[carlarenae1688]

I need some advice, the place we just moved out of here in FL is trying to charge us $1025 in damages and repairs, and breaking our lease. There is no possible way we can/will pay that. Most of the things we were charged for are things that come free of charge, like the pest control services. They also charged a clean up fee, which my fiance and I both know they do not clean the apartments before they lease them out again. They also charged us with "collections" $510 worth of whatever the hell that is.

Does anyone know what they can legally do to us if we refuse to pay? There are no grounds for these charges, our lease is up at the beginning of June. We were out of the apartment before May 1. (I am absolutely sure of that because we went and spoke to the manager who said everything would be fine, and that they would send us a letter in the mail about everything.) He was well aware before May 1st, because he left a message on my cell phone before then, but I did not recieve it until the 1st of May.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Carla

[Lisa_from_Debary]

I believe they can put a statement on your credit...so the next time you try to get an apartment you might have a hard time.

I had a problem in an apartment in Texas...I had a 6 month lease, it was the first time I had an apartment and I was dumb...I thought once the lease was up, it was up, I assumed if they didn't hear from me, they assumed it was because I was moving...like I said I was young and ignorant...

What was really going on is that a maintenance worker was sexually harassing me, he made sure to tell me that there was NO WAY to secure my apartment because of the sliding door and the complex would not pay to fix that...I was terrified, whenever I left my apartment he was there...he would remind me that he had access to the master key to get into my apartment anytime he wanted to...

This is why I didn't want to stay there. When I found out that I was supposed to tell them I wasn't coming back and they wanted to charge me some kind of fee for NOT telling them, my Dad who was a very intelligent business man with a ball buster attorney got on the phone with them and told them we would be suing them for putting me in that position in the first place if they didn't drop the whole thing...we never heard from them again...apparently I was not the only one who had a problem with this guy.

The last apartment I l ived in tried something similar with me, I told them if they didn't hold to what was written, I would report them to the health department...I had paid the amount mentioned in the lease so I could break it early...they had a terrible bug problem which they lied to me about...I had a hell of a time getting someone to the apartment to spray at all and once they did, one of my cats died of kidney failure, the vet said it was consistent with being poisoned, of course I didn't have the money at the time to have a post mortem done...

Unfortunately places like this prey on people because they know they can...not always but enough that good people get taken advantage of...how many of us have the money or the time to dicker back and forth with places like this??

I HATE living in apartments...

[daniellefort]

Yes they can put it in collections hurting your credit. It happened to my husband here in FL. His is roommate said he would pay the balance due for ending a lease and whatever other fees applied but he never did pay and moved out of state somewhere. Didn't find out about it until it showed up on my husbands credit report when he was trying to buy a home. But hey, seeing as i have worked in the collections department, they can't legally send you to collections if you pay something to them each month (unless they have something in fine print that says pay in full). Send them $5.00 a month. Just don't let it get in collections because you only have 45 days to pay it IN FULL before your credit score gets hit and you can't make monthly payments once it's in collections without hurting your credit.

[john1963]

Most local legal aid places help with landlord/tenant problems.
I would go to small claims court while the problem is fresh, if you wait too long
you might lose your rights.

File a complaint with the BBB and be sure to post your review of this complex at apartmentratings.com

[macguy]

Originally Posted by carlarenae1688

I need some advice, the place we just moved out of here in FL is trying to charge us $1025 in damages and repairs, and breaking our lease. There is no possible way we can/will pay that. Most of the things we were charged for are things that come free of charge, like the pest control services. They also charged a clean up fee, which my fiance and I both know they do not clean the apartments before they lease them out again. They also charged us with "collections" $510 worth of whatever the hell that is.

Does anyone know what they can legally do to us if we refuse to pay? There are no grounds for these charges, our lease is up at the beginning of June. We were out of the apartment before May 1. (I am absolutely sure of that because we went and spoke to the manager who said everything would be fine, and that they would send us a letter in the mail about everything.) He was well aware before May 1st, because he left a message on my cell phone before then, but I did not recieve it until the 1st of May.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Carla

If half way through the lease they came to you and said you have to get out, they have someone who will pay more for the apartment you would not be happy would you? You didn't respect the lease and I suspect will lose your deposit. Having said that, I know landlords who routinely keep deposits.

There is almost always something tenants have done that warrants it. It is not their place and they will trash it then try to cover up what they did the day before they leave. Lets face it, people can be pigs. I have one rental left and I am living in my other house now that was usually rented out. I will never miss being a landlord. Of course we know you didn't do any of the things they claim.

[carlarenae1688]

Originally Posted by macguy

If half way through the lease they came to you and said you have to get out, they have someone who will pay more for the apartment you would not be happy would you? You didn't respect the lease and I suspect will lose your deposit. Having said that, I know landlords who routinely keep deposits.

There is almost always something tenants have done that warrants it. It is not their place and they will trash it then try to cover up what they did the day before they leave. Lets face it, people can be pigs. I have one rental left and I am living in my other house now that was usually rented out. I will never miss being a landlord. Of course we know you didn't do any of the things they claim.

Thank you for the sarcasm.


I understand they will keep the deposit, but why would they also try to charge us $1025??? Thats the biggest problem here. They not only want us to pay for our breaking lease, but also all the things that our contract says is part of our rent.

[dreamofmonterey]

Originally Posted by carlarenae1688

I need some advice, the place we just moved out of here in FL is trying to charge us $1025 in damages and repairs, and breaking our lease. There is no possible way we can/will pay that. Most of the things we were charged for are things that come free of charge, like the pest control services. They also charged a clean up fee, which my fiance and I both know they do not clean the apartments before they lease them out again. They also charged us with "collections" $510 worth of whatever the hell that is.

Does anyone know what they can legally do to us if we refuse to pay? There are no grounds for these charges, our lease is up at the beginning of June. We were out of the apartment before May 1. (I am absolutely sure of that because we went and spoke to the manager who said everything would be fine, and that they would send us a letter in the mail about everything.) He was well aware before May 1st, because he left a message on my cell phone before then, but I did not recieve it until the 1st of May.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Carla

Call an attorney. they will protect you. Some may charge a small fee. If you havent done any damage; they are probably just angry you are breaking the lease- but legally they have to let you break it- you may have to forfeit a few weeks rent. They can threaten, but please do your homework-once they know you have a lawyer I bet they will change their tune.

I have a few names if you are in S Florida.


sunny

[carlarenae1688]

Originally Posted by sunnyhelena

Call an attorney. they will protect you. Some may charge a small fee. If you havent done any damage; they are probably just angry you are breaking the lease- but legally they have to let you break it- you may have to forfeit a few weeks rent. They can threaten, but please do your homework-once they know you have a lawyer I bet they will change their tune.

I have a few names if you are in S Florida.


sunny

Sadly I am in North FL, right near all the fires going on. I will figure something out. Thank you.

[Jammie]

Originally Posted by carlarenae1688

Sadly I am in North FL, right near all the fires going on. I will figure something out. Thank you.

Private Message Cil or Sunrico. There's just a small possibility they will know the area you're in and could offer advice.

OR if you're in Jacksonville, PM Karla ( MyFask) or HereinFla. They may also be able to help you find info.

If these people are doing it to you, they may have done the same thing to others in the past and things like that can turn out to be pretty well known. Good luck to you.

[carlarenae1688]

Originally Posted by Jammie

Private Message Cil or Sunrico. There's just a small possibility they will know the area you're in and could offer advice.

OR if you're in Jacksonville, PM Karla ( MyFask) or HereinFla. They may also be able to help you find info.

If these people are doing it to you, they may have done the same thing to others in the past and things like that can turn out to be pretty well known. Good luck to you.

Thank you. I have contacted Sunrico and am patiently awaiting a reply. I really appreicate all of the help from everyone.

Thank ya'll.

Carla