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.
In past threads I wrote about the flooding in my bedroom with wet carpet for about 5 weeks before I moved out.
I wasn't going to ask to be compensated for the loss of my bedroom along with flooding to the hall and jamed bathroom door due to swelling.
My rent was $900 for a one bedroom. I moved out 2 weeks ago. Now I am emailing my LL about the returned deposit, which looks like I'm getting. But he is still argueing with me about me having called the city inspector. He even said that I broke the lease, which I didn't.
I want there to be a public record of this in case he gives a bad reference and lies to a new landlord. So I may end up taking him to small claims, just so I can say I won the case and am correct about what I am saying.
I sent him an email asking him to do the right thing and refund $400 for the time I didn't use the bedroom and was breathing high mold air. Will this come up as public record if I win. My concern isn't to get $400, but to have a judge make a judgement in my favor, in case he says something to a LL later.
In past threads I wrote about the flooding in my bedroom with wet carpet for about 5 weeks before I moved out.
I wasn't going to ask to be compensated for the loss of my bedroom along with flooding to the hall and jamed bathroom door due to swelling.
My rent was $900 for a one bedroom. I moved out 2 weeks ago. Now I am emailing my LL about the returned deposit, which looks like I'm getting. But he is still argueing with me about me having called the city inspector. He even said that I broke the lease, which I didn't.
I want there to be a public record of this in case he gives a bad reference and lies to a new landlord. So I may end up taking him to small claims, just so I can say I won the case and am correct about what I am saying.
I sent him an email asking him to do the right thing and refund $400 for the time I didn't use the bedroom and was breathing high mold air. Will this come up as public record if I win. My concern isn't to get $400, but to have a judge make a judgement in my favor, in case he says something to a LL later.
Yes lawsuits are public record in most cases(if not all) if they are not you should be able to get some sort of official documentation, about your winning the suit. Since you called the inspector did he get cited for anything? That may be public record as well.
Yes lawsuits are public record in most cases(if not all) if they are not you should be able to get some sort of official documentation, about your winning the suit. Since you called the inspector did he get cited for anything? That may be public record as well.
Yes, the inspector came out and wrote up a report. I don't think he corrected the problem in time. It was more than a month for sure. The LL is angry about me calling the inspector.
Here's a quote from his last email
" Never mind about breaking the lease and the headaches and the additional cost you created for me by going to the city of Oakland ."
The lease was originally a 6 month lease. I did him a favor by letting him revise it to say "2 year and either party can cancel after 6 months". The reason he gave me for that was to help him refinance. There isn't a penalty for cancelling after 6 months. It just says I can. I was there for 10 months, so I cancelled.
Also in the email he says he had to clean the carpet himself. He told me to not bother cleaning the carpets. (just living room becasue the bedroom was flooded) But having delt with him for 10 months I knew how he is. So I had the livingroom professionaly cleaned a couple days before moving out and didn't tell him I did that. So he may have recleaned already professionally cleaned carpet, but who knows. I'm not suprised one bit.
Court records are available to the public. Also, when you get a judgment, whether in your favor or the landlord's, you get it in writing. Will your landlord have a record? NO. It is not a criminal matter, it is civil.
He he...I sent an email to my former LL asking for $400 to compensate for the loss of my bedroom for 5 weeks. He hasn't emailed me back. Looks like I'm going to have my first small claims experience. This sort of rent discount is standard according to the department of consumer affairs gov website. This will be fun.
I will be in small claims court this week as a LL against my tenant and if the tenant doesn't show up I will get a judgment right then and there, otherwise mediation..and since I won't back down, it might be what is called the trial...and then the judge will rule (no jury in small claims court)....
If I loose the tenant will get a judgment against me and it will show up in the public records. The best thing to do is to get the judgment certified.
I'm convinced I will win otherwise I wouldn't have filed the lawsuit and paid all the fees which will be paid by the losing party, which in my case will be the tenants since I have overwhelming evidence.
I will be surprised if they even show up...since he never showed up in court for the traffic tickets he got and his license is suspended. He emailed me and said he would go to small claims court if i didn't pay the sec. deposit partialy back, but I had so many bills to get the rental back to what it was when they moved in, minus wear and tear, that I sued twice his sec. deposit amount, while keeping their deposit as well...he could at least have counter sued, but I didn't receive anything so far.
My reasoning was similar to the OP's, I want other LL to see in the public records what the tenant has dne so in the future another LL who will do some background check will notice and keep it from happening to them, and hopefully I will at some point get some money back...but that is far ahead.
I suggest you get a lawyer ... forget small claims court as most are very slanted toward landlords. We had a ton of photos in our case, etc., etc. and the magistrate (not a judge) ruled in LL favor and could not even add and subtract. We not only did not get our deposit back but had to pay for stuff I am quite sure they didn't do (like cleaning). I am a licensed realtor and quoted the law to the magistrate in writing (the LL did not provide what the law says they are supposed to), left the place in immaculate condition with photos, and when I brought them up to the magistrate he didn't even look at them and just said "ok" without lifting his eyes. Get a LAWYER ! Document and take lots of photos.
"Percentage reduction in rent: the percentage of the rental unit that is uninhabitable is determined, and the rent is reduced by that amount. For example, if one of a rental unit’s four rooms is uninhabitable, the tenant could withhold 25 percent of the rent. the tenant would have to pay the remaining 75 percent of the rent. Most courts use this method."
The bedroom was about 1/3 of the apartment. For 5 weeks that would be about $360, but also the hall was flooded and the bathroom door was jammed so it couldn't be closed. I may check with a lawyer in the next week. The thing is he is badmouthing me in his emails to me and repeatedly complained about the troubles I caused him by calling the city inspector. He even complained about cleaning the carpet, which I had professionally cleaned. He was caught in that lie. I hadn't told him I had them cleaned.
I was going to let this go. It had been 2 weeks and I thought it was done with and I would just get my deposit. Getting back the deposit was a game to him to, where he left me a voicemail asking for an address he already had and stated that the deposit was $500 rather than $700. I called him on it in an email then he went off again about how I called the inspector and broke the lease. I figured he would learn something by having the inspector come out, like a reality check, but he is making it into something I did wrong. So now I want to have a record in court of everything so it's not me agianst him and if he does badmouth me to another landlord I can deal with that too.
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.
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.
