Unlawful Entry

[RandallC]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NC, New Hanover

My landlord woke me up from my bedroom door on Friday 8/1. My lease ended 7/31 and we agreed to stay until 8/8 and pay a prorated amount. There are two people who work in the office I spoke to one of them on 7/30 and we agreed to $261 for the extra 8 days. On 8/1 the other office worker and a maintenece man were in my bedroom waking me up telling me my lease is up(needless to say they didn't give any notice). To make matters worse they now they want $283.50 and told me that is based on the month to month rate that is on a letter that they claim to have given that we never received, and that the error in calculation on there part is not their fault.

What can I do?

 

[FarmerJ]

Did you pay the amount first agreed to ? and get a reciept?

 

[BL]

To prevent illegal entry .

Use one of these .

http://www.nextag.com/door-security-bar/search-html

 

[Mrs. D]

Like FarmerJ, I think evidence you paid the $261 (original amount) is a good start. Also, if you had the $261 figure in writing it would help.

Regardless of whether or not your original lease is up, you paid to stay longer. Therefore, they cannot violate state and/or local law and enter your dwelling without proper notice. Proper notice is tricky in some cases, but walking into your bedroom unannounced and shaking you out of a pleasant dream will ALWAYS be unreasonable.

The fight over the amount is a wholly separate issue from unlawful entry, but you might be able to use the two in conjunction. If your state and/or locality imposes monetary penalties on LLs for unlawful entry, tell them you will sue them for the unlawful entry, or they can just accept the $261 originally agreed on and call it a day. Not exactly ethical, but it'll probably work.

 

[RandallC]

Thanks for the replies

No I did not pay the 261. I asked when he wanted the money and he said when we move out is fine. He did enter some things in his computer but I'm sure they will have "disappeared" by now. I agree about using the tresspassing as leverage and when I go to pay I will probably ask to see my lease to make sure they did something wrong. I am going to see a lawyer sometime this week anyway for an unrelated matter so I will just ask him.

 

[Alaska landlord]

Be THANKful they are allowing you to pay a prorated rent. They are not required to accept anything but the acutual rent due. So they made an error in the quote and corrected it later, this is no big deal. Pawn a watch or something for the remaining few bucks.
The IRS made such an error and sent me some money years ago. They came back 1 yr later requesting interest and the return of the money. Even banks sometimes make errors, just a natural occurance in the business world.

Next time anyone enters your home without permission, immediately call the police and file charges of illegal entry. There is little you can do now since it's your word against there's