deadbeat landlord

destined

Senior member
Apr 17, 2004
490
0
0
i currently live in a 2 story apartment with a basement. when me and my roommates first went to look at the apartment, the landlord said the basement could be used as an extra room. so there would be 3 bedrooms upstairs and 1 in the basement. my friend asked me to move in with him to help with the rent. so i said i'll take the basement. the basement looked like every other crappy basement. but i thought it was liveable. After a month or so, after it rained real hard, the basement flooded. later we found out it was coming from the wall. the landlord denied knowing about the problem but tried to fix it. he painted it with some water sealing paint or something. it didn't work. but i lived with it. all the water damage messed up my desk, and rusted my tower and some clothes and other boxes in the basement. they didn't refund my rent or anything. and now they will be renting to other students. when showing the apartment, they said the basement was liveable.. total bs. is there anything i can do?

oh yea. when i moved in they asked me for first and last months rent with security. the lease ends may 20. i thought i didn't have to pay the last months rent. and now she calls me and leaves a voicemail saying how its not cute shafting my roommates by not paying my rent. wtf?!!!!!!!!!! grrrrrrrr

am i really supposed to pay the last months rent? isn't it usually paid already?

cliff: landlord lied to me. took all my rent. now wants more.
 

Drakkon

Diamond Member
Aug 14, 2001
8,401
1
0
when was your contract up? what does the contract state as to payment of f/l/sec?
 

Ulfwald

Moderator Emeritus<br>Elite Member
May 27, 2000
8,646
0
76
Start adding up all the damage that has been done by their so called livable basement. make sure you document everything, right down to the pennie. add it all up and then submit it to them as damage due to know structual issues.
 

Drakkon

Diamond Member
Aug 14, 2001
8,401
1
0
Originally posted by: destined
should i contact a lawyer?
depends on what sort of evidence you have...pics? canceled checks? reciepts? contracts? phone records? messages? anything?

 

destined

Senior member
Apr 17, 2004
490
0
0
Originally posted by: Drakkon
Originally posted by: destined
should i contact a lawyer?
depends on what sort of evidence you have...pics? canceled checks? reciepts? contracts? phone records? messages? anything?

i had pictures, but i reformatted my computer. i'll go check if i backed them up when i get home. but probably not.. grrr i'm just mad that a landlord can be so fvcked up
 

destined

Senior member
Apr 17, 2004
490
0
0
oh yea. while we are still living there. the landlord was getting ready to get other people to rent the apartment. they didn't even ask us for our permission to show the house. then complain that the house was too dirty. that pissed me off because if we are leasing, it should be our house and we shouldn't have to allow them to show the house if we dont' want to. if the house it dirty, thats our business. then he threatens me telling me that he will sue us if he can't rent the apartment because its dirty. omfg... ahd;lagshl;ashdgl;ahsdg;lh
 

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
62,283
18,164
136
Originally posted by: destined
oh yea. while we are still living there. the landlord was getting ready to get other people to rent the apartment. they didn't even ask us for our permission to show the house. then complain that the house was too dirty. that pissed me off because if we are leasing, it should be our house and we shouldn't have to allow them to show the house if we dont' want to. if the house it dirty, thats our business. then he threatens me telling me that he will sue us if he can't rent the apartment because its dirty. omfg... ahd;lagshl;ashdgl;ahsdg;lh

There's probably a section in your lease that says the landlord can enter the property whenever they want, and maybe even something that says you'll keep it clean. If you're seriously planning on taking action against your landlord, the first thing you need to do is read over your lease.
 

Lyfer

Diamond Member
May 28, 2003
5,842
2
81
In CA I know for sure that the landlord can't show your room to future customers with out ur consent. ANd threating to sue you for a dirty room, THATS BS!

Take him to Judge Judy, she'll show him!
 

destined

Senior member
Apr 17, 2004
490
0
0
i dont' have a copy of my lease right now. all i remember is that there was a part that said that i cannot sue the landlord or bring them to court... something to that extent... is that even legal?
 

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
My brother in his last year of college lived in such a slum that I took pictures and actually didn't show them to my parents, because they would have wept. I ended up deleting them to ensure my mother never saw them. I thought they raised my brother better than that, but he managed, in the end.
 

mordantmonkey

Diamond Member
Dec 23, 2004
3,075
5
0
if you are any good at writing, you could just write a very proffesional looking letter, and get it notarized. Make sure it's well organized and incorporates parts of the lease and how you feel those clauses have been violated. I did that when my landlord went AWOL for about a month and a half, couldn't be contacted to fix things that were broken, plus several other complaints. They were very quick to allow me to move out before the end of my lease. I think getting it notarized was a nice touch.
 

Yossarian

Lifer
Dec 26, 2000
18,010
1
81
Originally posted by: Lyfer
In CA I know for sure that the landlord can't show your room to future customers with out ur consent. ANd threating to sue you for a dirty room, THATS BS!

Take him to Judge Judy, she'll show him!

actually they can, but they have to notify you at least 24 hours in advance and keep it within normal business hours.
 

PingSpike

Lifer
Feb 25, 2004
21,758
602
126
Find your lease, look up renters laws. Here they have to give you 48 hours notice if they want to show the place. I don't see why you had to pay the rent for the last month when you paid them the last month up front. Did you have to pay first months rent again when you moved in? No. If they wanted that to be seen as a security deposit they should have said that the security deposit was twice the monthy rent instead of the usual one. Last months rent is what it is, last months rent.