harassment? legal eviction? please help!!

[ldmaster1]

I have a 2 1/2 years lease with my landlord, when the last rental payment is made, the trailer is to be transeferred into my name (rent to own.) I live in PA.

Recently, my landlord and I had a falling out over a late rent payment in March. We paid the rent and everything was ok. He had written a letter to us stating he would continur the lease with us on March 26, we received it March 29. I wrote him a letter stating we wanted to continue the lease and unfortunately April's rent would be a little late, but May's rent would be on time. I sent this letter on April 1 and sent it out on April 2. He came to our home on April 5th 9rent was due the 3rd) and stated he did not receive the letter and gave us an eviction notice for not responding to his letter written on March 26. He gave us a 15 day notice and stated he would be back April 6, to receive the rent up until April 20.

Is he allowed to evict us for not responding to the letter? I am aware he can evict us for non payment of rent, and usually he accepts the late payment.

We've heard he wants to rent the home to someone else and is trying to get us out, can he not accept the entire month's rent so that he can evict us for non payment of rent? I worried he won't accept the payment and evict us anyway.

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Also, he always shows up unannounced, calls every day after the rent is due if it is late, and even has his father call us if it is late. He also gets mad if we arent at home when he calls and says that we ignore him. This is not true as I work usually a 9-12 hour day and my fiance works during the day and attends school during the evening. When I come home from work, I still have to go pick her up from school, so sometimes it is hard to call him back right away. Also he doesnt leave any messages with the babysitter, just assumes we will know to call back. We have caller ID so we know when he calls. Is this harassment?

 

[LL]

No, it is not harassment.

Your failure to pay rent on time may have voided your contract to have your rent payments applied to the purchase.

He may not have received your letter, and maybe you did not send it. Do you have any proof? What was in his letter? Was it some kind of an offer that required an acceptance? he is probably within his rights (I dont know PA law) to start the procedure to evict, but you said that he gave you some kind of notice and that he would be back to collect rent. What kind of notice did he give you?

There are circumstances under which he no longer has to accept the rent, that an incureable default (on your part)of the rental agreement has already occurred. Your posting is not clear enough.

I suggest that you go and talk with him and try to straighten everything out, one way or another. Be prepared to pay him everything you owe on the spot.

Nothing good ever comes from failing to pay the rent, and on time.

 

[ldmaster1]

more info for original post

Our lease states that rent can be late, but is subject to a late fee of 10% of the rent payment, which of course, we agreed to pay when we signed the lease. His original letter did not, in any way, ask for a response. In fact, his letter was in response to our letter. Of couse I have proof of sending it, a copy of the stamped envelope and the letter included in the envelope. His eviction letter stated the reason for eviction was "failure to respond in any way to my letter of March 26, 2001", not non payment of rent.

What I really need to know is whether or not he can evict for not responding to a letter he wrote, which required no response, especially when we did respond in a timely manner (letter was sent out 4 days after we received his letter, and he evicted us only 8 days after he sent it)?

Our lease states , in according with rental payments, "any holding over by Lessee shall operate only as a renewal of this lease for a period of one month and continue on a month to month basis thereafter".

 

[LL]

1. Does the lease really state that rent can be late?

2. A copy of the stamped envelope and the letter included in the envelope is not really proof that you sent it, and when, is it?

3. You probably cannot be evicted for failure to respond to the letter, but you have confused the issues here, between late rent payments and maybe the question of lease renewal.

If the question is, that he offered you a lease renewal and you did not respond, it is probably not grounds for eviction, since it seems that according to your lease, if you holdover after the end of the lease, then your lease turns into a month-to-month agreement.

4. You should realize that your late payment has made you an undesirable tenant, and the landlord may want to get rid of you. But it is not harassment, and after the end of your lease, he can probably terminate your tenancy on 30 days notice.

 

[dj1]

Here we go again......

we get someone who is trying to buy a home without a BANK, and is dealing with a REDNECK!!!!

And you know the landlord is an asssshole, yet YOU are too cheap to spend $4 and mail all letters certifed return reciept, so you would have proof of mailing to show a judge!

How many times do we have to tell you people, rent to own is the REDNECK'S way of ripping you off...

Go to a bank next time geez.......

 

[ldmaster1]

LL - more info and thanks

LL - First I want to tell you that I really appreciate all the help you have given to me in this matter. It has really helped a lot.

The lease does say that the rent is due and payable before the 3rd of each month during the tem of the lease and that "should lessee fail to pay said rental on or before the 3rd day of each month immediately following the date it is due, Lesee shall pay Lessor the additional late fee of Ten Percent (10%) of rental due.

The letter was not a renewal of the lease, as our lease will not end for awhile.

Is this "holding over" mean rental payments still owing at the end of the lease? I mean, can he evict for non payment, if the lease stated any holding over will only result in a renewal of the lease? You had stated that he can terminate our residency after the lease on a 30 day notice, he only gives us a 15 day notice now.

I only want to know for my own knowledge, as i've stated before, I want to pay the rent on time every month and keep my home.

Is an incurable default a late payment, under which he can not accept the rent payment?

I also heard that a eviction for non payment of rent could be stopped by paying the total amount due before the court date or the constable shows at your door, true or false?

I realize a late payment causes problems, but i have tried to rectify the situation, and he doesn't seem to respond to that, (of course, he isnt required to).
THANKS AGAIN!!!

 

[LL]

1. "should lessee fail to pay said rental on or before the 3rd day of each month immediately following the date it is due, Lesee shall pay ... "

This is not permission to pay late.

2. It seems that you do not want to share what the letter from landlord was about, so how can anyone know what importance it might have?

3."holding over" means failure to deliver up the premises when you are supposed to.

4. I don't know how he terminated the tenancy and I don't know anything about PA law, so I don't know anything about notices and time in PA.

5. You may be too late in wanting to pay on time and keep your home.

6. An incureable default is a breach of the lease that cannot be corrected. I don't know about not paying rent in PA. In California, if rent has not been paid, you can give the tenant notice of how much rent he owes and for what period, and give him 3 days to either leave or to pay the rent, and if he does neither, he is illegally holding over and is guilty of unlawfully detaining landlord's property, because landlord gave him 3 days to pay or landlord will declare a forfeiture of the rental agreement.

7. After the 3 days passed and landlord already declared the forfeiture, the rental agreement is terminated and the landlord has no obligation to accept rent (in CA). He can collect "damages" in court for the days that you remained in the property.

8."I also heard that a eviction for non payment of rent could be stopped by paying the total amount due before the
court date or the constable shows at your door, true or false?"

Not in California.

9. Late payments are more than just causing problems. It is the basic quid pro quo of your rental agreement and to me, it means automatic eviction and right away.

All that you can do, is to go and talk with your landlord, with all of the money owed IN YOUR HAND and try to work something out. If not, don't wait for him to evict you.