What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Massachusetts
I have a one year lease that was signed by me and my landlord. He never gave me copies of the lease and now claims that it was a tenant at will. He took a $900.00 security deposit from me and never gave me a receipt or documents stating where/when it was deposited or how much interest it will gain during the year. I have asked for the documents several times.
When my husband and I originally looked at the apartment he wanted to charge us $975/month. We never said whether or not we wanted the place or not we just said that we would get back to him. The next day he contacted my husband and said that if you do work around the apartment when it is needed and I'll supply the materials I will rent you the apartment for $900/month. We accepted. We moved in on May 7th.
Upon Moving in there were some things that still needed to be done. The front doors needed to be hung, the threshholds installed, and a ceiling fan installed in the bathroom...some other things also but these three are the ones at hand as far as I know.
My husband hung the front doors immediately and the landlord stained the interior of the doors, but left the exterior of the doors natural (this is the side of the door that faces the common area/hallways). Not to long after installation the doors started to swell in the heat and the landlord complained that the doors did not open easily. My husband explained that the doors will swell because only one side of the door was finnished. He said that he would sand down the doors, but that it would continue to be a problem until they were properly finnished. My husband sanded the doors and again they stuck. He sanded the doors again and they were opening and closing properly as of 9/30/05 and the exterior of the doors were still not finnished by the landlord.
Upon moving into the apartment the landlord still needed to supply the thresholds and the ceiling fan for installation. After requesting the materials several times on June 16th the materials were dropped off. My husband told the landlord that the thresholds did not fit the thresholds properly. The landlord told my husband to rig it so it would fit.
On June 19th my husband was hospitalized and had major eye surgery for a severe eye injury he incurred at work. He was on bed rest until Aug. 14th. On Aug. 16th the landlord and my husband got into an argument regarding some work that he wanted him to do in an apartment upstairs. The argument resulted in the landlord giving us 1 month to vacate our apartment on August 18th.
On September 1st I told the landlord to use my security deposit as final months rent. He refused to do so. Upon refusing this he filed a small claims suit against both my husband and I for the above work not being completed for the amount of $700. The claim was dated Sept. 6th and I received it on Sept. 8th dropped in my mailbox. On Sept. 7th my husband completed the work. The land lord saw that the work was completed and they spoke about different things and materials that may still be needed. On September 12th I paid the landlord the final months rent.
We moved out of the apartment on Sept. 30th and showed up for our final walk thru and the landlord cancelled and rescheduled for 10/1. That apt was cancelled by the landlord and rescheduled for 10/3. That apt was cancelled by the landlord and rescheduled for 10/4. On 10/4 the landlord never showed up. We left the keys in the apt w/ the forwarding mailing address for the security deposit. I also followed up w/ an email.
After several attempts the land lord is refusing to give back the security deposit. He keeps changing what is wrong with the apt. I complained to the attny generals office and they tried to mediate. He has told them that he would give the security deposit back if my husband fixes the doors. The attny generals office has told me that the two should be seperate and has also told him that. They explained that he would have to give me back the security deposit and sue my husband for the doors. He has refused. I'm assuming that is because he is going to bring up the doors during the small claims that he is refusing to drop. The attny general suggested that I take the landlord to small claims court for the security deposit.
My question is do I counter the small claims that he has filed for the refund of the deposit or should it be a seperate claim.
The sooner I get some feedback the better for this is a very frustrating and time sensitive matter....Thanks in advance for your help!
I have a one year lease that was signed by me and my landlord. He never gave me copies of the lease and now claims that it was a tenant at will. He took a $900.00 security deposit from me and never gave me a receipt or documents stating where/when it was deposited or how much interest it will gain during the year. I have asked for the documents several times.
When my husband and I originally looked at the apartment he wanted to charge us $975/month. We never said whether or not we wanted the place or not we just said that we would get back to him. The next day he contacted my husband and said that if you do work around the apartment when it is needed and I'll supply the materials I will rent you the apartment for $900/month. We accepted. We moved in on May 7th.
Upon Moving in there were some things that still needed to be done. The front doors needed to be hung, the threshholds installed, and a ceiling fan installed in the bathroom...some other things also but these three are the ones at hand as far as I know.
My husband hung the front doors immediately and the landlord stained the interior of the doors, but left the exterior of the doors natural (this is the side of the door that faces the common area/hallways). Not to long after installation the doors started to swell in the heat and the landlord complained that the doors did not open easily. My husband explained that the doors will swell because only one side of the door was finnished. He said that he would sand down the doors, but that it would continue to be a problem until they were properly finnished. My husband sanded the doors and again they stuck. He sanded the doors again and they were opening and closing properly as of 9/30/05 and the exterior of the doors were still not finnished by the landlord.
Upon moving into the apartment the landlord still needed to supply the thresholds and the ceiling fan for installation. After requesting the materials several times on June 16th the materials were dropped off. My husband told the landlord that the thresholds did not fit the thresholds properly. The landlord told my husband to rig it so it would fit.
On June 19th my husband was hospitalized and had major eye surgery for a severe eye injury he incurred at work. He was on bed rest until Aug. 14th. On Aug. 16th the landlord and my husband got into an argument regarding some work that he wanted him to do in an apartment upstairs. The argument resulted in the landlord giving us 1 month to vacate our apartment on August 18th.
On September 1st I told the landlord to use my security deposit as final months rent. He refused to do so. Upon refusing this he filed a small claims suit against both my husband and I for the above work not being completed for the amount of $700. The claim was dated Sept. 6th and I received it on Sept. 8th dropped in my mailbox. On Sept. 7th my husband completed the work. The land lord saw that the work was completed and they spoke about different things and materials that may still be needed. On September 12th I paid the landlord the final months rent.
We moved out of the apartment on Sept. 30th and showed up for our final walk thru and the landlord cancelled and rescheduled for 10/1. That apt was cancelled by the landlord and rescheduled for 10/3. That apt was cancelled by the landlord and rescheduled for 10/4. On 10/4 the landlord never showed up. We left the keys in the apt w/ the forwarding mailing address for the security deposit. I also followed up w/ an email.
After several attempts the land lord is refusing to give back the security deposit. He keeps changing what is wrong with the apt. I complained to the attny generals office and they tried to mediate. He has told them that he would give the security deposit back if my husband fixes the doors. The attny generals office has told me that the two should be seperate and has also told him that. They explained that he would have to give me back the security deposit and sue my husband for the doors. He has refused. I'm assuming that is because he is going to bring up the doors during the small claims that he is refusing to drop. The attny general suggested that I take the landlord to small claims court for the security deposit.
My question is do I counter the small claims that he has filed for the refund of the deposit or should it be a seperate claim.
The sooner I get some feedback the better for this is a very frustrating and time sensitive matter....Thanks in advance for your help!