My landlord is requesting rent that has already been withdrawn from our accounts. (lease)

[hroslansky]

So this started at the end of October. Our landlord called us up one night and said he was missing $700 (two out of four monthly checks) from over the summer. He told us he thought they were from July and August, and gave me the name of the roommate who he thought didn't pay. That roommate accessed his bank account records and got a photocopy of the checks in question, both endorsed by our landlord and deposited in his account. My roommate gave him the photocopies and our landlord said that he'd look into it. We didn't hear anything more until last night.

Last night our landlord called me again and said he's still missing that $700 from the summer. I told him I thought we had straightened all this out. He told me this time he was missing a check from me, and my roommate, Hayden. He said my missing check was from August and Hayden's missing check was from July.

Today, we pulled our bank account records. I was able to get my photocopies to him before my roommate was. My landlord told me (after I showed him the copies) that he found my check in his deposits last night after we spoke, so I was taken care of, but he was still missing $350 from Hayden.

Hayden and I went over to his house about a half hour ago with the photo copies of Hayden's checks. We showed them to our landlord, and his response was, "So they got withdrawn from your account? Well they didn't show up in my account." This is where his story is falling apart. He originally told me the checks in question were MISSING. Now he's saying the deposits didn't show up in his account, even though the photocopies we got were sent back to us BECAUSE he deposited the checks.

Basically, my question is how do we deal with this? Obviously we'll be keeping track of our rent checks every month for sure, but can he continually try scamming us like this? Is there anything we can do? It really seems like he's just expecting us to say, "Oh, you didn't get that check? Here, let me write you another one quick." Any advice is appreciated.

[mr roboto]

Keep great records. Keep all printed copies of cashed checks. Get the hell out of there ASAP. He's either totally unorganized or dishonest. Either way don't rent from him once the lease is up.

[uptown_urbanist]

Get out as soon as you can! Mr roboto's advice is spot-on; either the guy is scamming you OR is incredibly disorganized, and you don't want to rent from a landlord who is either (dishonest is obviously bad, but so is horribly disorganized-if he's honest but inept, would you trust that he's making his own mortgage, tax, or insurance payments on time? And if he's not, that can also come back to hurt you, even though you're the innocent bystander here)

Unfortunately I suspect getting your security deposit may also be tough with a landlord like this, so be extra careful with documentation when leaving, too.

There are some tenant right organizations around who can help if you run into additional problems.

[xandrex]

For a guy like this, you definitely need to get out. And watch out for your security deposit too.

In fact, this guy seems so shady, that it might be best to document everything and then get out without paying last month's rent. Let the deposit cover that. I had the unfortunate situation of a slumlord who didn't clean the house before we moved in (we were college students and with some parental help, were able to get some money knocked off of the first month's rent for all of the cleaning we had to do). We left it spotless and generally in better shape than it was before, but never did hear back about our deposit.

Honestly, if you're a slumlord, the rules no longer apply. Let him take you to small claims court (he won't). Just have a lot of documentation of how nice you left the place and any documentation of him mysteriously "not getting" checks. You'd win in a heartbeat should anything go forward.

[blktoptrvl]

If there is a local landlord-tenant commission, call them and give them the facts and let them take it from there.

[BillWallace]

Originally Posted by xandrex

In fact, this guy seems so shady, that it might be best to document everything and then get out without paying last month's rent. Let the deposit cover that.

I'm a landlord and I can tell you that this practice is not allowed by any lease. The landlord may not be very organized but they can (and should) immediately begin eviction proceedings, file small claims action and be a terrible reference for you going forward.

Just get out of your lease if you feel that it's not a good situation and do things the right way. The court system very much favors tenants in regards to security deposits so you should be able to get your deposit back with interest or the landlord risks 3x penalty.

My first tenants moved out after a year to a larger home (we became friends). They had terrible time with that landlord who tried to withhold their $1k deposit for bogus reason. Judge made him pay them $3k. You are protected.

[xandrex]

Originally Posted by BillWallace

I'm a landlord and I can tell you that this practice is not allowed by any lease. The landlord may not be very organized but they can (and should) immediately begin eviction proceedings, file small claims action and be a terrible reference for you going forward.

Just get out of your lease if you feel that it's not a good situation and do things the right way. The court system very much favors tenants in regards to security deposits so you should be able to get your deposit back with interest or the landlord risks 3x penalty.

My first tenants moved out after a year to a larger home (we became friends). They had terrible time with that landlord who tried to withhold their $1k deposit for bogus reason. Judge made him pay them $3k. You are protected.

I'm not saying it's legal.

I'm saying that being the good, law-abiding citizens that we were, paying our deposit, and paying the last month's rent got us absolutely nowhere. I was not in the country when my fellow roommates were fighting to get the money back, but they eventually had to give up. The slumlord had protected himself in many ways that made getting the money back more money and time-consuming than it would have been worth.

It's not a popular view among landlords for obvious reasons. And legally it would be sketchy at best. But I'd have not lost hundreds of dollars if I had done it, and frankly regret that I wasn't a little more "dishonest". No apologies for that.

[Mason3000]

Originally Posted by mr roboto

Keep great records. Keep all printed copies of cashed checks. Get the hell out of there ASAP. He's either totally unorganized or dishonest. Either way don't rent from him once the lease is up.

I'd stay & stay friendly, but this is where you draw your line in the sand. Document everything about these check stubs & everything moving forward. Don't find him another check stub. Your not his secretary & he's just fishing, hoping a bunch of young guys would be disorganized & not have them. Eventually he might pick a month you actually don't have a record of, what then? No, no more check stubs, that's over. Absolutely do not under any circumstances give him more money than the monthly rent & pay that on time. At the end of your lease, he can just keep the security deposit & use it for that last month's rent. Understand this now: There's zero chance he's giving your security deposit back! He'll probably threaten to take you to court, but he won't. Also, he may harass you via telephone for a while, but he'll give up in a few days once he realizes it's a waste of his time. Don't even waste your time thinking about a reference. This joker thinks you shortchanged him already. That ship has sailed. You sound like a guy that might have taken pics when he moved in (hoping...)? Take amazing pics on your way out too. Bottom line is it sounds like someone's gonna get screwed that last month, if not sooner. As long as you're still holding your money, you guys get to decide if it's him or you? If you pay that last month, now he's got your money & he gets to decide if it's him or you.