Landord fails to honor Georgia lake house rental contract ...landlord lives in FL

[incivilservant]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia

Hello. In August, I signed a lease agreement and paid in full (rental fee, sec deposit, cleaning fee) to rent a Georgia lake house for a 3-day weekend (at a special "3-day weekend rate") in October. Lease was to begin at Thursday and check-in time was 3pm. I arrived at the house at 3pm on Thursday and the key was there but the house was clearly not prepared for my arrival (stripped beds, full trash cans, rodent feces on counter, wet laundry in the washing machine, dirty towels in tub, etc). Have pictures of all of this. I notified the landlord by email immediately and advised him that I was going to look for a hotel in town and that since he did not hold up his end of the agreement, I expected a return of all of the money I paid him. That evening, his brother (who is local to the house, with whom I had not communicated with previously, leaves me a voice message telling me that he will send someone into the house to clean it on Friday morning and I can rent it for the rest of the weekend at a discount. I let him know that I have arranged other accomodations and would not be returning to the house.

So far (it has been more than a week), I have not gotten a refund of the $800+ I paid per the terms of the lease. I emailed the landlord to ask when I should expect to see the refund and have not gotten a response. The problem occurred in GA. He lives in FL...can someone from out-of-state be made to appear in small claims court in another state? Could I get him to pay for my travel expenses and court costs related to going to small claims court in GA? I also live out of state (Virginia).

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

 

[Dave1952]

You can include court costs in your suit but not your travel costs. The court will not compel the landlord to appear. If no one shows up to defend the suit you may ask for a default judgement. Based on the facts, as you describe them, I think you have a good chance of winning.
You say that it has been more than a week since you requested a refund. I'd counsel patience. If nothing happens in a month then consider suing. But do the math, it's $800 and you'll be taking a day off of your schedule and traveling a long distance. You won't be reimbursed for these. Remember that you'll need to collect this judgement should you win. That may be hard.
Sorry to be so negative.

 

[latigo]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia

Hello. In August, I signed a lease agreement and paid in full (rental fee, sec deposit, cleaning fee) to rent a Georgia lake house for a 3-day weekend (at a special "3-day weekend rate") in October. Lease was to begin at Thursday and check-in time was 3pm. I arrived at the house at 3pm on Thursday and the key was there but the house was clearly not prepared for my arrival (stripped beds, full trash cans, rodent feces on counter, wet laundry in the washing machine, dirty towels in tub, etc). Have pictures of all of this. I notified the landlord by email immediately and advised him that I was going to look for a hotel in town and that since he did not hold up his end of the agreement, I expected a return of all of the money I paid him. That evening, his brother (who is local to the house, with whom I had not communicated with previously, leaves me a voice message telling me that he will send someone into the house to clean it on Friday morning and I can rent it for the rest of the weekend at a discount. I let him know that I have arranged other accomodations and would not be returning to the house.

So far (it has been more than a week), I have not gotten a refund of the $800+ I paid per the terms of the lease. I emailed the landlord to ask when I should expect to see the refund and have not gotten a response. The problem occurred in GA. He lives in FL...can someone from out-of-state be made to appear in small claims court in another state? Could I get him to pay for my travel expenses and court costs related to going to small claims court in GA? I also live out of state (Virginia).

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

The only bright side of this is that if you are fortunate enough to obtain a Georgia judgment against the Florida resident, (extremely doubtful) you can enter it as a judgment lien against his Georgia property.

But all that lies before hand will appear to you darker than the inside of a cow.