Landlord issues and harassment, is it advisable to rent from a private owner? (apartment, lease)

[busyboy]

I was living in an apartment and then I moved to a private home in north white plains, close to NYC. The location was good with stop and shop facing our house and CVS within a minutes reach and my husband and I felt we were getting a bigger space for the same rent so we moved there. However we had many problems when we moved in such as the heat not working in 2 of the rooms and the master bedroom had water leaking from the heater. The appliances were not working.
Before moving we insisted on testing the appliances and the heat but the landlord rushed us to sign the lease and verbally assured us that the appliances and heat worked fine. The landlord was a lawyer. Also I was 6 months pregnant at that time
The landlord fixed the heat but not the appliances so we bought a portable dryer which we are trying to sell even today. We didn't even report him to the fire department or city of white plains for not providing heat as we didn't want to strain the relationship. He offered us an option to convert the lease from a 1 year to a six month with the option to extend for another 6 months which we didn't realize at that time was a trap to get us out early and we took the option. After 6 months he sent us a notice asking us to get out even though the baby was just 3 months old. We begged him to renew the lease as originally agreed upon but he flatly refused. Then we started looking for a place but my baby became sick and then we needed to perform surgery on him. We requested the landlord to give us some time to find a place but he started harassing us stating he will take legal action on us if we did not move out by the date mentioned in the notice. 45 days is not enough time to find a new place that too with a baby. He also said he will charge us for any damages. It became obvious to us that we were not going to get our security back. As soon as we completed the surgery for the baby We got desperate and we signed the lease for the same apartment we were previously which was small. As soon as we signed the lease for the new place we informed him we were moving as he wanted but now he stated that he wanted the full month’s rent even though we were moving because of him in the middle of the month as he harassed us to move stating he would evict us if we didn't move. So we asked him to deduct the rent from the deposit even though he would get a few hundreds extra which was okay with us. But he took us to court stating non payment of rent. By that time my husband and I were so vexed that we agreed to sign a stipulation with him giving him 200$ just for court fees and he agreed to for a walk-through inspection and acknowledge receipt of keys. We hired a professional cleaner to do all the cleaning and when the landlord came for the inspection he refused to honor the stipulation and when he inspected did not say anything but said he will bring a contractor the next day. We asked him to tell us if anything was wrong and he was unable to find anything wrong with the place so he evaded our question. Then he deducted 300$ from the deposit and another 100$ without even showing us the utility bill. Should we go to small claims court for heat abatement, harassment and failure to refund security deposit?

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by busyboy

...is it advisable to rent from a private owner?

It is advisable to rent from entities that 1) have a clue about what they are doing
and 2) have an open line of communication. The corporate size of the entity is immaterial.

...we had many problems when we moved in...
Before moving we insisted on testing the appliances... but the landlord rushed us to sign
(balance of the drama snipped...)

Third rule: never rent to or from an attorney.

[CarlitosBala]

Quite a complex set of events you got yourself here..

I sure do hope your baby is doing well, and is nice and healthy now. The only advice I can give you, is drop all mention of pregnancy and baby-situation as it has not much to do with the actual case/lease/landlord and seems to only be there to garner pity points for yourself.

Pity points do not hold up in court, they make you sound needy, unstable and a pain in the ass to deal with. Also, avoid the whole "he rushed us to sign the lease, blah blah blah", you are an adult, who should be responsible enough to care for a child, yet a person can just get you to sign any document they want?? Again, just like pity points, you are adding these details to demonize your landlord and nothing else.

Stick with FACTS of the case, what was signed, and what was on the lease and take it from there.

Best of luck!

[I'm Kickinit]

I had a question for the users here too.

My next door neighbors have lived in their apartment now going on 3 months.
Our gofer, maintenance guy comes a collects rents usually around or between the third and seventh day at the beginning of the month.

A couple of days ago, he came to collect and I happened to notice paperwork in his portfolio that had typed in bold lettering something about 5 day notice. I said, hey, is that out eviction notice, as I was kidding, he replied no, it's for your neighbor. My jaw dropped to the floor.

He told me that the property owner was out of the United States on a lengthy business trip to Canada, and told me the tenants next to me wrote two bounced checks for the previous two months rent, and he was serving them a notice to either pay up or he would evict them.

One of the questions I have for anyone here knowledgeable is, did the owner's envoy violate a law by telling someone other than the tenants about the pending eviction and did he violate the law by telling someone who has no interest in the pending procedure that the tenant had written bad checks?

I was always under the assumption once a tenant is given notice to vacate the tenant had 30 days to do so.

Also, isn't writing bad checks considered some kind of fraud or theft in some states?

[wireyourworld]

I don't know of a law stating that you can't state the facts. Curious to know if there is one in this type of instance.

[STT Resident]

Originally Posted by I'm Kickinit

One of the questions I have for anyone here knowledgeable is, did the owner's envoy violate a law by telling someone other than the tenants about the pending eviction and did he violate the law by telling someone who has no interest in the pending procedure that the tenant had written bad checks?

I was always under the assumption once a tenant is given notice to vacate the tenant had 30 days to do so.

Also, isn't writing bad checks considered some kind of fraud or theft in some states?

He didn't break any laws, he's just an unprofessional blabbermouth. He should have told you to mind your own business but he didn't break any law by telling you the truth.

To review the evictions process you should read your state landlord tenant laws which are probably linked in the first "sticky" on this page. When a tenant defaults on rent the LL will give a "pay or quit" notice. If the debt isn't paid in full within the required number of days, formal eviction proceedings follow.

On a month to month tenancy (i.e. no lease) tenant and landlord are both required by law to give each other one month's notice of quit. This is standard procedure and quite separate from what you're describing where a tenant has defaulted on the terms of the agreement.

Someone who is passed a bad cheque can certainly alert the Federal authorities but when it comes to renting, the fact alone is sufficient to start eviction proceedings. When an eviction judgement is made against anyone for any reason their credit rating plummets and their future ability to rent is severely compromised.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by I'm Kickinit

...did the owner's envoy violate a law by telling someone other than the tenants about the pending eviction

In most areas... that notice gets attached to the door where anyone walking by will/can see it.

and did he violate the law by telling someone who has no interest in the pending procedure that the tenant had written bad checks?

probably; but with the notice on the door describing what is owed (including NSF fees)...

I was always under the assumption once a tenant is given notice to vacate the tenant had 30 days to do so.

In most areas... the process starts with that (3 or 5 DAY) pay or quit notice.
The actual eviction order has to come from a court and will often take far longer than 30 days to effect.

Also, isn't writing bad checks considered some kind of fraud or theft in some states?

that varies... but "fraud" and "theft" are criminal terms that rarely apply when a civil and contractural relationship exists between the parties.

[wireyourworld]

What You Need to Know About Bounced Checks | Credit.com


Depends on if its an error or an intent to defraud. I once had a check written to me as a holding deposit, on a closed account. That would be an intent to defraud. I only accept cash now.

[I'm Kickinit]

Thanks for all of the responses.

After I'd found out about the tenant writing two bad checks for previous months of rent, and the LL not knowing that they bounced because he was out of the USA on business, I thought, well, he is sort of an irresponsible person at best. Because who out here has had a business dealing or a rental, and never bothered to check his or her bank to see if monies were deposited in the first place, and to make sure checks cleared properly?

I don't know about anyone else here, but when I pay my rent, credit cards, I always go back a day, two or three to make sure those cleared, and to make sure my account has the balance in it that I should have by my own record keeping.

Thanks to the poster who said blabbermouth, I'll keep that in mind whenever I see this guy month to month.