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Hello All! Im new here. Im going to try to make this short!
Im from yonkers NY. We recently moved out of our apartment in a 3 family home. We were renters. We moved out sept 30th. We took out everything from the apartment and cleaned up everything ( i took pictures too). I left the keys in the mail box and a check for the garage that we rent in the cubord. She sent over an inspector that day (the 30th) when we were still in the process of getting everything out of there and he said that basically the apartment was in good condition and needed a paint job and some plaster work for the nail holes. She was not present, claimed she was sick. We took all of out trash and put it in the side yard where the trash usually goes. We had a few big pieces there. We piled the garbage nicely (we had a lot of garbage after 4 years!). I asked her Monday When we should expect the security deposit. She said she would go in about 4 days to see for herself.
Well this past weekend I text her and she told me that she will bill me for a few things.
She claims there was garbage all over the area and yard. Which I believe because No one went to pull the trash out for the garbage man to take stuff. We have raccoons, cats, skunks, squirrels and possums in the area! they look for any opportunity to get in trash.
She wants bill us for the rug because it was dirty and said there is a purple stain that cant be removed. She proceeded to ask why I didnt shampoo the carpet. She never mentioned we should. Shes the type of person that if I were to get it shampooed and it got ruined she would get mad so I left it in her hands.
she said there was mouse poop. i lived there 4 years and never seen a mouse. We have a cat too so Im sure he would of caught something. She said she will bill us for the exterminator.
she also wants to charge us 100.00 for water because it came out high. Our rent included heat and hot water and although she said overage fees are in the lease, i reread it and it isnt.
for 1 year we were on a lease. We were originally going to move but we choose to stay and her and I verbally agreed that we can stay longer. She always said she was going to bring a lease and didnt. we later found out she was selling the house. She didnt tell me until I asked.
We had a few problems there, like with mold and fixtures. Heat sucked! We have been without light during a heat wave because she was on vacation and her tentant who could reach the circuit breaker couldnt/wouldnt turn on the lights for us. Sometimes snow wouldnt be shoveled and the lady below us had a gas leak! When we moved in she said the carpet was new, well it wasnt there was dog **** all over it and the smell was masked with fresh paint smell. She didnt even install that carpet the previous tenant did and she had a huge dog who did the business on it, she was basically forced to get a new carpet we waited 2 months for.
What put the icing on the cake for us is that she took garbage from the garbage area, and broke into our garage (the lock is broken) and placed the garbage in there. I also have pictures of that. We even called the police and told them she would remove it. its been 2 days and she hasnt removed it and we cant get any of our stuff out of there. She said to call her lawyer! It rained and the garage floods! THere was mold and food there too. Mold got on our expensive baby strollers and car seats.
We cant afford a lawyer right now so Im sure we will have to represent ourselves in small claims court. My question is, does she have a case against us. She never painted in the 4 years that we lived there. Never came to do general fixtures. She didnt tell us we needed to remove the garbage ourselves either. She never even came to shampoo the rug.I have text message between us for the past year too. My daughter is 4 and when we moved in she was 4 months old. She has asthma now. The man who lived illegally in the basement also complained of mold and sued her for a flood he had in his apartment.
Im so stressed and scared. We were good tentants and paid on the 99% of the time. When my son was born her had emergency surgery and things got crazy at home and going back and forth to the hospital so 2 checks bounced because of check book mix up! We paid a 50.00 fee for that. We didnt ever bother (maybe thats where we went wrong, we were too nice).
Look up your state landlord tenant laws (linked in the first "sticky" on this forum) and see how long your landlady legally has to return your security deposit. In most states it's 30 days and any deductions made from it have to be itemized. If you disagree with the deductions you can legally contest them in writing. If you can't reach a compromise then you can file against her in Small Claims court as long as you have all the documentation you need. If she doesn't return your deposit and a list of the itemized deductions within the time frame allowed, you can sue for the full return of the security deposit and expect to win your case.
As far as the specifics are concerned, she may well have a case where the garbage is concerned. It sounds as though you left way more than the "normal" accrued garbage for collection and a judge could well decide that you should have made arrangements to remove those "big pieces" at your own expense. I don't understand what you mean when you say that you can't now get into the garage to move the rest of your "stuff". All your "stuff" should have been removed by the end of the lease term and before you handed over the keys.
If you didn't address in writing to the landlady the state of the carpet when you moved in and didn't take supporting photographs, you can't expect to prevail on the cleaning issue. You're expected to leave the place in as good condition as it was when you moved in and if you left the carpet dirty and the rug in a mess then expect to pay for the cleaning.
She can't charge you for excessive water usage if there is no clause in the lease addressing it.
A landlord isn't required to come in and paint the place while you're living there, nor shampoo carpets during your tenancy unless that's been agreed to in writing. If things went wrong during your tenancy then these should have been addressed in writing to the landlord when they occurred. You can't now go back and expect any sort of compensation for things which weren't dealt with properly. Likewise you can't bring up the question of mold if you didn't bring it up while living there.
You don't need a lawyer (and in most cases aren't allowed to be represented by one in Small Claims court) but you do need to read your state landlord tenant laws and understand what's expected of both landlords and tenants, as well as how to properly address problems which arise during your tenancy.
My advice is to read the laws and then wait and see what, if anything, she's going to deduct from your security deposit and go from there. Good luck.
Last edited by STT Resident; 10-12-2012 at 12:27 PM..
Look up your state landlord tenant laws (linked in the first "sticky" on this forum) and see how long your landlady legally has to return your security deposit. In most states it's 30 days and any deductions made from it have to be itemized. If you disagree with the deductions you can legally contest them in writing. If you can't reach a compromise then you can file against her in Small Claims court as long as you have all the documentation you need. If she doesn't return your deposit and a list of the itemized deductions within the time frame allowed, you can sue for the full return of the security deposit and expect to win your case.
As far as the specifics are concerned, she may well have a case where the garbage is concerned. It sounds as though you left way more than the "normal" accrued garbage for collection and a judge could well decide that you should have made arrangements to remove those "big pieces" at your own expense. I don't understand what you mean when you say that you can't now get into the garage to move the rest of your "stuff". All your "stuff" should have been removed by the end of the lease term and before you handed over the keys.
If you didn't address in writing to the landlady the state of the carpet when you moved in and didn't take supporting photographs, you can't expect to prevail on the cleaning issue. You're expected to leave the place in as good condition as it was when you moved in and if you left the carpet dirty and the rug in a mess then expect to pay for the cleaning.
She can't charge you for excessive water usage if there is no clause in the lease addressing it.
A landlord isn't required to come in and paint the place while you're living there, nor shampoo carpets during your tenancy unless that's been agreed to in writing. If things went wrong during your tenancy then these should have been addressed in writing to the landlord when they occurred. You can't now go back and expect any sort of compensation for things which weren't dealt with properly. Likewise you can't bring up the question of mold if you didn't bring it up while living there.
You don't need a lawyer (and in most cases aren't allowed to be represented by one in Small Claims court) but you do need to read your state landlord tenant laws and understand what's expected of both landlords and tenants, as well as how to properly address problems which arise during your tenancy.
My advice is to read the laws and then wait and see what, if anything, she's going to deduct from your security deposit and go from there. Good luck.
Thank you for your reply!
We rented the garage seperately from our home rent. It was 200.00 extra a month. She took garage from the side lawn and put it inside the garage where we had our normal storage stuff. We paid for October but it would be our last month. We were going to remove things out regularly before November came.
I believe here (but I will go check the laws like you stated), landlords are required to paint the apartment every 2 yrs or so. We were due.
As for the mold, I told her about it, she said "oh just clean it up with water and Clorox". I have it in text messages and sent her photos.
If I would of had known we had to rent a garbage unit I would of had done it with no issues. Garbage man to us he picks up big pieces on the second pick up. Since Sunday was our last day, she had to start taking out the garbage.
The carpet up stairs was clean but when we rented the hall entrance was already soiled. Unfortunately I have pictures of other damages. But not that. I wouldn't mind having it cleaned either. I can see here that it is a big mess a verbal communication and nothing and writing. She is a first time landlord and me at the time a first time renter.
Hello All! Im new here. Im going to try to make this short!
Im from yonkers NY. We recently moved out of our apartment in a 3 family home. We were renters. We moved out sept 30th. We took out everything from the apartment and cleaned up everything ( i took pictures too). I left the keys in the mail box and a check for the garage that we rent in the cubord. She sent over an inspector that day (the 30th) when we were still in the process of getting everything out of there and he said that basically the apartment was in good condition and needed a paint job and some plaster work for the nail holes. She was not present, claimed she was sick. We took all of out trash and put it in the side yard where the trash usually goes. We had a few big pieces there. We piled the garbage nicely (we had a lot of garbage after 4 years!). I asked her Monday When we should expect the security deposit. She said she would go in about 4 days to see for herself.
Well this past weekend I text her and she told me that she will bill me for a few things.
She claims there was garbage all over the area and yard. Which I believe because No one went to pull the trash out for the garbage man to take stuff. We have raccoons, cats, skunks, squirrels and possums in the area! they look for any opportunity to get in trash.
She wants bill us for the rug because it was dirty and said there is a purple stain that cant be removed. She proceeded to ask why I didnt shampoo the carpet. She never mentioned we should. Shes the type of person that if I were to get it shampooed and it got ruined she would get mad so I left it in her hands.
she said there was mouse poop. i lived there 4 years and never seen a mouse. We have a cat too so Im sure he would of caught something. She said she will bill us for the exterminator.
she also wants to charge us 100.00 for water because it came out high. Our rent included heat and hot water and although she said overage fees are in the lease, i reread it and it isnt.
for 1 year we were on a lease. We were originally going to move but we choose to stay and her and I verbally agreed that we can stay longer. She always said she was going to bring a lease and didnt. we later found out she was selling the house. She didnt tell me until I asked.
We had a few problems there, like with mold and fixtures. Heat sucked! We have been without light during a heat wave because she was on vacation and her tentant who could reach the circuit breaker couldnt/wouldnt turn on the lights for us. Sometimes snow wouldnt be shoveled and the lady below us had a gas leak! When we moved in she said the carpet was new, well it wasnt there was dog **** all over it and the smell was masked with fresh paint smell. She didnt even install that carpet the previous tenant did and she had a huge dog who did the business on it, she was basically forced to get a new carpet we waited 2 months for.
What put the icing on the cake for us is that she took garbage from the garbage area, and broke into our garage (the lock is broken) and placed the garbage in there. I also have pictures of that. We even called the police and told them she would remove it. its been 2 days and she hasnt removed it and we cant get any of our stuff out of there. She said to call her lawyer! It rained and the garage floods! THere was mold and food there too. Mold got on our expensive baby strollers and car seats.
We cant afford a lawyer right now so Im sure we will have to represent ourselves in small claims court. My question is, does she have a case against us. She never painted in the 4 years that we lived there. Never came to do general fixtures. She didnt tell us we needed to remove the garbage ourselves either. She never even came to shampoo the rug.I have text message between us for the past year too. My daughter is 4 and when we moved in she was 4 months old. She has asthma now. The man who lived illegally in the basement also complained of mold and sued her for a flood he had in his apartment.
Im so stressed and scared. We were good tentants and paid on the 99% of the time. When my son was born her had emergency surgery and things got crazy at home and going back and forth to the hospital so 2 checks bounced because of check book mix up! We paid a 50.00 fee for that. We didnt ever bother (maybe thats where we went wrong, we were too nice).
Like OMG, your post is SO helpful! Please keep being an --- anywhere and everywhere!
Well, when you read a post filled to the brim with emotion and drama it's really hard to extract the facts. If people would post the facts and nothing but the facts, they'd get more helpful answers.
Well, when you read a post filled to the brim with emotion and drama it's really hard to extract the facts. If people would post the facts and nothing but the facts, they'd get more helpful answers.
If the previous poster had no issues helping out I don't think you should either. Would you like an outline? I'm familiar with forums. There's always people like you popping up. No hard feelings over here
If the previous poster had no issues helping out I don't think you should either. Would you like an outline? I'm familiar with forums. There's always people like you popping up. No hard feelings over here
No, I'd like the facts and nothing more. Leave your tears on your pillow.
When you are dealing with a busines matter ( and this is a business matter) it's best to leave your emotions and personal feelings out of it.
We rented the garage seperately from our home rent. It was 200.00 extra a month. She took garage from the side lawn and put it inside the garage where we had our normal storage stuff. We paid for October but it would be our last month. We were going to remove things out regularly before November came.
I believe here (but I will go check the laws like you stated), landlords are required to paint the apartment every 2 yrs or so. We were due.
As for the mold, I told her about it, she said "oh just clean it up with water and Clorox". I have it in text messages and sent her photos.
If I would of had known we had to rent a garbage unit I would of had done it with no issues. Garbage man to us he picks up big pieces on the second pick up. Since Sunday was our last day, she had to start taking out the garbage.
If you paid the garage rent through October then you should immediately contact your landlady and make arrangements to gain access to it. Have you called her lawyer as she suggested? If not then do it and be ready to provide proof that you did in fact pay rent for October's use of the garage.
There is no state law that I know of which requires that landlords repaint the premises every two years.
Most molds are easily removed with Clorox and water.
Hopefully in your new place you'll become better acquainted with landlord tenant laws! Good luck.
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I'm relieved...
