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4. This suggestion is going to get me in trouble with others here and I am not suggesting you become combative and mean spirited, but ... investigate any property violations or anything in your building that does not meet building codes ... that might be reported to the Department of Licenses and Inspections. If the landlord is going to make your life miserable you can use these as "bargaining chips" to get him to lay off. Take pictures of broken screens, windows, water leaks, lack of smoke detectors or fire extinguishers, etc.
5. Contact an agency in your county that deals with tenant/landlord disputes.
Nicole, remember ... society, the local government, law enforcement agencies, and everyone else does not want to see people homeless. A landlord has to cut you some slack. You are not the first person in the world who was a little late paying your rent. It happens thousands of times a day in every city across America and the world. I suspect this is about something more serious than just the tardiness of the rent.
Really? A dog and TEN cats and you advise OP to complain about broken screens? I don't think you want to hear what my reply would be to that.
a history of not paying rent when its due and 10 cats too many, that about sums it up..
The pet issue is only an issue if there's either a "no pet" clause in the lease or the lease permits only a certain number of pets.
The only relevant points per the OP's recounting is whether or not she has a term lease or a lease which expired and went month to month. It's a given that she's been paying rent late by her own admission. From what she's said the LL can either give her notice to leave if her lease has rolled over to a month to month agreement or, if she still has a term lease, for non payment of rent. I surmise the former is likely the case but unless and until she comes back with more information it's all moot.
My landlord does know about all the animals, in fact, I asked them before taking anymore in. They were homeless cats that were starving and needed a place. I'm a huge animal lover so it was hard for me.
Regarding the rent, yes, I guess you could say we are 2 weeks late but the lease states, because we pay in 2 week increments that we have until the 10th to pay. Sometimes, we do and are able to pay the total amount, all at once. But the agreement that is we have to have the total rent due by the 10th of the month. As mentioned, there was only one month out of the 3 years living here that we missed an entire month, but when we did pay, we gave them 3 months.
The worst thing about all of this, is my landlord is actually one of my employees....I am his boss. FYI....just a suggestion....don't EVER put yourself in that situation!!! Because if you have to take duties away from him, hence taking money away....you are screwed!!!
Thank you everyone for your input. It is much appreciated!!!
Hey, I feel for you. I'm a long time animal rescuer too and after 14 years in one place it wasn't going to be an easy task to find a rental once I blurted out that I had five furballs in tow. I easily did, it didn't work out for reasons totally unconnected with the felines but I was there for a year and, just over a month ago when my lease ended, found what I think is my perfect place.
No, it's not a case in your situation that, "I guess you could say we are two weeks late". You're not paying attention. A grace period only means that you don't pay late fees during that grace period. It doesn't mean that you're not late paying your rent.
All well and good to thank for the input but best you act on the good advice because you really have no legal leg to stand on right now whether your lease is a term or has gone to a month to month.
Actually, I would tell everybody the bad stuff that applied.
We are very quiet tenants that most often do not have anyone over the house. When we do have someone over, it is family and only 1 or 2 people at a time. We live directly behind our landlord and the husband works for me, so we see and talk to them all the time.
In the beginning of our rent history....meaning when we first moved in, we were renting 2 places at once. We signed the lease to move in here in July but didn't move in until September. Therefore, we did not pay the July and August rent while we were not living here. I told my husband we had to because we signed the lease. He finally agreed with me but that was the day we actually moved in. On that day, the landlord (the husband) came to us and instead of asking us for the rent first, he started screaming at us and stated he was going to change the locks, which is illegal mind you, so we could not move in and get our stuff.... that we had already moved in that day.
We gave them the money, which wasn't any problem, we already had it and we were fine.
My husband got laid off after 5 months of living here (I was not working because of medical issues) and we started paying our rent in 2 week increments....therefore being late, the 1st, but paying before the 10th. We finally came up with an agreement that we would have until the 10th but anything after that would be a $40 late fee, which we understood and accepted. That is what we have been doing for quite some time now. Three months ago, we had an emergency and could not pay the full rent for a couple of months until the 15th but they did have a partial payment before the 15th.
Then we were fine for 2 months. This month, September, I did not get a paycheck one week because of the holiday. They mailed the check but it was lost in the mail and are in the process of cutting another one. Because my landlord works for me, he understood...but his wife did not. She sent me the email about wanting us to sign a "formal letter she drafted for us to be out in 45 days". Unfortunately, her husband, my employee, does not and never did have any back bone with her, so hence this is what we are dealing with. I currently have the full month's rent ready to give to them but my husband feels we should not just hand it over if they are going to turn around and evict us. I told him they couldn't if we paid, but because he was a landlord before he said they could.
Regarding the pets, yes we do have a lot but it is a very big place and we do keep up with the cleanliness of the house and the smell. Obviously, there is a slight odor....when my mother comes and visits she tells me but she also states that it is not terrible and is not so bad where they would evict us.
When the landlord came over one night, when we first moved in..one of the cat's had just jumped out of the litter box and got a very small amount of litter on the floor. My landlord had come over and I did not have a chance to sweep it up before answering the door. When she saw that she stated we were ruining the place. Mind you...that was the only thing on the floor AND that was 3 years ago. She has seen the apartment since then and has not said a word.
We also helped them get a grant by giving them all of our information. They were suppose to use some of the money to fix our roof that leaks, replace some of the plumbing and also fix whatever else needed to be fixed. Instead, all they did was replace the toilet bowl because they had no choice. Since they replaced it, we have been having problems with it leaking. Regarding the roof, all they did was throw a blue tarp over the roof to prevent it from leaking in. They used the majority of the money, if not all of it, fixing their place, replacing their roof, kitchen, living room, etc...
Also, I have a lot of medical problems and is currently going for disability and the landlords know this. They are actually the ones that stated I should go for it besides my doctors. My current job I am able to do because it is part time and I am able to work from home except on Wednesdays but it is only part-time because, do to my medical conditions, I am not able to work more. All my doctors feel I should not work at all because I just make myself more sick. But I am not the type of person that can accept being on disability at 40 yrs old so it is hard for me.
Actually, I would tell everybody the bad stuff that applied.
We are very quiet tenants that most often do not have anyone over the house. When we do have someone over, it is family and only 1 or 2 people at a time. We live directly behind our landlord and the husband works for me, so we see and talk to them all the time.
In the beginning of our rent history....meaning when we first moved in, we were renting 2 places at once. We signed the lease to move in here in July but didn't move in until September. Therefore, we did not pay the July and August rent while we were not living here. I told my husband we had to because we signed the lease. He finally agreed with me but that was the day we actually moved in. On that day, the landlord (the husband) came to us and instead of asking us for the rent first, he started screaming at us and stated he was going to change the locks, which is illegal mind you, so we could not move in and get our stuff.... that we had already moved in that day.
We gave them the money, which wasn't any problem, we already had it and we were fine.
My husband got laid off after 5 months of living here (I was not working because of medical issues) and we started paying our rent in 2 week increments....therefore being late, the 1st, but paying before the 10th. We finally came up with an agreement that we would have until the 10th but anything after that would be a $40 late fee, which we understood and accepted. That is what we have been doing for quite some time now. Three months ago, we had an emergency and could not pay the full rent for a couple of months until the 15th but they did have a partial payment before the 15th.
Then we were fine for 2 months. This month, September, I did not get a paycheck one week because of the holiday. They mailed the check but it was lost in the mail and are in the process of cutting another one. Because my landlord works for me, he understood...but his wife did not. She sent me the email about wanting us to sign a "formal letter she drafted for us to be out in 45 days". Unfortunately, her husband, my employee, does not and never did have any back bone with her, so hence this is what we are dealing with. I currently have the full month's rent ready to give to them but my husband feels we should not just hand it over if they are going to turn around and evict us. I told him they couldn't if we paid, but because he was a landlord before he said they could.
Regarding the pets, yes we do have a lot but it is a very big place and we do keep up with the cleanliness of the house and the smell. Obviously, there is a slight odor....when my mother comes and visits she tells me but she also states that it is not terrible and is not so bad where they would evict us.
When the landlord came over one night, when we first moved in..one of the cat's had just jumped out of the litter box and got a very small amount of litter on the floor. My landlord had come over and I did not have a chance to sweep it up before answering the door. When she saw that she stated we were ruining the place. Mind you...that was the only thing on the floor AND that was 3 years ago. She has seen the apartment since then and has not said a word.
We also helped them get a grant by giving them all of our information. They were suppose to use some of the money to fix our roof that leaks, replace some of the plumbing and also fix whatever else needed to be fixed. Instead, all they did was replace the toilet bowl because they had no choice. Since they replaced it, we have been having problems with it leaking. Regarding the roof, all they did was throw a blue tarp over the roof to prevent it from leaking in. They used the majority of the money, if not all of it, fixing their place, replacing their roof, kitchen, living room, etc...
Also, I have a lot of medical problems and is currently going for disability and the landlords know this. They are actually the ones that stated I should go for it besides my doctors. My current job I am able to do because it is part time and I am able to work from home except on Wednesdays but it is only part-time because, do to my medical conditions, I am not able to work more. All my doctors feel I should not work at all because I just make myself more sick. But I am not the type of person that can accept being on disability at 40 yrs old so it is hard for me.
None of that matters. The only thing that matters is that you did not pay your rent on time in accordance with your lease or rental agreement. That is all the landlord needs to terminate your renting the property. Get some boxes and start packing.
Did you ever consider it's because of the animals why he wants to evict and the 4 day late is just his excuse ?
That crossed my mind too but then I saw the OP was late before and I think the LL is just scared it will become a bad habit of always being late or every so often.
OP check your lease and make sure of how many days you have to pay. 4 days late and already a notice given is just, well, to me, unheard of. I think your LL just went a little over board to send you notice so soon. Ar your pets doing any damage or making noise, smells that maybe the LL saw? maybe that's why. Jeez only 4 days and you get a notice?!? But if your rent is, say, due the 1st of the month I would think you have at least 5 business days to get it in his/her hands. I would expect you to have at least 5 business days from the date the rent is due and after that you pay a late fee but if it's past the 15th then the notice to quit is sent. Either that way or you pay the late fee if it's pas the 15th like the banks do to the LL's.
I know a married woman who lives in another state and she is going on disability and they own the house they live in. I wonder if you could manage to save up to buy yourselves a small home of your own so you wouldn't have to worry about being evicted just for being late. Is there a State you might consider that's cheaper as far as the price of homes go you would be interested in moving to? I'd look into that if I were you, assuming you both can manage to save up enough and find a affordable one. Check into town/municipal laws though. A lot of Municipalities are now making and enforcing laws that only allow homeowners, yes homeowners not renters, to have a certain amount of pets. It doesn't matter if the pets aren't abused, neglected or hoarded they will not allow up to a certain amount per houshold. I think this is over reacting to the hoarders who do neglect, abuse their pets.
Last edited by Lolipopbubbles; 09-14-2012 at 06:11 PM..
Reason: Yeah now I see it's habitually being late. Yep you're screwed.
That crossed my mind too but then I saw the OP was late before and I think the LL is just scared it will become a bad habit of always being late or every so often.
OP check your lease and make sure of how many days you have to pay. 4 days late and already a notice given is just, well, to me, unheard of. I think your LL just went a little over board to send you notice so soon. Ar your pets doing any damage or making noise, smells that maybe the LL saw? maybe that's why. Jeez only 4 days and you get a notice?!? But if your rent is, say, due the 1st of the month I would think you have at least 5 business days to get it in his/her hands. I would expect you to have at least 5 business days from the date the rent is due and after that you pay a late fee but if it's past the 15th then the notice to quit is sent. Either that way or you pay the late fee if it's pas the 15th like the banks do to the LL's.
You did not read the OP carefully enough, she was actually 14 days late on the rent, 4 days past the 10 day grace period. Today she is 15 days late.... and it is not the first time.
You did not read the OP carefully enough, she was actually 14 days late on the rent, 4 days past the 10 day grace period. Today she is 15 days late.... and it is not the first time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CptnRn
None of that matters. The only thing that matters is that you did not pay your rent on time in accordance with your lease or rental agreement. That is all the landlord needs to terminate your renting the property. Get some boxes and start packing.
And, Nicole, this ^^^ is what's relevant and is just a a repeat of what's already been said. Put aside all the emotions, the personal difficulties, the animals, the personal trials and tribulations and everything else. None of that is relevant to the question you asked and is totally irrelevant legally. You've asked about the legality of the situation and have been answered.
"Can my landlord evict us for this? If so, what do we do? Can we prevent this eviction from happening, even if we go to court?"
Yes. Talk to your landlord. No.
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I don't think you want to hear what my reply would be to that.
