What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? WI
Hi guys, I recently bought a 12 unit property from an estate. The original owner had died and his father was in charge of the estate. Neither the dad nor the son took very good of paperwork. I got a one page lease for each unit and that was it. He ran things for about a year in between death and sale. I had one tenant move out 1/2 month after I bought the property, she had been living there for 3 to 4 years starting the the tenancy through the deceased son. She had her 30 day notice into the father before the sale. After she moved out I did a walk through with out her and made notes of damages. I then took those off of her security deposit. She is now suing me for every thing I charged her for. I asked her if she filled out a check in sheet at the start of her tenancy and she said no, and then proceeded to say that I bought the property as is, with the damages that already occurred before the sale date, and I knew the unit was like that before I bought it. She also says she has witnessess that will testify about the damages at the time she moved in.
Here are the things I charged her for and what she said about them:
A bedroom painted pink- she says the son paid her to paint it that way, all other rooms are white.
Holes in bifold doors and knobs missing on another set- she says it was that way when she moved in.
Rid apartment of cat urine smell- She says she is not paying for carpet cleaning when that is something that needs to be done anyway. She also says it smelled like cat urine when she moved in, and the basement carpet needs to be replaced anyway. I asked her if she lived in an apt that smelled like cat urine for 3-4 years, and she said yes. I also had to clean the carpets 3 times to get rid of the smell as well as clean ducts and air apt and put a scent thing in the furnace filter and run that for a night.
Holes in screen- she says they were that way when she moved in. One window had the whole bottom half of the screen torn out. when I asked her about it she said she never opened that window for 3 and 1/2 years.
Mising floor register- she says it was gone when she moved in and the son couldn't find the right one to replace it, she just put furniture around it. I had it fixed with one trip to menards and 3 minutes of work.
Broken blinds- she says she purchased them and left them there to be nice. (I did check my purchase contract and it doesn't say window coverings)
Smoke alarm missing covers- she says they are as old as dirt and never had covers
A can light broken and hanging from wires- she say it was that way when she moved in.
In WI we automatically go to mediation to try and hash it out before we go to a trial. I already had one mediation with her and she wouldn't settle for nothing less then the full amount, $630.00, I offered her $400 and she said no. So because she sued me and not my LLC company that owns it, I had the case dismissed. So we get to go to mediation again.
Does she have to prove that the damages were there when she moved in, even without a move in sheet or is she right that I bought the property "as is"? Should I try to mediate or let it go to trial? Will I win? I spent a lot of money to get everything fixed, but I don't want to go after her for the damages if she didn't cause them. Except the cat smell charge...that I will not budge on. Any adivce?
Sorry this is so long, but wanted to make sure you knew all circumstances to give me advice on what to do. Thanks in advance.
Hi guys, I recently bought a 12 unit property from an estate. The original owner had died and his father was in charge of the estate. Neither the dad nor the son took very good of paperwork. I got a one page lease for each unit and that was it. He ran things for about a year in between death and sale. I had one tenant move out 1/2 month after I bought the property, she had been living there for 3 to 4 years starting the the tenancy through the deceased son. She had her 30 day notice into the father before the sale. After she moved out I did a walk through with out her and made notes of damages. I then took those off of her security deposit. She is now suing me for every thing I charged her for. I asked her if she filled out a check in sheet at the start of her tenancy and she said no, and then proceeded to say that I bought the property as is, with the damages that already occurred before the sale date, and I knew the unit was like that before I bought it. She also says she has witnessess that will testify about the damages at the time she moved in.
Here are the things I charged her for and what she said about them:
A bedroom painted pink- she says the son paid her to paint it that way, all other rooms are white.
Holes in bifold doors and knobs missing on another set- she says it was that way when she moved in.
Rid apartment of cat urine smell- She says she is not paying for carpet cleaning when that is something that needs to be done anyway. She also says it smelled like cat urine when she moved in, and the basement carpet needs to be replaced anyway. I asked her if she lived in an apt that smelled like cat urine for 3-4 years, and she said yes. I also had to clean the carpets 3 times to get rid of the smell as well as clean ducts and air apt and put a scent thing in the furnace filter and run that for a night.
Holes in screen- she says they were that way when she moved in. One window had the whole bottom half of the screen torn out. when I asked her about it she said she never opened that window for 3 and 1/2 years.
Mising floor register- she says it was gone when she moved in and the son couldn't find the right one to replace it, she just put furniture around it. I had it fixed with one trip to menards and 3 minutes of work.
Broken blinds- she says she purchased them and left them there to be nice. (I did check my purchase contract and it doesn't say window coverings)
Smoke alarm missing covers- she says they are as old as dirt and never had covers
A can light broken and hanging from wires- she say it was that way when she moved in.
In WI we automatically go to mediation to try and hash it out before we go to a trial. I already had one mediation with her and she wouldn't settle for nothing less then the full amount, $630.00, I offered her $400 and she said no. So because she sued me and not my LLC company that owns it, I had the case dismissed. So we get to go to mediation again.
Does she have to prove that the damages were there when she moved in, even without a move in sheet or is she right that I bought the property "as is"? Should I try to mediate or let it go to trial? Will I win? I spent a lot of money to get everything fixed, but I don't want to go after her for the damages if she didn't cause them. Except the cat smell charge...that I will not budge on. Any adivce?
Sorry this is so long, but wanted to make sure you knew all circumstances to give me advice on what to do. Thanks in advance.