I may be sued by my previous landlord. I am scared. Please help!?
I lived in the house for over five years. The last year I was there, the landlord (who is around 80 years old) fell and was put in a nursing home. Her nieces took over. They claimed I owed 3 months rent and were continuously giving me receipts that were misdated. The roof has been leaking, and windows are falling out (the house is very old). I fell through the floor (my foot/leg anyway), the bathroom/bedroom was solid mold, roaches, termites the works. I called the lady every two weeks for about six months about the leaky roof which has caused severe water damage. She said she was too old to put up the money for it. So I called the niece. Nothing got fixed. Water destroyed my upstairs bed, nightstand, tv, and half the clothes in my closet. We also had to buy an air conditioner and a gas heater because the ones in there stopped working. Finally I told her I was not paying until she fixed the roof. The landlord left a note under the door asking us to leave the property due to unpaid rent, a sum of $600. We were already staying with family due to the condition of the house. So end of July, we moved out and told her we would be completely done by August 15th. When I came back to finish packing the next week, the neighbor came by with the niece and told me to leave, it was no longer my property, they would have me put in jail, even though I still had 9 days left. They called my workplace six or seven times a day, told the secretary my dog was dying, car broken into, etc to get me to the phone, then when i did answer, they threatened to call the newspaper for fraud because I refused to pay, to call animal control, even DHR. they would not answer my calls to go back to the house or meet me with my stuff. so Its been almost four months, I finally caught the niece in town. She said that right after that day, someone broke in and stole all of my stuff, and thats what I get for not paying rent. My china, dishes, computer, dishwasher, rocker, tv, toddler's bed, heaters (2), air conditioner, organ, keyboards and some of my daughters things were still there. They are claiming I broke windows in the property, intentionally left the water running to damage the floors, and left the property a mess. We did leave in a mess, boxes and bags everywhere, but it was agreed we would have two weeks left to get our stuff. We were going to go back and finish packing, clean, etc. Not to mention all of our boxed food that was left there for three months. I imagine lots of little critters had a good ole time. she said she would meet me there finally, so i could clean up. when i got there, there were two guys waiting and she said i could not enter the property, but i plainly see my stuff in there still. it was a complete waste of my time. she thought it was hilarious. asked if i was making good money and said not for long. i am scared. and completely stupid when it comes to the law or having to speak in front of people. we had no lease or anything. the house is in bad shape, but i didnt damage it. i painted it, put up new fixtures, i loved it until it became unlivable. what do i do? what should i be prepared for? i am sorry this was long, i really needed to vent. i haven't been able to sleep since it happened. thanks for all of your help!
Renting & Real Estate - 3 Answers
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1 :
Get a lawyer.
2 :
GET A LAWYER! You should have talked to a lawyer before you stopped paying rent. The Lawyer could have put your rent in escrow till repairs were made to the property. You are now in a legal mess and need a Lawyer. If you are having money problems you might be able to find a Pro-Bono Lawyer ( a Lawyer in training ) who will work for little or no pay, check with legal help groups in your area.
3 :
Wow, talk about Landlord horror stories. I'm sorry you had to go through that & that the niece is such a....well you fill in the blank lol You need to find yourself an attorney & I would look into filing a counter suit against the Niece (or whomever the current owner is). Witholding rent due to repairs is technically unlawful, HOWEVER, denying you entry to the property is called a "Lock Out" and is very illegal. I only know California Law and I'm not sure where you are, but in California if a Landlord has tried the tactics the niece has done she would owe you $100 PER DAY that you have been locked out of this property, lease or no lease, as long as you can prove residency (i.e. a piece of mail with your name & that address). You could also seek damages due to harassment and defamation of character. I would hit Google with a vengeance and find yourself an eviction assistance firm (there's non-profit orgs in every major city). I would also contact your state's Bar Association and ask them for a list of Pro-Bono (FREE) Real Estate Law Attorneys. Then....nail this b*tch to the wall. (metaphorically speaking, of course LOL)
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