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Sprout

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? WI

My ex-landlord is suing me and my ex-roommate for damages that she claimed we did to the duplex we rented. I have looked at a lot of information on landlord tenant laws for my state, and I think that I have a good case. However, I would like some advice to find out whether one of my arguments will hold up, and what the best way to present it would be.

We moved out of our duplex on November 14th, and we gave the proper 60 day notice that was specified in our lease (we had lived there for 3 years). We never got a walk through when vacating, since the landlord was on vacation. She sent both of us a copy of the damage report, in it she listed the following:

Damage report dated November 21, 2007:
Downstairs patio door - screen torn $160.00
Carpet cleaning (as stated in lease) $220.00
Downstairs bathroom vanity replaced (burn marks) $65.00
Cleaning supplies (Walmart) $32.56

However, when I asked for the receipts for the charges, the carpet cleaning receipt was dated for November 30th & the Walmart receipt was dated November 28th (the letter she submitted to the court commissioner had a hand written note on it that the letter was sent on 11/21/07). The "receipts" for the patio door and the vanity top were pick lists from the home improvement store, not dated and tax was handwritten in. In the case of the patio door, the pick list said quantity 2 doors at $75.00 a piece for a total of $150.00 and the landlord wrote on the pick list "both upstairs and downstairs doors were damaged".

I know that she can't charge for the carpet cleaning even if it was in the lease because of the DATCP law stating that "cleaning for normal wear and tear is prohibited". When I brought this to her attention in front of the court commissioner, she said that it was damaged, but on our damage report it just said that it was cleaned. On the receipt for carpet cleaning, there was no mention of problem areas or damaged areas. I had also asked her for the damage report from the previous tenants, and the carpet cleaning receipt from them stated that in 2004 the carpets were 7 years old and they had never been replaced before we moved in.

Does anyone have some advice as to how to approach this? Also, when we signed the lease, we had another roommate (3 total) who moved out a month before our one year was up...he gave us a 30 day verbal notice, but the landlord said that he gave her the "required written notice". I would ask for a copy of that, but she re-rented to him after we moved out, I'm afraid that she will just have him create a letter with the past date on it. And, since we never received a copy of the lease with his name omitted (after asking 2-3 times), shouldn't he be sued also?

Thank you for your advice.What is the name of your state?
 



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