What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida
I started renting a room out of a house with a family on August 1, 2009. I gave them a $500 deposit and I paid the rent for 10 months in advance. I did this because I thought I would be staying there for at least a year and I knew that they were remodeling the house, so I was being nice and helping them out. Within two weeks of moving in, I was already unhappy with the living conditions and only three months later I could not handle the conditions anymore and moved out.
At the advice of a lawyer consultation, I wrote a letter detailing the day I would be moving out, every condition that made the house "uninhabitable," saying that I am leaving the lease because of the above conditions, and my demand for the funds associated to the rent that I had paid in advance, totaling around $4,000 with the security deposit.
After I give her my letter, she goes off and says that I already breached the lease twice. One was for allowing the friend to stay with me, EVEN THOUGH HE PAYS HER RENT. The other time was when I let my parents visit me for a week and they stayed in my room, however, my landlord INSISTED they stay with me so they wouldn't have to stay in a hotel. It is disgusting to me that she is now throwing my parents one week visit in my face as breaching the lease. On top of all that she says that I am still responsible for fullfiling the one year contract, that they will not give me my money that I paid in advance, and that I can sublease the room if I want to.
I was researching Florida Law (http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=Ch0083/ch0083.htm) and the first thing I saw was that if I do pay them in advance, they have to keep my funds separate from theirs and I have to be given the name of the institution the money is held at. They didnt do this and I KNOW that all the money I gave them is gone. The other thing I noticed was that they had a certain time to give me back my security deposit. A third thing I noticed was that if I break the lease, I am not obligated to fulfill the terms, but I might have to pay no more than two months rent. However, the MAIN reason I am leaving is BECAUSE I DO NOT FEEL SAFE. I am disgusted that I had to live in such horrible conditions, and even at the end of that, they refuse to refund my money.
I want to see if I interpreted the Landlord/Tenant law correctly because the way I see it, I am entitled to any advanced rent that I paid them because technically they shouldn't have spent that money already in the first place. I also want to see what my best plan of action should be. Should I try to hire a lawyer, should i go to small claims court, should I threaten to take them to court, and if so how do I go about that?
I started renting a room out of a house with a family on August 1, 2009. I gave them a $500 deposit and I paid the rent for 10 months in advance. I did this because I thought I would be staying there for at least a year and I knew that they were remodeling the house, so I was being nice and helping them out. Within two weeks of moving in, I was already unhappy with the living conditions and only three months later I could not handle the conditions anymore and moved out.
At the advice of a lawyer consultation, I wrote a letter detailing the day I would be moving out, every condition that made the house "uninhabitable," saying that I am leaving the lease because of the above conditions, and my demand for the funds associated to the rent that I had paid in advance, totaling around $4,000 with the security deposit.
After I give her my letter, she goes off and says that I already breached the lease twice. One was for allowing the friend to stay with me, EVEN THOUGH HE PAYS HER RENT. The other time was when I let my parents visit me for a week and they stayed in my room, however, my landlord INSISTED they stay with me so they wouldn't have to stay in a hotel. It is disgusting to me that she is now throwing my parents one week visit in my face as breaching the lease. On top of all that she says that I am still responsible for fullfiling the one year contract, that they will not give me my money that I paid in advance, and that I can sublease the room if I want to.
I was researching Florida Law (http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=Ch0083/ch0083.htm) and the first thing I saw was that if I do pay them in advance, they have to keep my funds separate from theirs and I have to be given the name of the institution the money is held at. They didnt do this and I KNOW that all the money I gave them is gone. The other thing I noticed was that they had a certain time to give me back my security deposit. A third thing I noticed was that if I break the lease, I am not obligated to fulfill the terms, but I might have to pay no more than two months rent. However, the MAIN reason I am leaving is BECAUSE I DO NOT FEEL SAFE. I am disgusted that I had to live in such horrible conditions, and even at the end of that, they refuse to refund my money.
I want to see if I interpreted the Landlord/Tenant law correctly because the way I see it, I am entitled to any advanced rent that I paid them because technically they shouldn't have spent that money already in the first place. I also want to see what my best plan of action should be. Should I try to hire a lawyer, should i go to small claims court, should I threaten to take them to court, and if so how do I go about that?
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