Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Real Estate > Renting
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 03-08-2010, 10:54 PM
 
1 posts, read 2,684 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

My fiance's lightbill has been outrages the last three months. He is never home, he keeps his lights off unless needed and the thermastat stays on 60 in the winter and 69 in the summer. To make a long story short, he has spoken to the landlord on several occassions about this and couple of days ago the power company told him to get the landlord to look at the elements in the hotwater heater. He calls the landlord, the landlord comes down. While the landlord was fixing the waterheater, my fiance says to him,"Tommy you said if I ever need to break my lease early because of financial problems I just needed to give you a 30 days notice, does that still stand. Well before my fiance could get anything else out of his mouth, the landlord stands up walks over to him gets in his face and shoves him informing him that he never said that. My fiance did file a police report. I am just wondering if this is just cause to break the lease legally? It has him wondering if he ever calls him for anything else, how far will he take it next time.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 03-08-2010, 11:00 PM
 
6,297 posts, read 16,043,432 times
Reputation: 4846
What does the lease say?

If I were you, I'd get a lawyer.

Keep all the paperwork involved, such as the police report, and document all the previous times he called the landlord and what was done (date, reason called, what the result was).

The landlord could sue only for the time remaining in the lease that he wasn't able to rent out to someone else.

He can't get out of paying the rent if the landlord hasn't fixed something. But I can't imagine a judge forcing him to live somewhere where he's terrified of the landlord. But I may be wrong, so if he moves, he's taking a great chance.

Get a lawyer.

Last edited by lovebrentwood; 03-08-2010 at 11:11 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-09-2010, 06:19 AM
 
Location: NJ
17,574 posts, read 45,974,390 times
Reputation: 16266
He can also look in to getting a restraining order.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-09-2010, 07:11 AM
 
27,206 posts, read 46,526,550 times
Reputation: 15656
I would also ask the utility comapny to start an investigation to see why the bill is so high and if indeed the bill is as the LL is stating...

Print out a list of every phone call made to and from the LL and if I were him I would communicate by email or in writing so you have proof of everything and if the LL sends a txt message, save it...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-09-2010, 07:38 AM
 
Location: St Thomas, US Virgin Islands
24,665 posts, read 69,429,325 times
Reputation: 26726
All good advice although I wouldn't jump into getting a TRO until your fiance decides that he really is going to move and finds a new place. He has the police report and, in future, all requests to the LL for maintenance issues can be delivered orally but followed up in writing. All is dependent upon what the basic lease says but in this case, an assault is an assault and, as long as it's documented (carefully read the police report and see how it may be interpreted in court) then a judge would likely rule in favor of your fiance breaking the lease.

Did the LL actually fix the water heater? I'm assuming from what you said, viz, "the power company told him to get the landlord to look at the elements in the hotwater heater.." that your fiance had already contacted the power authority in order to get that advice.

The details you've given are a little sketchy so it's a little hard to answer your questions. Good luck!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-09-2010, 10:15 AM
 
419 posts, read 1,391,955 times
Reputation: 193
I call shenanigans on this one.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-09-2010, 11:37 AM
 
Location: 39 20' 59"N / 75 30' 53"W
16,077 posts, read 28,440,167 times
Reputation: 18184
Quote:
Originally Posted by manderly6 View Post
He can also look in to getting a restraining order.
I did a bit of reasearch here.....
Restraining order may give him just cause to break the lease.
It may even qualify you for relocation assistance, contact an attorney.
Do some internet reasearch as well.

Can I break my lease if my landlord is violent? - Yahoo! Answers
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-10-2010, 03:15 PM
 
4,921 posts, read 7,655,372 times
Reputation: 5477
pbacon,
The fact that the LL pushed the tenant is assault or at the the very least intimidation both chargeable offenses. If you filed a police complaint then make sure you get a copy of the police report for several reasons. One is that you may need a restraining order in the future or if you are forced to move by intimidation or concerned for your own or your spouses safety. Every state is a little different so I suggest get a copy of the police report an seeking the advice of an attorney.

Never trust a landlord.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Real Estate > Renting

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top