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Landlord destroyed property before prior to my completed move out.

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G

gwen

Guest
I live in the State of Hawaii, County of Maui. While in the process of moving out of my unit, my landlord entered the residence and destroyed some of my property. This was done while we were waiting for a trial date. I had not been evicted legally. Received 5 day notice from landlord then received court summons three days after 5 day notice. Went to court, judge ordered trial. No eviction papers were served, however I chose to move on my own. Is landlord liable? Can she be ordered to replace my property and return my deposit? What landlord/tenant codes can I refer to? What are my rights as a tenant. I have lived in the residence almost 2 years.
 


HomeGuru

Senior Member
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by gwen:
I live in the State of Hawaii, County of Maui. While in the process of moving out of my unit, my landlord entered the residence and destroyed some of my property. This was done while we were waiting for a trial date. I had not been evicted legally. Received 5 day notice from landlord then received court summons three days after 5 day notice. Went to court, judge ordered trial. No eviction papers were served, however I chose to move on my own. Is landlord liable? Can she be ordered to replace my property and return my deposit? What landlord/tenant codes can I refer to? What are my rights as a tenant. I have lived in the residence almost 2 years.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Aloha Gwen.
The L/T code is the same for all islands because it is a State code titled the Hawaii Residential Landlord Tenant Code. You have brought up 2 separate issues.

1) The return of your security deposit should be covered in your rental agreement. The landlord has 14 days after expiration of the lease to either return your deposit in full or provide a written explanation regarding disposition. If 14 days has elapsed from the time you moved out and returend the keys to her and she has not yet returned your deposit, she must now return the full amount without deductions. You can file a complaint and ask for 3 times the amount of your security deposit.

2) As for the other issue, her actions constitute breaking and entering, and criminal property damage which are criminal actions as opposed to civil (L/T issues). I hope you filed a police report to document the incident. If not you should file one now. Since your claims on this issue would not be a civil matter, you may file a complaint in another court of jurisdiction. You have not stated the value of the damage to your personal property, but I would presume that the matter could be handled in small claims court. Mahalo.
 
T

Tracey

Guest
Your Residential Landlord Tenant Code is in Chapter 521 of the HA Revised Statutes. You can read it at your library. Go through it & take xeroxes of any useful laws with you to court. File a burglary report against L. Don't let the cops talk you out of it. :) Then file a small claims suit against L for trespass, damage to property, breach of lease, unlawful entry, abuse of access, willful failure to return security deposit, & anything else that applies.

In order to retain any of your deposit, L had to send you a detailed accounting of charges made against the deposit within 14 days of you moving. [521-44(c)] L can't charge for ordinary wear & tear, only for damages. [521-44(a)] Whether you get triple damages or just damages depends on whether L's retention of the security deposit was willful or just wrongful. "Wrongful" retention and "wilful" retention are construed in 77-2 HLR 77-553. 521-44 tells you how to sue for the deposit. Sue for failure to send an accounting in 14 days, AND for wrongful charges. I'm pretty sure this L has charged you for cleaning the carpets & painting. This is not damage; it's normal wear.

L may sell or dispose of property left behind by a tenant when L reasonably believes that T has abandined the property & has made reasonable efforts to apprise T of the location of T's property. [521-56] Nipping in while you're running a truck load over to the new apt and trashing your stuff is not allowed. L can't raise this as a defense.

You were still in legal possession of the apt when L entered & damaged your stuff. L willfully & intentionally committed a crime against you. This was a breach of the lease. The court must award you damages - it has no discretion to deny damages upon breach. [67 H. 549, 696 P.2d 839 (case of X v. Y, Volume 67 of Hawaii caselaw reporter, starting on page 549) P.2d stands for Pacific Reporter, 2d series. The law library will have 1 or both reporters.] Check to see if you have to be paid up on rent to claim under this statute.

If L broke the right kind of stuff or changed the locks, you may be able to get the court to declare that L 'ousted' you overnight. Then you get 2 months rent, which will be a nice credit against whatever you owe L. [521-63(c)] You can claim this whether you owe rent or not, if the facts support it.

When you sue L, L will counterclaim for rent. You get to raise the defense of termination of the lease for L's unlawful entry. This gets you out of having to pay rent for any time after you moved out because you were obligated under a lease to pay rent. [521-73(c)(1)] Neat trick, huh?

This will be a complicated suit. Prepare well & organize your arguments into a coherent presentation.

Here are some laws to help you phrase your complaints.

[§521-53] Access. (a) ***
(b) The landlord shall not abuse this right of access nor use it to harass the tenant. Except in case of emergency or where impracticable to do so, the landlord shall give the tenant at least two days notice of the landlord's intent to enter and shall enter only during reasonable hours.

(c) The landlord shall have no other right of entry, except by court order, unless the tenant appears to have abandoned the premises, or as permitted by section 521-70(b).
===========================

§521-73 Landlord's and tenant's remedies for abuse of access. (a) ***
(b) Except for an entry under an emergency such as fire, the landlord shall be liable to the tenant for any theft, casualty, or other damage proximately caused by an entry into the dwelling unit by the landlord or by another person with the permission or license of the landlord:

(1) When the tenant is absent and has, after having been notified by the landlord of a proposed entry or entries, refused consent to any such specific entry;

(2) Without the tenant's actual consent when the tenant is present and able to consent; or

(3) In any other case, when the damage suffered by the tenant is proximately caused by the landlord's negligence.

(c) In the event of repeated demands by the landlord for unreasonable entry, or any entry by the landlord or by another with the landlord's permission or license which is unreasonable and not consented to by the tenant:

(1) The tenant may treat such actions as grounds for termination of the rental agreement;

(2) Any circuit court judge on behalf of one or more of the tenants may issue an injunction against a landlord to enjoin violation of this subsection;

(3) Any circuit court judge hearing a dispute as set out in [paragraph] (2) may also assess a fine not to exceed $100.

(d) Every agreement or understanding between a landlord and a tenant which purports to exempt the landlord from any liability imposed by this section, except consent by a tenant to a particular entry, shall be void.


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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.
 

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