Michigan
Genesee County
My husband and I received and Affidavit in the mail from the Small Claims court saying we are being sued by our previous landlord for $1,370.63.
We are due in court on May 19th, 2008. 1:30 p.m.
At the 67th District Court
Our previous landlord claims we owe him for Rent, Consumer’s Energy charges, sewer and water and damages to a stove, storm door window and clean up.
All states on the affidavit I received in today’s mail,
We moved to the Oxford area in the beginning of April because we are low income and needed to be closer to my husbands work in order to save on gas.
We also moved because our previous landlord kept the house in disrepair.
We were unaware of our tenants’ rights until we gave him notice and he threatened to take us to court.
Then I did some research and only then did I learn we could have formally requested in writing that he repair the home and then refuse to pay rent if repairs were not done in a timely manner.
Those repairs we were most concerned about were the peeling walls in the bathroom where on numerous occasions mold and fungus grew despite my use of bleach and vinegar to clean as best I could.
Also the floor in the living room sagged. We knew about this when we moved in and we ensured it would be repaired quickly.
However he did not repair the floor until we moved out and we lived there for at least two years.
Our other grievance that our landlord was made aware of on numerous occasions was the lack of proper insulation and therefore cold cold temperatures in the master bedroom and bathroom.
Resulting in our having to keep the thermostat at 80 degree’s in the winter and still being unable to heat the bedroom and bathroom to 60 degree’s.
We resorted to using a portable electric heater and closing the adjoining master bathroom door to try and warm the bedroom.
Even that did not provide enough heat to comfortably sleep so we added an electric blanket to our bed.
Yet every time my husband mentioned the heating issue we were met with indifference by our landlord and nothing was done.
Again because we were not informed of our legal tenant’s rights we endured because we thought if we rocked the boat he would evict us and we have children.
Fortunately there was never a heating issue in their rooms.
Then when we did finally acquire enough money for a down payment on a house in Oxford for rent we gave notice on March 19th in the form of a letter and again on March 21st in person.
My husband went to the landlords house to explain to him we were indeed moving and to apologize for not informing him sooner, but we had to wait to be approved for the new place and that happened on March 19th.
As of April 3rd when my husband went to retrieve the last items left at the house and to do a final inspection and cleaning he discovered that the locks to every door had been changed and the landlord had removed our lawn mower from the garage.
When he talked to the landlord and requested these items (refrigerator, riding lawn mower, vacuum cleaner) the landlord informed him he was keeping these items until we paid him what he claimed we owe.
We were not able to retrieve these items until the local police were called by my husband.
However the vacuum was no longer in the house and we have no idea what was done with it.
Also part of what he claims we owe is cleaning cost. However he locked us out before we had a chance to clean.
In order to attempt to make peace my husband explained that is why he left the vacuum and other items there because he was coming back to retrieve them and do the last cleaning and vacuuming and that the landlord could use part of our $1000.00 security deposit to pay for the rest of the rent due until the thirty days were up and for repair of a broken window on the front door.
To no avail the landlord is still suing us.
He claims we owe some great amount of money in the form of the utilities bills.
However we were not the only ones using those utilities. Which we were not aware of until after we’d moved in and my husband asked where the electric and water meters were and he was informed there was only one for the house despite there being a gentleman residing in the upstairs part of the house and our family on the lower floors.
Confused he asked if we then shared utilities and the landlord informed him we pay the utilities and that’s why he kept the rent lower.
However we were stuck paying utility costs we did not incur.
Can you help us figure out where to go from here?
We want to make sure we're prepared.
Genesee County
My husband and I received and Affidavit in the mail from the Small Claims court saying we are being sued by our previous landlord for $1,370.63.
We are due in court on May 19th, 2008. 1:30 p.m.
At the 67th District Court
Our previous landlord claims we owe him for Rent, Consumer’s Energy charges, sewer and water and damages to a stove, storm door window and clean up.
All states on the affidavit I received in today’s mail,
We moved to the Oxford area in the beginning of April because we are low income and needed to be closer to my husbands work in order to save on gas.
We also moved because our previous landlord kept the house in disrepair.
We were unaware of our tenants’ rights until we gave him notice and he threatened to take us to court.
Then I did some research and only then did I learn we could have formally requested in writing that he repair the home and then refuse to pay rent if repairs were not done in a timely manner.
Those repairs we were most concerned about were the peeling walls in the bathroom where on numerous occasions mold and fungus grew despite my use of bleach and vinegar to clean as best I could.
Also the floor in the living room sagged. We knew about this when we moved in and we ensured it would be repaired quickly.
However he did not repair the floor until we moved out and we lived there for at least two years.
Our other grievance that our landlord was made aware of on numerous occasions was the lack of proper insulation and therefore cold cold temperatures in the master bedroom and bathroom.
Resulting in our having to keep the thermostat at 80 degree’s in the winter and still being unable to heat the bedroom and bathroom to 60 degree’s.
We resorted to using a portable electric heater and closing the adjoining master bathroom door to try and warm the bedroom.
Even that did not provide enough heat to comfortably sleep so we added an electric blanket to our bed.
Yet every time my husband mentioned the heating issue we were met with indifference by our landlord and nothing was done.
Again because we were not informed of our legal tenant’s rights we endured because we thought if we rocked the boat he would evict us and we have children.
Fortunately there was never a heating issue in their rooms.
Then when we did finally acquire enough money for a down payment on a house in Oxford for rent we gave notice on March 19th in the form of a letter and again on March 21st in person.
My husband went to the landlords house to explain to him we were indeed moving and to apologize for not informing him sooner, but we had to wait to be approved for the new place and that happened on March 19th.
As of April 3rd when my husband went to retrieve the last items left at the house and to do a final inspection and cleaning he discovered that the locks to every door had been changed and the landlord had removed our lawn mower from the garage.
When he talked to the landlord and requested these items (refrigerator, riding lawn mower, vacuum cleaner) the landlord informed him he was keeping these items until we paid him what he claimed we owe.
We were not able to retrieve these items until the local police were called by my husband.
However the vacuum was no longer in the house and we have no idea what was done with it.
Also part of what he claims we owe is cleaning cost. However he locked us out before we had a chance to clean.
In order to attempt to make peace my husband explained that is why he left the vacuum and other items there because he was coming back to retrieve them and do the last cleaning and vacuuming and that the landlord could use part of our $1000.00 security deposit to pay for the rest of the rent due until the thirty days were up and for repair of a broken window on the front door.
To no avail the landlord is still suing us.
He claims we owe some great amount of money in the form of the utilities bills.
However we were not the only ones using those utilities. Which we were not aware of until after we’d moved in and my husband asked where the electric and water meters were and he was informed there was only one for the house despite there being a gentleman residing in the upstairs part of the house and our family on the lower floors.
Confused he asked if we then shared utilities and the landlord informed him we pay the utilities and that’s why he kept the rent lower.
However we were stuck paying utility costs we did not incur.
Can you help us figure out where to go from here?
We want to make sure we're prepared.