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I've rented from my landlord since 2002. When I first moved in, I took up residence at the house at the bottom of the hill. (three kids, four bedroom home). She had a house come open at the top of the hill ( she owns like 7 houses on this private driveway), and asked me if I wanted to rent it. I decided yes solely because I have a physically and mentally disabled son, and this house offered being further away from the road and more privacy.
Thus, I moved up to my current house in 2004 and have been here ever since. She assured me that the house I am currently in was going to be more rent because: "It was nicer, she was giving it marble counter tops and new carpet, and it had a two car detached garage." I never did get the counter tops or new carpet because "my kids would mess it up" and the two car detached garage was NEVER usable as a garage ( walls caving in, trees growing through the ROOF!), etc. I had complained about having to pay the extra rent increase since I wasn't given what she said I was going to get, and she pretty much told me to "stuff it" back then.
In 2006 when I threw my fiance out for personal reasons, all the sudden- my landlord called me and said she was going to sell my house and was having an appraiser come. An appraiser did come, and when my father asked to see the appraisal sheet, I was told I would get it but never did. I told her we would buy this property, yet I never got the appraisal and everything was dropped.
She waited until 2008 to do it again- saying she was selling as she had bought a retirement home with her husband in another state. Her pretty much direct language was that she was "selling the house because I am just going to start weeding them out. I have a lot of properties and don't even live in Pennsylvania anymore. I'm only home on weekends. I just want to retire". Again, someone came to my house and again, she did not sell.
On May 6 just this week, she knocked on my door under the premise she was concerned about my daughter. ( my landlord literally lives perpendicular to me and never DID move out of state like she said she did). My daughter had been in the hospital for seven weeks due to her birth defect, and my LL wanted to know how she was. Right after that ,she told me she had "news and it wasn't good".
She proceeded to tell me that she is tired of where she lives at, and that they were putting too many businesses around her house as well as a recently constructed bar. She said she was "tired of drunks on her porch, or turning around in her driveway, or fighting". When I asked what this had to do with me- she told me "You have until August 1st to get out, as I am taking your house and remodeling it with my husband and we are going to live here."
I just stood there completely shell shocked. Not only do I have a disabled son, like I said also a disabled daughter. I myself, suffer from a neurological condition and am in the middle of fighting for disability myself.
What really, really gets my goat is that she asked me while telling me all this if I would like my OLD house back ( the one at the bottom of the hill). I jumped on the chance. She then told me that she would have to "check with the tenant there, who is a single guy living in a four bedroom home with no children, no pets, and not even a girlfriend, if he would LIKE to leave".
By the way, none of us have leases here as SHE doesn't believe in them, calling them "pieces of (insert here)."
I talked to her again on Monday and asked her to please talk to the tenant at the bottom of the hill to see if he would be willing to relocate- OR tell him she is selling, etc. She said he would be none the wiser if she told him she is selling, said she would talk to him and get back to me.
She got back to me today and told me "nope, the tenant at the bottom of the hill doesn't want to leave as he loves the house and won't be able to find anything else for that price, so you have to still get out by August 1st. I'd start cleaning now if I were you."
I think we can all pretty much see that what she is doing is MORALLY wrong, but it also feels like she may be crossing a few lines here. The woman has ALWAYS tried to get me out- several times. ( I am the ONLY tenant with children on any of her properties- and ALL of her properties are single family LARGE houses, except one). She hasn't offered to pay for my first month rent, or moving van or anything for another place.
Can she just really come evict me, with no cause ( other than she wants the house for herself) and just be off scott free? I have disabled kids here, that because of THIS location are in private schools. If I so much move to the left or right, I have to switch schools for my kids. This is all just nuts, and I simply cannot believe she is doing this. I kind of like my house too having been here ten years. She is choosing a 6 MONTH tenant over a ten year tenant. I do not get it- and putting an entire family out on their butt versus just one single man. This makes no sense.
The quick and short answer is: yes. If you have no lease, you are considered on a month-to-month deal, where either party can terminate the agreement in 30 days (for any reason or for no reason at all). Some states may be different, so check your landlord/tenant laws. August 1st is more than twice that amount of time.
Can she just really come evict me, with no cause ( other than she wants the house for herself) and just be off scott free?
First, she is NOT evicting you. She is giving you proper legal notice of her intention to recover her property for other uses. I'll grant you that 30 days notice after 10+ years tenancy is a bit brief... but judging by your tirade above I suspect there are other reasons on her behalf we don't know about.
She is not evicting, she has given you more, much more than the required 30 days notice. You may want to stay, you may have problems finding something else, but it is all legal and the LL has given you pleanty of notice. Soryy, that's not the answer you want. It's the reality of a bad situation for you. Next rental, get a lease.
She isn't doing anything morally wrong. She provides you a house. You pay rent. You don't have a lease. She has given you proper notice. It's all business.
Seems like she is giving you a lot of time to find a new place. So what's the problem exactly?
Sounds like you have a real piece of work for a landlord. She sounds like she has some issues to sort out, but I don't think she's done anything illegal or improper. The Pennsylvania Landlord Tenant Act has this to say:
Section 250.501 - Notice to quit
(a) A landlord desirous of repossessing real property from a tenant ... may notify, in writing, the tenant to remove from the same at the expiration of the time specified in the notice ...
(b) [i]n case of the expiration of a term ... where the lease is for ... an indeterminate time, the notice shall specify that the tenant shall remove within fifteen days from the date of service thereof,
Put simply, because you are in a month-to-month lease, she is required by Pennsylvania law to give you 15 days' notice in writing. By giving you until August 1st, she is well within both the letter and the spirit of the law (I suspect you'll get a certified letter around mid-July). In fact, she would be within her rights to tell you that you must vacate by May 25th. As much as I hate to say it, it sounds like you've learned a very painful lesson on why you always get your lease in writing -- and never deal with a landlord who refuses to do so.
What part of the state are you in? You might want to check in with the Pennsylvania forum and/or an appropriate subforum for rental suggestions.
If this is a mobile home (which it sounds like it isn't), then things are quite different. Pennsylvania law provides special protection for mobile home tenants in some circumstances.
I am sure it seems unfair to you, but she is doing nothing illegal or immoral. She owns the house, and is only required to give you the notice spelled out in your state's statutes -- typically 30 days. She has given you over 3 months -- that is a decent amount of time in which to find another place.
Since your kids have such specific needs, it might be better to rent from a more professional landlord next time, with the kind of long term lease you need.
If you were going to buy this place from her, what's stopping you buying somewhere else? Or taking the house she is moving out of?
As others have said, she is perfectly within her rights to do this, and has actually gone beyond what is required, by giving you 3 month's notice.
She is under no obligation to kick out the other tenant to make room for you. The fact that he is a single guy and you have kids is irrelevant. In fact, from a landlord's perspective, that counts more in his favor, because 1 person is less wear and tear than a full family.
She was within her rights to have an appraisal done to determine whether or not she wanted to sell at that time. Also, she was under no obligation to give you a copy of that appraisal unless you paid for it. You would be within your rights to pay for your own appraisal if you were interested in buying the property at that time.
Your landlord sounds like they are a very blunt person, who maybe needs a property manager to be the go between with her tenants, but there is nothing morally or legally wrong with what they have done.
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