Question on blackmail?

[tattooqueen1993]

colorado, to put a long story short, friends of ours had asked us if we would help them get a place by getting it together so me and my husband would be the owners of the lease. They put up the down payment and asked us to repay half. However they said do not worry about it, so there where never any plans signed, dated, notarized, nothing of the sort. just messages that say to do it whenever. well things they did got them kicked out, and since we could not afford it had to terminate the lease. well said friends got mad, made damages, and now we are paying those off which exceeds the said money they want back.
said friend contacts me today asking if I would provide means for her to pass a drug test, upon saying no, in stowed violent threats and threatened to sue us over this money and take all we had. what rights do we have? we filed a police report regarding the physical threats but don't know if theres any case for black mail or if they have a case regarding this money.

 

[LdiJ]

colorado, to put a long story short, friends of ours had asked us if we would help them get a place by getting it together so me and my husband would be the owners of the lease. They put up the down payment and asked us to repay half. However they said do not worry about it, so there where never any plans signed, dated, notarized, nothing of the sort. just messages that say to do it whenever. well things they did got them kicked out, and since we could not afford it had to terminate the lease. well said friends got mad, made damages, and now we are paying those off which exceeds the said money they want back.
said friend contacts me today asking if I would provide means for her to pass a drug test, upon saying no, in stowed violent threats and threatened to sue us over this money and take all we had. what rights do we have? we filed a police report regarding the physical threats but don't know if theres any case for black mail or if they have a case regarding this money.

I do not entirely understand what went on here. Did you and your husband rent a place WITH them or did you and your husband rent a place FOR them? Who kicked them out and why? Who are they paying off damages to? Is the money they want from you for 1/2 of the security deposit?

 

[tattooqueen1993]

Sorry!

Sorry! I had tried to post this thread once before and had written it really really long in depth and when I posted it it crashed and I spent like..30 minutes typing it up. Did not want to do that again!

So basically, at this point in time we had been looking for a place. Our apt was crappy with nails sticking out of the floor sharp side up. So we got a place with them but my husband and I were the only 2 on the lease. They would not let them be on the lease because of previous evictions (that should of been a red flag) which made us the sole person of responsibility. I didnt feel so comfortable about this and I told them and they got violent, threatening, etc. My husband said let's just go ahead its nothing to worry about. I should mention I do have extreme panic disorder. So me kind of over freaking out on something does happen ocassionally but I was rational on this one.
The whole process of getting a place with them was just that. I kept chickening on signing the lease, they got threatening, etc etc because I felt it should be all of us could be on the lease so they can be held equally accountable.
When it came to actually signing the lease this is where the whole deposit situation came into play. We had initially told them we really need to wait until we can help, they pull their antics and theyre all "we'll pay it, and dont even worry about it if you guys can take care of utilities the first month" so we did just that. Then a month after being there, thats when they came up with "we want you to pay us back half" and of course I would not fight that. That seems fair. But after that statement its "but you dont need to worry about it right now, you can pay whatever whenever" so we go on our marry way getting caught up with actual creditors.
But living with them in this time span was NOT easy. This led to the kickout process. They where extremely disrespectful. We had kindly asked them to keep their dog wherever she was before we even signed the lease because the property place would not allow her because she was part pit. They brought her over anyway. They have yelled at us to "let them take care of their own damn dog" when we got said dog chewing on the blinds and tearing them apart. They also made several spills and did not clean up. Both her and her huaband had CONTSTANT fighting with yelling and screaming to where our neighbors reported it. And I did not mention they had 2 kids the main reason I really tried to help them and simply because I wanted to keep them out of it. Well her6 yr old always went unpunished. If he didnt get his way he yelled and screamed sooo many cusswords and went around slamming doors over and over and over as loud as he could. We immediately tried to stop this and of course they yell at us to stop parenting cause we dont know how and we dont need to tell their kids what to do. Said kid also was beating up tje neighbor kids by throwing jagged rocks and I mean they where pretty big at other people's heads. We had angry neighbors with kids with busted foreheads. Of course and rightfully so said neighbors report them.
Sorry if this is super long because Im trying to make it really clear.
So of course the property place takes actions and says my friend, her husband, and her kids need to vacate immediately. This house had a pretty high rent that me and my husband could not afford on our own so we talked with said property place and they let us out of the lease. We delivered the news that it was no longer going to happen and we all had to get out because the property place and they expected us to hide them..they are not hideable. So when we told them no they flipped. Took black spray paint and painted the carpets and put holes in the wall. (I do have a text with her admitting the damages where there fault). The damages where WAY high. About 3 grand. We "owed" them 1500. Half of the damages. And the property place was nice enough to let us make a payment plan but because we where the lease signers we had to pay up because they're not financially obligated..
So fast forward to today is when all this came down. I hear from her asking if Id give her clean urine to pass a drug test. I declined because that is a punishable offense. So she blows up on me saying if I dont do it she will sue me for all she can because of that half of the down payment. I explained I dont think it's fair that we have to pay them since we got left with the damages and her response is "you where asking for it for making us lose our home. Despite the damages you will still owe us and your lucky I dont come over their and bash your f****kn head in". Yea. Hope that clears it up?

 

[LdiJ]

Yes, that actually clears things up but it was more detail than needed...LOL.

Anyway, if they actually are stupid enough to sue you for 1/2 of the deposit, then you counter sue them for all of the deliberate damages they did to the apartment.

 

[tattooqueen1993]

What?

Its possible to do that??? And the whole "I won't sue you if you fake my drug test" Thats definitely black mail right?

 

[eerelations]

It's not blackmail, it's extortion. But don't worry about it.

If they file a small claims court action against you, the court will give you an option to countersue. Take that option, countersue during their court case, and you will probably prevail. But for now, don't do anything until they actually sue. (Which they probably won't.)

 

[tattooqueen1993]

That's what I thought. I did file a police report on her so she would stop with the crazy physical threats. I in no way shape or form want to do anything that would affect her boys or even her husband for that matter cause its all her.. But if she does try this Im going to sue then I will counter sue. I am also going to see if I can get a no contact order and see about filing criminal charges with the extortion if possible. And honestly I only mean well by doing so. Because she's walked over too many people. Shes hurt too many people. She even went crazy and threatened our as you would call principle at our cosmo school. Put her mother in law in the hospital and dude is still with her. I think she needs a wake up call

 

[eerelations]

I don't think you'll be very successful getting the police charge her with extortion. It's very mild extortion as extortion goes - most extortion involves threats of physical violence, yours does not. It's unlikely the police will be very interested, and that's why I advised you not to bother with it.

You sound more than a bit stressed about this, and that's another reason why you might not want to go after extortion charges - this will just add more stress to your situation.

I think what you really need to do is relax, chill, try not to worry about anything, if she contacts you or your husband, just ignore her. People who are ignored generally go away after a while, and this is really what you want, isn't it?

And don't even think about countersuing her until you're served with small claims court documents. If you are served with these (and it seems very unlikely this will happen), then you can countersue. But before that, don't even think about it.

 

[tattooqueen1993]

I meant to say if she does then I will counter sue. I was half asleep with typing. But with the police report they contacted her and as soon as she heard it was the police she hung up. Im just honestly stressed because I don't want anything to happen. And all in all we have her kitten to. Before all the threats she asked me to take care of him until she was back on her feet. She said she was going to come get him last night and never showed up. I texted her asking if she was still going to get him. No reply. Same thing today. No reply. And she blocked me from all forms of contact.. I seriously hope that makes some sort of count so I can keep him.. We have his sister and they've been so happy reunited.

 

[eerelations]

It's good she blocked you. Don't try to contact her again, or you will be the one being getting into trouble. Leave her alone, and ignore her if she tries to contact you. If she sues you, countersue. You may be compelled to give up the kitten at that point, but don't worry about it for now. Just don't do anything, and let things take their course.

 

[tattooqueen1993]

Ill definitely be pulling abandonment in civil court if I have to. Fact she doesnt even provide for him while I have him is insane. Even if she did I wouldn't take it cause she buys really cheap 99 cent dollar store food for her cats. They have never in their life had a vet appointment or any vaccines. They lose all their animals before they even hit 4. I know the one cat she did keep is suffering from something really bad. At one point I offered to take her to the vet and theyre like NO. SHE'S FINE. YOUR STUPID. WE CAN TAKE CARE OF OUR ANIMALS. yea. While I make sure to take my cats as soon as I know they dont feel good, save up what little I can to get them quality food (such as blue buffalo..wild calling..that kinda food) they get all their vaccines and everything..we make less than them and yet still manage to do it.