T
terrapin
Guest
THIS IS LONG, BUT PLEASE READ-- I NEED ADVICE!!
I am in the processing of moving out of the apartment that I have occupied for the last year. My lease expired one month ago and since my landlord did not give me any notice, I stayed an additional month. I gave my thirty day notice and subtracted my deposit from my rent (this was something we verbally agreed upon.)
He has called me pratically every day for the last two weeks wanting to know when I will be out. He last called me at work this morning and upset me to the point that I had to shut my door so I could cry. I keep telling him that I will be out by midnight on the last of the month, as I have paid for the full month. He has been a terrible landlord and I have just been glad to get rid of him. However, now that he has started threatening to slander my reputation, I am mad enough to consider legal recourse for lease violations on his part.
When he initially showed me the apartment, he made a number of verbal promises as selling points that swayed my decision to rent the property. Most of the promises were minor but two were big enough for me to require that he put them in the lease before I would sign it. These were that he would install 1) central a/c and 2) vinyl siding. It was in the lease that these would be complete by the end of March.
When March came around and no work had begun, I asked him about it on two occasions and both times he assured me that the work would be complete. When April rolled around, I gave him written notice that the lease had been broken and that I intended to withhold my rent until work had begun. I also gave written documentation that both of my sinks leaked and that the yard needed to be tended to (it had been long neglected.) When I moved in he promised a key to the storage (another selling feature on the apartment that swayed my decision) adjacent to my garage-- in my letter I also mentioned that I needed the key (he never gave me a key) and for him to make good on his other verbal promises (ex. he bought a new sink and cabinet for the bathroom that have sat out in the storage room since in moved in.) The next morning HIS WIFE called me at the crack of dawn and called me the most terrible things-- spoke to me like I have never been spoken to-- for about 20 minutes and then hung up.
We met with a third party to discuss these issues and it was promised that the a/c would be installed by month's end and the siding by the end of the summer. We also agreed that since he had broken the lease, I was entitled to my deposit back at the end of the lease. I paid my rent for the month of April, but it was late due to the above conflict. The a/c was installed. The siding was NEVER put up. Shortly after our confrontation, he and his wife were cutting the grass and cleaning up the yard. I had planted 3 VERY EXPENSIVE heriloom rose bushes which his wife not only dug up but cut into tiny pieces with pruning shears so they could not be replanted.
Also, he had new cabinets installed next door and the old cabinets sat in the back of the house for almost ten months. It wasn't until he started to show my apartment that he removed the trash from the property-- which had collected water, bugs and filth next to my back door for almost the entire year. Another thing to note is that it said nothing in my lease about him showing the apartment while I stilled occupied it and he would call the morning of the appointments and ask that I be sure to not be home when they came.
He asserts that I, too, have broken the lease but is unable to site any specific examples. We did have a problem at one point about people parking in the yard. Whenever he came by, he always would park in this one spot next to the house. So, I assumed that it would be okay for my guests to park there, too. Also, I lived in a duplex and the two girls that lived in the other half would also park there. As a result, there were some ruts in the yard. However, once he said something to me about it, I NEVER allowed anyone to park there again.
While living in the apartment, there were two attempted break-ins. The other half of the duplex was unoccupied for about 6 months of the year that I lived there. I felt uneasy staying there alone and my boyfriend frequently stayed with me. My boyfriend has his own place and never moved his stuff in, but he was there a lot. My assertion is that even if he had moved in, no where in the lease did it say that I could not allow someone else to live with me and my landlord never mentioned that this was a problem until I began to move out. He wanted my boyfriend (who works nights and sleeps days) to get up and leave for ten minutes on and off throughout the day while he showed the apartment. I told my boyfriend that he DID NOT have to leave.
Today is the last of the month. I still have some stuff to move- but not much- and it will be out before midnight. The apartment has been cleaned. Granted, there are minor flaws due to the normal wear and tear of a year's occupancy. But nothing has been damaged and, like I said, the apartment is clean.
I would love for this to be the end of our relationship but he keeps on harassing me and threatening to slander my reputation. I am very much a "turn the other cheek" kind of person but am getting close to being mad enough to want to do something. Is there any form of legal recourse for my situation?
I am in the processing of moving out of the apartment that I have occupied for the last year. My lease expired one month ago and since my landlord did not give me any notice, I stayed an additional month. I gave my thirty day notice and subtracted my deposit from my rent (this was something we verbally agreed upon.)
He has called me pratically every day for the last two weeks wanting to know when I will be out. He last called me at work this morning and upset me to the point that I had to shut my door so I could cry. I keep telling him that I will be out by midnight on the last of the month, as I have paid for the full month. He has been a terrible landlord and I have just been glad to get rid of him. However, now that he has started threatening to slander my reputation, I am mad enough to consider legal recourse for lease violations on his part.
When he initially showed me the apartment, he made a number of verbal promises as selling points that swayed my decision to rent the property. Most of the promises were minor but two were big enough for me to require that he put them in the lease before I would sign it. These were that he would install 1) central a/c and 2) vinyl siding. It was in the lease that these would be complete by the end of March.
When March came around and no work had begun, I asked him about it on two occasions and both times he assured me that the work would be complete. When April rolled around, I gave him written notice that the lease had been broken and that I intended to withhold my rent until work had begun. I also gave written documentation that both of my sinks leaked and that the yard needed to be tended to (it had been long neglected.) When I moved in he promised a key to the storage (another selling feature on the apartment that swayed my decision) adjacent to my garage-- in my letter I also mentioned that I needed the key (he never gave me a key) and for him to make good on his other verbal promises (ex. he bought a new sink and cabinet for the bathroom that have sat out in the storage room since in moved in.) The next morning HIS WIFE called me at the crack of dawn and called me the most terrible things-- spoke to me like I have never been spoken to-- for about 20 minutes and then hung up.
We met with a third party to discuss these issues and it was promised that the a/c would be installed by month's end and the siding by the end of the summer. We also agreed that since he had broken the lease, I was entitled to my deposit back at the end of the lease. I paid my rent for the month of April, but it was late due to the above conflict. The a/c was installed. The siding was NEVER put up. Shortly after our confrontation, he and his wife were cutting the grass and cleaning up the yard. I had planted 3 VERY EXPENSIVE heriloom rose bushes which his wife not only dug up but cut into tiny pieces with pruning shears so they could not be replanted.
Also, he had new cabinets installed next door and the old cabinets sat in the back of the house for almost ten months. It wasn't until he started to show my apartment that he removed the trash from the property-- which had collected water, bugs and filth next to my back door for almost the entire year. Another thing to note is that it said nothing in my lease about him showing the apartment while I stilled occupied it and he would call the morning of the appointments and ask that I be sure to not be home when they came.
He asserts that I, too, have broken the lease but is unable to site any specific examples. We did have a problem at one point about people parking in the yard. Whenever he came by, he always would park in this one spot next to the house. So, I assumed that it would be okay for my guests to park there, too. Also, I lived in a duplex and the two girls that lived in the other half would also park there. As a result, there were some ruts in the yard. However, once he said something to me about it, I NEVER allowed anyone to park there again.
While living in the apartment, there were two attempted break-ins. The other half of the duplex was unoccupied for about 6 months of the year that I lived there. I felt uneasy staying there alone and my boyfriend frequently stayed with me. My boyfriend has his own place and never moved his stuff in, but he was there a lot. My assertion is that even if he had moved in, no where in the lease did it say that I could not allow someone else to live with me and my landlord never mentioned that this was a problem until I began to move out. He wanted my boyfriend (who works nights and sleeps days) to get up and leave for ten minutes on and off throughout the day while he showed the apartment. I told my boyfriend that he DID NOT have to leave.
Today is the last of the month. I still have some stuff to move- but not much- and it will be out before midnight. The apartment has been cleaned. Granted, there are minor flaws due to the normal wear and tear of a year's occupancy. But nothing has been damaged and, like I said, the apartment is clean.
I would love for this to be the end of our relationship but he keeps on harassing me and threatening to slander my reputation. I am very much a "turn the other cheek" kind of person but am getting close to being mad enough to want to do something. Is there any form of legal recourse for my situation?