Small Claims - Getting Sued.. Request help

Sierra2700 said:

What is the name of your state? ND

Here is my problem. I have been renting out an auto repair shop for the past 4 months, and one day I came into my shop and noticed the heater wasn't working. So I contacted the owner and told him the (really old heater) is not working. He sent over his "repair guy" to fix it, and after a few hours of him fixing it, the water pipes broke and flooded the garage out. The owner decided to replace the heater. A week later I came into to the shop and the owner had noticed the circuit breaker had blown, and the water pipes broke again. (this happened on a sunday) so no one knew till monday. A week later of no running water, and no running toilets I decided to submit a letter to the owner, telling him the working conditions were not satisfactory.

Then 2 weeks go by and I hear nothing from him, then I get a letter telling me that I am being sued(legal documents and all).

Now some problems with the property
The water heater is brand new and does not work (said to be in working condition).
The other problem is the owner did not pull a permit to replace the heater
The other problem is the furnace is installed with an extension cord (really jimmy rigged).
This is a full size furnace running on an extension cord!
The other problem is the thermostat was installed with speaker cable.

What should I do?
I have no means to pay the remaining 2 months rent. Plus the owner wants to charge me for repairs done to the pipes (Not done by a licensed plumber). And he wants to charge me for all the water that leaked out of the garage. He also had been paying the water bill for the last 4 months, then all of the sudden says I have to pay for 4 months worth of water and for all the water that leaked out.

should I get a lawyer involved? Should I just goto small claims court and exlpain my case.
I have to win this, I am a 22 year old college student who has honestly tried to put up with this jimmy rigged garage.

Click to expand...

Sierra2700 said:

What should I do?

Click to expand...

Sierra2700 said:

We don't have any remedies to a breach of contract.

The Land lord, told me to write up a lease and so I typed up a lease in about 10 minutes. On the lease it basically states I will rent out the property for 6 months.
It also explains that I will pay 1/2 the utilities.

I paid 100% of electricity bill, and he paid the water bill. The owner called me up a few months ago and said to check the toilet to see if its running non stop because the water bill was high. I so I checked it and said it was running and I fixed it. He didn't even mention at that time that I was to pay 1/2 the bill.

I wouldn't mind paying the water bill, but then I should get a credit for 1/2 the electricity bill.

The main concern is 1500 for mar, 1500 for april and he somehow wants 1333 for fixing the water pipes. And he wants me to pay for court costs.

This guy is a used car dealer, he is a typical used car dealer.

But to answer your question, we have a very short lease, handwritten by me.

Click to expand...