5 Day Notice to Pay or Quit

[KitchenAde]

What is the name of your state? I have recently was hand delivered a 5 Day Notice to Pay or Quit from my landlords lawyer. This document reflects the amount of rent that is in arrears. He dated the fees all the way back to January 2014. Now, I know that I have been late on paying rent and also making partial payments for quite some time. My partial payments were sometimes around $50-$100 dollars less than was appears on the agreement (this did not occur every month) , however, he has been knowingly accepting this amount for years. I have been also hit with late fees. This I understand because of the partial payments. Here are my concerns/issues with the document.

1. The document that was delivered has the late fees included in with the arrears rent dating back to 2014 ( I know the late fees should not be included).

2. The amounts that the document is showing are not correct. I compared the charges with my bank statements which prove that on most months I was on time, and paid the rent in full. Some of the months are displaying that I did not pay when I have proof that I did.

3. The premises address is incorrect on the document. The house number is incorrect.

I have been doing some research on my own trying to figure out if the statue of limitations has expired, per Virginia Law, the limitation starts from the date the neglect first occurred; which in this case would be January 2014 and is in effect for 5 yrs from that date.

It is now April of 2019, and I'm confused as to why he would allow this to go on for so long without notifying me of the fees building up. Also, why did he allow me to sign another lease in 2016 without requiring me to pay the arrears rent first or mention it before the contract was signed.

In addition, I also noticed that on the original contract I was not required to initial each page to reflect that I understood all the terms and conditions. There is an area at the bottom of each page for initials. I never initialed it, therefore I would assume that the lease is invalid because of this.

My question is, what should my next steps be in regards to this situation? Do I need to file an "Answer" through the justice of court so that a hearing can occur and I can point out all the issues or should I send some type of communication to the lawyer on the document? There is an area that says if I want to dispute the debt I would need to do so with the debt collector within 30 days. If I do not dispute the debt collector can continue with the collection of the debt.

I have no idea who this debt collector is because it is not mentioned on the document but it does state that the landlord is not the collector; there are no contact number on the document anywhere for me to proceed.

Please tell me what my next steps are. Does the Landlord have the right to start the eviction process given the information I have provided.

Thanks in advance for all the helpful responses I hope to receive.

Thank You!

 

[adjusterjack]

I know the late fees should not be included).

How do you KNOW that?

2. The amounts that the document is showing are not correct. I compared the charges with my bank statements which prove that on most months I was on time, and paid the rent in full. Some of the months are displaying that I did not pay when I have proof that I did.

You have 5 days to resolve this and get paid current. One option is to visit with your landlord, go over each other's document, reach some sort of agreement and pay him the agreed amount in full so as to cure the pay or quit notice. Another option is to leave by the 5th day, turn in the keys, see if he sues you for anything and then you can present your evidence to the court. A third option is to do nothing and get evicted.

3. The premises address is incorrect on the document. The house number is incorrect.

I tend to doubt that it going to help you. You got the notice.

I have been doing some research on my own trying to figure out if the statue of limitations has expired, per Virginia Law, the limitation starts from the date the neglect first occurred; which in this case would be January 2014 and is in effect for 5 yrs from that date.

A statute of limitations is a deadline for filing a lawsuit. In Virginia it's 5 years from the breach of a written contract, 3 years from the breach of an oral contract. You raise the SOL as an affirmative defense when you get sued and you argue the breach date in court. It has nothing to do with what is happening now.

It is now April of 2019, and I'm confused as to why he would allow this to go on for so long without notifying me of the fees building up. Also, why did he allow me to sign another lease in 2016 without requiring me to pay the arrears rent first or mention it before the contract was signed.

I have no idea. I can't read his mind. If you get sued you can certainly argue laches or waiver (google them) as defenses.

In addition, I also noticed that on the original contract I was not required to initial each page to reflect that I understood all the terms and conditions. There is an area at the bottom of each page for initials. I never initialed it, therefore I would assume that the lease is invalid because of this.

Your assumption would be wrong. The presumption is that, by signing it, you read and understood it. A claim now that you didn't understand what you signed would not go well for you in court.

what should my next steps be in regards to this situation?

The only thing a pay or quit requires is that you pay or you leave or you get evicted. Your next step if you want to stay is find out how much you owe and pay it.

Do I need to file an "Answer" through the justice of court so that a hearing can occur and I can point out all the issues

There is no answer to file with the court because there is no court action yet.

should I send some type of communication to the lawyer on the document?

Anything you send is likely to be ignored. You need to TALK to the lawyer or landlord IN PERSON, FACE TO FACE, and figure out exactly how much you owe, and pay it.

Does the Landlord have the right to start the eviction process given the information I have provided.

He sure does. At the end of 5 days, if you aren't paid up (or gone) he certainly does have the right to file for eviction through the court.