I am so stressed right now. we have been having probs. with our landlady joyce for a long time. first of all, she wouldnt let us rent unless we had my parents co-sign just because of our age, not rental history, even though we are both over age 18 and by law shouldnt be descriminated aginst by age to rent.
6 months ago we paid a 500 dollar fee to move into a bigger apt. with another bedroom for the baby, signed a new lease, and gave a new damage deposit. she wouldnt give back our old damage depost cuz she said they had to replace the whole carpet in the old apt. because the thread of the carpet was unraveling a bit by the wall. we had TOLD her about the thread pulling out when we movedin, we didnt even do it but she still kept the whole damage deposit. then josh went and looked at the old apt and she had lied, the whole carpet WASNT replaced, just a tiny section was that probably cost all of 30 bucks to do, not the whole deposit.
J has been going over there for 3 months trying to get the AC in here fixed cuz it was leaking and making mold grow in the carpet and im allergic to mold and was having trouble breathing. and all the doors are swollen and we cant shut them quietly. well the AC finally got fixed when my MOM went over there (she doesnt respect me or josh and never listens to us) but the doors still slam and the people upstairs complained about the slamming doors and Jyce lied and said our door dont stick, we just let them slam! then my mom went there and joyce said people were complaining about us fighting and screaming at each other. well, the only apt near us is the one upstairs and we are friends with them and they hanvt complained and they said they would come to us first with any problems.
well I figured we have reason to break the lease legally and we told joyce we were looking for a new place and she was like "you think I would give you a bad referece?" she seemed insulted that we would think that, so we figured shed give us a good reference. well we applied for our DREAM apt. I wanted it so bad.. it was PERECT and we just got a rejection letter because joyce gave a bad reference! :evil: :evil: :evil:
she is a total liar! we havent even done anything! oh also, there is a hole in the hallway and when my mom was there she said "what if I told u someone SAW josh ounch it in the wall?" (insinuating, but not really lying?
I happen to know it wasnt J, we saw it for the first time when we got home after bein out all day.
what should I do? can you sue a landlord if theres not really any money involved? just aggravation and deframation (sp?) of character and slander?
If she keeps giving bad refs we will be out on the street when the lease is up in 6 months! I tyried explaining the sitch to the last apt we applied at but all they cared about is what joyce said, they didnt even listen to our side! help :(
sueing landlady?
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Wed, 2005-11-02 16:56
#1
sueing landlady?
Well there is money involved...
She took your damage money, for damage you didnt even do. Slander IS something you can sue for. I would talk to a lawyer about it. Because if she continues to give you bad references, you will be without a home. And shes doing it with nothing to back it up.
I am sorry to hear you have to deal with this BS.
I would definitely speak to an attorney about it and find out if there's anything you can do. The damage money she kept is something you can sue for as well as the defamation of character and slander. Most attorneys will give a free consultation.
I think you could ask for your deposit back in small claims court. She would probably have to prove that she used the money to make repairs.
theres something i forgot.. the landlady maintenece guy doesnt give any notice before coming over. a few months ago i was sleeping and i heard something and I walked out into the living room half naked and the maintenece guy was walking into the apartment!!! he was like "I kept knocking'' and I was like "so? I was sleeping!" just because I didnt answer the door, he should be coming in here when im not home anyways.
at least 3 times ive come home and the door is unlocked, or a different lock is locked from when i left. asnd im the only one with a key.
and once me and josh locked ourselfs out and called the "supposedly" on call number, which i guess is the landlady's cell to get let in (it was only like 9pm) and she showed up drunk, screamed at us for locking ourselves out, told us she doesnt know where the spare is and shes not waking up the maintenece guy for one. then she told us to "go sleep at your parents house or something".
and just recently I came home and there was a notice about rent increase because of heating costs (even though i PAY MY OWN HEAT) SITTING ON MY COUCH!!!! not taped to the door or slipped under it but just sitting there!
That's annoying but it doesnt seem like she broke any laws, and I don't see any real reason to break a lease.
With repairs, you can repair them yourself and reduce the repair amount from your rent. Just attach a receipt and make sure to keep copies just in case.
I don't know the laws where you live, but here the landlord has to give you an itemized list of reductions from the deposit.
i heard in many states they have to give notice to enter the apt. im not sure about nh though. also there is something about them making it sooo misable for you you can break it. I there was a post in here way back about it, with laws about it, not sure what the link is right now though. alot of things i cant fix myself, like the bathroom ceiling is literally falling down, plaster is falling off in chunks, theyve known about it for months and refuse to fix it. also the window panes are cracked and its always freezing and my heating bill is huge because of it. i believe my lease states that repairs must be made in a timley manner.
I'm assuming you live in New Hampshire because of what the above poster wrote.
So I looked up the New Hampshire state laws regarding rent, leases, landlords, and tenants. I read it over to make sure it applies to your situation. I think this may be useful to you.
http://www.state.nh.us/nhdoj/consumer/sourcebook/renting.html
In WA, landlords cannot legally keep ANY of your damage deposit if they don't do a walk-through with you ahead of time and have you both sign the condition report.
UGH, I know what you are going through, we had a landlady like that. She was supposed to be my mom's friend but man did she turn when we moved in. Our bathtub faucet leaked HOT water and made it all steamy in there which made the door swell so we couldn't open it. My ceiling leaked in my room, and they came out to "fix" it once but left the ceiling all messed up and not painted. Then they came in to replace the insulation in there after they did more to fix the actual roof and shingles, but they didn't finish, and left the insulation in my bedroom ceiling exposed for like a month...then it started raining again...and water leaked right in, and chunks of the ceiling were falling down....nobody was doing shit about it and we were calling about it every.single.day. kahfkahsdf!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel your pain. But our landlady wasn't mean about anything, she was just like "hey, relax, I said I'd get to it!" trying to act all buddy buddy like it was OK to my mom. ARRGHHHHH! I feel you. Oh yeah, nobody ever fixed it we moved the fuck out of there and into a place that was actually managed by a big company or whatever. That sucks you have to deal with that, you should definetly see what you can do about that damage deposit.
Do a google search for your state and "Tenents Rights" or "Tenents Union" and find out what your rights are.
It does sound to me like they have broken several laws -- but these do vari from state to state.