Landlord telling us to vacate by end of August.

[Meso2444]

What is the name of your state? Utah

Here is the story,

My family and I moved from Colorado to Utah and found a rental property for 900.00 month. We signed a one year lease agreement. This property is a single family residence that has a downstairs apartment. We chose to live in the downstairs apartment. To hold the property we paid rent starting June 16th. We actually moved into the property on July 7th. The property manager just gave us a call today (7/18/07) telling us that our city (Sandy city, Ut) has not zoned the property as a duplex and therefore can not rent two separate family units. The property manager has since told us that we must move by the end of August. Our rental agreement shows no where that the property manager can evict us without cause. We haven't broken any lease agreements, so my question is, what legal action does my family have against the property manager for breaking lease on their part. Can I just continue to stay here and pay rent since they do not have anyone living upstairs, or should I ask for full reimbursement of rent paid and move out at the asked time? Thank you.

Ryan McEntire

[JustAPal00]

Is there anything in your lease thet gives the LL an early out? I once rented and there was a statement in the lease that the LL could get us out by paying us the equivelent of three months rent.

[OHlandlord]

If you check, you'll probably find out that it is not the property manager that wants you out. This sounds like the city is telling him he cannot rent this building to 2 families. It is not zoned as a duplex and you are in an illegal unit. (The PM may not have even known this, but the owner surely did.) The city is probably forcing him to get you out as this violates their zoning ordinance. The only ways to stay would be to have the property re-zoned as multiple family, or to move into the main unit and rent the whole building. (The city may not allow the re-zoning.) But they may allow you to take over the whole bulding since then it will only be a one family unit. See if they will allow you to go to that unit and take over the entire place. If not, start negotiating with the owner as to what he will pay towards your moving charges since he is responsible for this mess. And start looking for a place. Even if the PM doesn't want to pursue an actual eviction, it sound like the city does. And much though you try, you won't be able to win against them and stay there.

[alwysbencrzy]

do you have legal recourse against the landlord if the knowingly rented it to you? we rented a house with an attached garage that had been illegially turned into an apartment. we have since moved-but have received a notice to appear in court for the city to testify about the apartment.

she was a pain in the a#% landlord (calling the police 22 times in 20 days) when my boyfriend refused to be her free handyman in her slumlord properties. now she has citations for duel family residency in a single family zone, 2nd culinary facility and illegally using a fema trailor.

we went to eviction court 3 times (she filed falsely on all 3 times) the 3rd time we just moved and she kept like $4,500 in deposits. like i said pain in the a#%. anyway can we take her to small claims court or something for misrepresenting the houseing situation and renting an illegal property?

(we also took her to small claims court because she didnt pay for remodeling my boyfriend did-we won but have yet to see any $)

[BL]

Originally Posted by alwysbencrzy

do you have legal recourse against the landlord if the knowingly rented it to you? we rented a house with an attached garage that had been illegially turned into an apartment. we have since moved-but have received a notice to appear in court for the city to testify about the apartment.

she was a pain in the a#% landlord (calling the police 22 times in 20 days) when my boyfriend refused to be her free handyman in her slumlord properties. now she has citations for duel family residency in a single family zone, 2nd culinary facility and illegally using a fema trailor.

we went to eviction court 3 times (she filed falsely on all 3 times) the 3rd time we just moved and she kept like $4,500 in deposits. like i said pain in the a#%. anyway can we take her to small claims court or something for misrepresenting the houseing situation and renting an illegal property?

(we also took her to small claims court because she didnt pay for remodeling my boyfriend did-we won but have yet to see any $)

No hijacking others threads , start your own .

[Meso2444]

Thanks for all the replies so far. The lease has nothing stating what to do in a case where the property owner asks for an early termination, only what to do if I do something to require eviction. So my new questions are: Should I ask for a letter asking us to move by a certain date? If I stay and continue paying rent does that just mean the owner can not rent the upstairs area? Is this lease null and void since the arrangement was for an illegal duplex setup, and if so should I ask for everything that has been paid in rent/fees/and deposit back in full? Thank you again.

Ryan

[moburkes]

Originally Posted by Meso2444

Thanks for all the replies so far. The lease has nothing stating what to do in a case where the property owner asks for an early termination, only what to do if I do something to require eviction. So my new questions are: Should I ask for a letter asking us to move by a certain date? If I stay and continue paying rent does that just mean the owner can not rent the upstairs area? Is this lease null and void since the arrangement was for an illegal duplex setup, and if so should I ask for everything that has been paid in rent/fees/and deposit back in full? Thank you again.

Ryan

Yes, the lease is null and void. It was an illegal contract. You cannot stay unless the want the sheriff's to eventually physically evict you and your belongings. I'm not sure why you think you can win this one. No, you won't get your paid rent back. You used the unit. Of course, you will get your deposit back, unless you trash the unit. If the LL/owner isn't willing to cough up some cash OR allow you to rent the entire residence, then you can sue them in court and attempt to get some compensation.