D
Danapack
Guest
HELP! EX-LANDLORD SUING US
I live in Ohio. Please bear with me because I am not sure how to start and this is long. My previous landlord's wife is taking my husband and I to small claims court over property damage and some other things she found wrong when we moved out of the house.We always dealt with her husband because he said that the house was his before he married her and not to tell her anything. All of our rent checks were made out to him.We lived there 15 months. He passed away in Feb.2001, so we had to deal with her the last month that we stayed in the house. We did not have a lease. When we decided to move, I was wrong (didn't know that then) and only gave her a 6 week verbal notice. She is now claiming that I didn't but she had to give me a signed landlord reference for my mortgage company which she filled out and signed the middle part of Jan.2001. Her husband was too ill so she had to do it.They lived about 50 feet from us in another house. Just thought that I would explain all of that. Here are her claims and my answers to them:
1)she is suing us for $699.65 to fix the water pipes that she said we damaged and for labor to replace the bathtub and shower.
We found out that the house has drain problems a couple of days after moving in.The sink water backed up into the bathtub.We told her husband and he said to pull apart the pipes in the basement so that the water drains onto the basement floor and that he would try to fix it later.Never happened. In Nov.2000 the water lines in the basement broke and we had no water. So I called the landlord and he called the plumber. The plumber came out and he replaced some of the lines and put the drain pipe that was clogged back together without fixing it. He told us that he would be back the next day. He never showed up, so I called the plumbing company and the secretary said that the landlords wife said to stop the work because it she didn't want to put any more money into the house. The house was built in 1808 and the plumber said that the pipes in the house were the worst that he has ever seen. They were old. He showed us a piece of pipe and you couldn't see through to the other end they had so much build up in them. We called the landlord and his wife answered, so I told her that the problem wasn't fixed. She yelled at me and said that they have put enough money into the house and that she should just board it up because the money she was getting from me for rent wasn't enough to cover all this(She had to replace the gas furnance and water heater when we first moved in.The gas company red tagged it. Said that it was leaking carbon monoxide and the furnance was shooting out flames), so my husband unhooked the drain pipe again so that we could use the sink.Because my husband did this she is saying that he deliberately messed up the plumbing. Her husband purchased a new bathtub(white plastic garden tub) for us. Because of the well water the tub turned yellow. She is saying that the tub was so stained that she had to replace it and that I have to pay for it when it was her well water that stained it, not us. Her husband gave us a little bit of money to purchase materials(have receipts) to start installing a seperate shower. My husband started it but we never received any more money to complete it and we weren't paying for it so when we left we had to leave it unfinished.She is suing us to have someone finish it.
2)She is charging us $250.00 for carpet cleaning. I cleaned the carpet the day we left with a rented carpet shampooer.She wanted it professionaly cleaned, but I couldn't afford it.I guess it wasn't clean enough for her. I cleaned the carpet 4 times in the 15 months we lived there(have receipts).
3)$300.00 for new carpet in the kitchen. There was a run in it.It was 3 years old and was that cheap indoor outdoor carpet. There was a small run in the carpet when we moved in(have witnesses). I was sweeping and my sweaper caught the snag at the end of the run and made it bigger.
4)Charging $750.00 to repaint. Her husband gave me money to paint the inside of the house anyway I want (have proof). She decided that she didn't like the like the colors that I chose so she had her current tenant repaint and is trying to charge me for it.
She doesn't mention anything about keeping my deposit for not giving written notice. She kept it for these damages. Also, she went past the 30 day period in which to send me an itemized list of what my deposit was used for. The letter that she sent was dated 40 days after we left. Does she have a good case? Can we counter sue for the return of our deposit since she didn't comply with Ohio laws on the the return of a deposit or do I forfit my deposit since I didn't give written notice, even though that is not in the her complaint against us?
Sorry this was so long. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.
[Edited by Danapack on 07-05-2001 at 08:27 PM]
I live in Ohio. Please bear with me because I am not sure how to start and this is long. My previous landlord's wife is taking my husband and I to small claims court over property damage and some other things she found wrong when we moved out of the house.We always dealt with her husband because he said that the house was his before he married her and not to tell her anything. All of our rent checks were made out to him.We lived there 15 months. He passed away in Feb.2001, so we had to deal with her the last month that we stayed in the house. We did not have a lease. When we decided to move, I was wrong (didn't know that then) and only gave her a 6 week verbal notice. She is now claiming that I didn't but she had to give me a signed landlord reference for my mortgage company which she filled out and signed the middle part of Jan.2001. Her husband was too ill so she had to do it.They lived about 50 feet from us in another house. Just thought that I would explain all of that. Here are her claims and my answers to them:
1)she is suing us for $699.65 to fix the water pipes that she said we damaged and for labor to replace the bathtub and shower.
We found out that the house has drain problems a couple of days after moving in.The sink water backed up into the bathtub.We told her husband and he said to pull apart the pipes in the basement so that the water drains onto the basement floor and that he would try to fix it later.Never happened. In Nov.2000 the water lines in the basement broke and we had no water. So I called the landlord and he called the plumber. The plumber came out and he replaced some of the lines and put the drain pipe that was clogged back together without fixing it. He told us that he would be back the next day. He never showed up, so I called the plumbing company and the secretary said that the landlords wife said to stop the work because it she didn't want to put any more money into the house. The house was built in 1808 and the plumber said that the pipes in the house were the worst that he has ever seen. They were old. He showed us a piece of pipe and you couldn't see through to the other end they had so much build up in them. We called the landlord and his wife answered, so I told her that the problem wasn't fixed. She yelled at me and said that they have put enough money into the house and that she should just board it up because the money she was getting from me for rent wasn't enough to cover all this(She had to replace the gas furnance and water heater when we first moved in.The gas company red tagged it. Said that it was leaking carbon monoxide and the furnance was shooting out flames), so my husband unhooked the drain pipe again so that we could use the sink.Because my husband did this she is saying that he deliberately messed up the plumbing. Her husband purchased a new bathtub(white plastic garden tub) for us. Because of the well water the tub turned yellow. She is saying that the tub was so stained that she had to replace it and that I have to pay for it when it was her well water that stained it, not us. Her husband gave us a little bit of money to purchase materials(have receipts) to start installing a seperate shower. My husband started it but we never received any more money to complete it and we weren't paying for it so when we left we had to leave it unfinished.She is suing us to have someone finish it.
2)She is charging us $250.00 for carpet cleaning. I cleaned the carpet the day we left with a rented carpet shampooer.She wanted it professionaly cleaned, but I couldn't afford it.I guess it wasn't clean enough for her. I cleaned the carpet 4 times in the 15 months we lived there(have receipts).
3)$300.00 for new carpet in the kitchen. There was a run in it.It was 3 years old and was that cheap indoor outdoor carpet. There was a small run in the carpet when we moved in(have witnesses). I was sweeping and my sweaper caught the snag at the end of the run and made it bigger.
4)Charging $750.00 to repaint. Her husband gave me money to paint the inside of the house anyway I want (have proof). She decided that she didn't like the like the colors that I chose so she had her current tenant repaint and is trying to charge me for it.
She doesn't mention anything about keeping my deposit for not giving written notice. She kept it for these damages. Also, she went past the 30 day period in which to send me an itemized list of what my deposit was used for. The letter that she sent was dated 40 days after we left. Does she have a good case? Can we counter sue for the return of our deposit since she didn't comply with Ohio laws on the the return of a deposit or do I forfit my deposit since I didn't give written notice, even though that is not in the her complaint against us?
Sorry this was so long. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.
[Edited by Danapack on 07-05-2001 at 08:27 PM]