What is the name of your state? Virginia
The situation is very complicated, but it all boils down to our previous landlords trying to take advantage of us and trying to take money we do not owe them.
My issues are this:
1) We did not return our keys because the office on location at our appartment was shut down to cut costs, and we did not feel comfortable mailing the keys to their coporate office where you were supposed to now mail your rent checks. Also theer was no information about the keys in the lease. So we tried calling to get confirmation or information as to where to send the keys (they have an automated phone line, and you cannot speak to anyone, you can only leave messages, and only then during their business hours). We left a message well before our lease was up and they never returned our call, so we did not send the keys, and even though we informed them via email like they asked that we would not be renewing our lease, they have charged us for the month of December (our lease ended Nov 30) and are charging us a months rent for "terminating our lease early" because we arent living there now!
2) They are charging me (again) for November rent and late fees, because I paid the rent via my Wachovia account, automated check. It went through. A few weeks later, after i had cleaned out the appartment, I recieved a refund into my account from them. I figured it was my security deposit. Turns out as i find out after getting a summons to court, they just sent the money back. When I finally got in touch with someone about it, they claimed the bank sent it back. The bank says otherwise. I know I have to pay the November rent (which I paid once!), but what should I do about this?
3) I made sure the appartment was in better shape than I found it. Unfortunately i did not anticipate all of this nonsense, so I did not document anything with pictures. When i moved in there was not one but two cracked windows in the appartment, the stove was dirty, and the door to the stove was broken. I cleaned the appartment top to bottom, and also touched up the paint on the walls. When I left i left some glass cleaner, the tiny bottle of touchup paint, and a mop in the closet. I figured i was being nice.. stupid me. Now they want to charge me for having not cleaned out the appartment, and are saying the stove and fridge are dirty. I did not clean the stove, but it was not clean when i moved in, and i DID clean the fridge. So it is basically my word against theres.
Do I have a case to counter sue? The court date is in less than two weeks. I know i need a lawyer, but do I have a case at all to fight these people? Any advise or opinion would be helpful. Thanks in advance.
The situation is very complicated, but it all boils down to our previous landlords trying to take advantage of us and trying to take money we do not owe them.
My issues are this:
1) We did not return our keys because the office on location at our appartment was shut down to cut costs, and we did not feel comfortable mailing the keys to their coporate office where you were supposed to now mail your rent checks. Also theer was no information about the keys in the lease. So we tried calling to get confirmation or information as to where to send the keys (they have an automated phone line, and you cannot speak to anyone, you can only leave messages, and only then during their business hours). We left a message well before our lease was up and they never returned our call, so we did not send the keys, and even though we informed them via email like they asked that we would not be renewing our lease, they have charged us for the month of December (our lease ended Nov 30) and are charging us a months rent for "terminating our lease early" because we arent living there now!
2) They are charging me (again) for November rent and late fees, because I paid the rent via my Wachovia account, automated check. It went through. A few weeks later, after i had cleaned out the appartment, I recieved a refund into my account from them. I figured it was my security deposit. Turns out as i find out after getting a summons to court, they just sent the money back. When I finally got in touch with someone about it, they claimed the bank sent it back. The bank says otherwise. I know I have to pay the November rent (which I paid once!), but what should I do about this?
3) I made sure the appartment was in better shape than I found it. Unfortunately i did not anticipate all of this nonsense, so I did not document anything with pictures. When i moved in there was not one but two cracked windows in the appartment, the stove was dirty, and the door to the stove was broken. I cleaned the appartment top to bottom, and also touched up the paint on the walls. When I left i left some glass cleaner, the tiny bottle of touchup paint, and a mop in the closet. I figured i was being nice.. stupid me. Now they want to charge me for having not cleaned out the appartment, and are saying the stove and fridge are dirty. I did not clean the stove, but it was not clean when i moved in, and i DID clean the fridge. So it is basically my word against theres.
Do I have a case to counter sue? The court date is in less than two weeks. I know i need a lawyer, but do I have a case at all to fight these people? Any advise or opinion would be helpful. Thanks in advance.