What is the name of your state? MD
I rented a townhome in September. Before I moved but after I had signed the lease and given a deposit, the landlord tried to get out of the lease. We worked things out and I moved in.
I noticed she is getting letters regarding the property, and I know she is in serious financial trouble, maybe foreclosure. She asked me several times to buy the property. Well earlier this month I had a problem with the heat. I wrote her an email saying there was no heat in the house, and she had promised to fix the problem in a previous phone call but had not acted on it. I also needed her mailing address again to send the rent check.
Without responding to the heat issue or the mailing address, she basically told me my lease in null and void. Totally out of the blue. She asked me again if I wanted to buy the house. Before I responded, she sent another message saying, my lease is null and void and I needed to be out by Jan. 31, 2008. Then on Christmas eve, her brother came knocking on my door telling me I had to be out, that he has another buyer who's interested if I am not interested--his daughter. But he said, he'll do me a "favor," see what I qualify for and he'll see if the mortgage company will "just give you the house." Huh? He also says his sister has filed for bankruptcy so I can't sue her. Are bankruptcy filings public information? I do not believe that for a second.
So I'm not done reeling from that when another letter comes from the landlord saying again, your lease is null and void. Be out by the 31st. I came back to work, to find four emails saying basically the same thing, all of them sent within 20-30 minutes of each other.
What is going on and what should I do? How should I respond to these letters? I am sure I have some protection, but I am quite tired of this harrassment. I feel a little betrayed. She told me she had previously rented the property to relatives who mismanaged the place. We got along, I paid my rent and keep the place up, now I am being stabbed in the back with no explanation from her. And clearly, I am in trouble...a month to find a new place (I have two small children and in the middle of a divorce, this is the last thing I need).
I rented a townhome in September. Before I moved but after I had signed the lease and given a deposit, the landlord tried to get out of the lease. We worked things out and I moved in.
I noticed she is getting letters regarding the property, and I know she is in serious financial trouble, maybe foreclosure. She asked me several times to buy the property. Well earlier this month I had a problem with the heat. I wrote her an email saying there was no heat in the house, and she had promised to fix the problem in a previous phone call but had not acted on it. I also needed her mailing address again to send the rent check.
Without responding to the heat issue or the mailing address, she basically told me my lease in null and void. Totally out of the blue. She asked me again if I wanted to buy the house. Before I responded, she sent another message saying, my lease is null and void and I needed to be out by Jan. 31, 2008. Then on Christmas eve, her brother came knocking on my door telling me I had to be out, that he has another buyer who's interested if I am not interested--his daughter. But he said, he'll do me a "favor," see what I qualify for and he'll see if the mortgage company will "just give you the house." Huh? He also says his sister has filed for bankruptcy so I can't sue her. Are bankruptcy filings public information? I do not believe that for a second.
So I'm not done reeling from that when another letter comes from the landlord saying again, your lease is null and void. Be out by the 31st. I came back to work, to find four emails saying basically the same thing, all of them sent within 20-30 minutes of each other.
What is going on and what should I do? How should I respond to these letters? I am sure I have some protection, but I am quite tired of this harrassment. I feel a little betrayed. She told me she had previously rented the property to relatives who mismanaged the place. We got along, I paid my rent and keep the place up, now I am being stabbed in the back with no explanation from her. And clearly, I am in trouble...a month to find a new place (I have two small children and in the middle of a divorce, this is the last thing I need).
