walk away?

Times are tough, doubt he will be able to rent the space anytime soon even though we dumped a lot of money into it for him.

Thoughts? Advice?

Thanks in advance.

My rights to apartment access

Satin65 — Tue, 25 May 2010 11:48:17 GMT

My mother lost her home and wants my name & income on a rental agreement to rent an apartment. She does not have the income to qualify alone. I own and live in an RV on the property she was foreclosed on and her idea is for me to pay 'some' rent and live in the RV at the Apartment complex.

My mother intends for her alcoholic boyfriend to live in the apartment with her. He has no income and drinks her money away which is the reason she lost her home to foreclosure.

He is extremely controlling and refuses me access to the foreclosed property after 10pm (even to use the toilet), I am not allowed to cook inside or have any visitors. She lets him get away with this as she 'doesn't want to be a lone'.

My questions are these.

If my name is on the lease, I want one of the 2 bedrooms, use of one of the 2 bathrooms, access to the kitchen etc without restrictions. I can foresee issues with her boyfriend wanting to control the apartment even though his name will not be on the lease and he won't be contributing financially.

Before I agree to any rental agreement or sign anything, I want to know my rights as to access entitlements etc so both my mother and her boyfriend are aware of my rights before I consider this, so everything is agreed to and understood in advance. I realize this is not an ideal situation? however, when all is said and done I do not want to see my mother homeless, and I can't afford a place on my own as I am a student.

Thanking you in advance.

Initial deposit

kcb2107 — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:16:59 GMT

I was wondering if there was any laws or statutes in Florida regarding the initial payment of your security deposit? My roommate and I were planning on renting a place and provided the real estate agent with our personal information and security deposit. I started to feel uncomfortable about how the agent was handling everything and within 4 days of giving her our deposit we changed our minds and requested our deposit back. She and the landlord have not returned our deposit and had only offered half of it back since it wasn't in their "policy" to return deposits. I feel that in offering half that they admit to being in the wrong. They claim we broke a verbal agreement. Is there anything that supports my claim? We never signed the lease.