landlord refused responsibilities and is now suing me

[Ladiebugg]

When I moved to an apartment, my roommates asked the appointed person for the landlord's phone #. We were told it was "confidetial information". After 4 months without a way to contact my landlord I wrote a letter and enclosed it with my rent. Many important things such as heat and hot water were not fixed even after the fact.

I was laid off from work and am unable to pay the small rent balance at this time, but have every intention of doing so. I tried to contact my landlord to make payment arrangements but was unsucessful in reaching her. She contacted me later and was unwilling to negotiate. I paid what I had.

A week left of my lease, I came home to remove my posessions and clean. I found all my belongings locked in an empty room and a new tenant moving in. I had no notice of this and had to travel 20 minutes for a key.

My landlord is suing me for an amount I can prove to be incorrect.

What are my rights? What sections they are under? I live in the state of Utah.
Thank you for your time!

 

[Gene Gayda]

I’m going to make a huge guess here. If I’m wrong, none of this will apply.

By your post, you seem to imply that you are renting a room - only. If so, UT L&T law may not apply. Rather,

UT 29-2-102. Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(4) "Innkeeper" means the proprietor or designated employee of a proprietor of a lodging establishment.
(5) "Lodging establishment" means a place providing temporary sleeping accommodations to the public, including any of the following:
(b) a boarding house;
(h) a rooming house.

And

UT 38-2-2. Liens of hotels and boardinghouse keepers. Every innkeeper, hotel keeper, boardinghouse or lodginghouse keeper shall have a lien on the baggage and other property in and about such inn belonging to or under control of his guests or boarders for the proper charges due him for their accommodation, board and lodging, for money paid for or advanced to them, and for such other extras as are furnished at their request. The innkeeper, hotel keeper, boardinghouse or lodginghouse keeper may detain such baggage and other property until the amount of such charge is paid, and the baggage and other property shall not be exempt from attachment or execution until the hotel or boardinghouse keeper's lien and the costs of enforcing it are satisfied.

It looks like the only rights you have are to pay what your innkeeper wants if you want your stuff back.


Gene

 

[Ladiebugg]

Gene..
Thanks for your reply. I was renting the entire apartment with 3 other roommates. So fortunately this law doesn't apply here. Thanks again!

 

[JETX]

I have done a cursory look at the Utah Code and, though some states specifically require a landlord to provide contact information, it doesn't appear to be required in Utah. However, this should not be an issue for you. You obviously have the contact information for an authorized agent for the landlord, since you do have a method to make rental payments. Accordingly, all correspondence to the 'landlord' can be done through this agent also. The question will be, did you avail yourself of this option????

In any case, you have two specific issues to take care of:

1) You breached your lease in not paying the correct amount as agreed in the lease. The landlord then exercised their right of securing your property in a 'landlord lien'. I have not found any specific statute discussing this process so must assume that the lien rights are detailed in your written lease. What does the lease say??

2) The claims of damages. Utah Code does cover this issue in Title 57, Chapter 17. Your rights, and the landlords rights, can be viewed at: http://www.le.state.ut.us/~code/TITLE57/57_11.htm

You might also find of interest:
http://courtlink.utcourts.gov/howto/landten.htm#TRights

 

[Ladiebugg]

Halket...
Thankyou for the information. The websites were very helpful.