B
briberry
Guest
I'm in Kansas, my management property company is, to say the least poorly managed. In the two years I have been a tenant, they have gone through a few office managers and numerous office help. Anyway, they are slow to respond to maintenance requests or any other questions that I may have unless I am in the office personally. I have not been the best tenant, either, I have been late numerous times and under my agreement, payment is due by the 1st or you pay 10% late fee. I was late for my April rent, but per the office manager, only payments not in by the 13th are sent off to the lawyer. This is how it has always been. Well, in April I made my payment on the 9th and received a court order to appear in court for nonpayment of the total late payments and April's rent on 4/17. I called the office manager and she advised that the letters went out on the 7th, I reminded that she told me the 13th was the cutoff date...she had just told me that the previous month. She never had anything to say in response to that, but I paid in full everything I owed, including May's rent and she stated that as long as I was paid in full before the court date, that I wouln't have to go to court...when the lawyer called her, she would let him know that everything was taken care of. So I paid in full on the May 4th, my court date was May 7th. I just received a letter from the landlord with an invoice attached from their lawyer that states I owe for court filing and preparation fees, a prepaid docket fee and for actually appearing in court and having had a judgement set against me...which I assume will appear on my credit file. I am angry, if I paid in full, before that date, settled out of court with the landlord, why would they go to court? The original amount on the court document was incorrect, it included the last month's rent that I had paid on the 9th. I guess my question is, do I have any recourse in this matter, will I be forced to pay the court cost when it should have never gone to court and I was told it wouldn't go to court and everything was fine. The result of that case: A judgement to pay monies that I had paid a week before the letter was even filed. Why didn't my landlord let them know that I paid the rent and all that was due were late fees? She dropped the ball, and doesn't want to take the heat. What can I do now?