Early Termination of Lease in AK (Fairbanks: apartment, rental, eviction)

[ak2163]

I am wondering what my rights are under a situation where I gave 30 days written notice for early termination of my lease to my landlord, citing that I am unhappy with her attempts to modify the lease to prevent me from having any overnight guests in my apartment. I asked that my pre-paid "last month's rent" be applied to this month, and she did not respond yes or no, although she did acknowledge receipt of the letter.

I am renting the top floor of her house, where she lives and runs her rental business. The landlord requires that I pay all my rent in cash. I have no personal mailbox, but have to get mail delivered to her address, after which she brings it to an unofficial mailbox at the back door.

I had my boyfriend stay over a couple nights a week, and after a few months, with no notice, she charged me $200 for his visits as an "extra tenant" in the building, under the that any guest staying longer than 7 days will be charged $15/day, up to a maximum of 3 weeks. I refused, explained that he had never stayed more than a single night in a row, and she modified my lease to say that no one could visit more than one night a week or I would be charged. I signed it, hoping I could ride out the lease and just leave.

It is now the 7th of the month. She is claiming I am abandoning the property and wants me to move out TOMORROW so she can re-rent it. She is also claiming I have failed to pay my rent. I know I am liable for rent until the apartment is rented out, but given her shady business practices, I am 80% sure that I will never see my deposits again even if she does. Should I just pay the rent regularly, and file a small claims court if she doesn't give the deposits back? Have I already lost my right to file a claim by "not paying rent" when I thought it had been settled all along?

[Dakster]

Disclaimer: I am not an attorney... But have some experience in this area. Although not in AK, but I did read the ENTIRE Landlord Tenant rules for AK, which I suggest you do as well. Trust me, it will help you out in the long run. There are two sides to every story and a whole lot I don't know about the situation. All I can do is make some educated guesses at best.

In other words, without seeing the contract, this gets tricky to answer and so take my answer with a grain of salt.

What is your lease term? Monthly, 6 month, yearly?

The ONLY part I can see where you could prevail is the modifying of your lease contract ASSUMING you have a year lease and not a month to month. In a nutshell, unless it is up for renewal and/or you both agree to the modification, your landlord can't do it. Not paying the rent at all will get you evicted. Pay the undisputed amount and dispute the rest when the landlord files for eviction. Bring your original signed lease to the hearing as well. Depending on how zealous in this endeavor I was feeling, I might even petition the court to pay the court my rent until the dispute is resolved. There are some rules regarding how deposits must be kept/handled so all hope is not lost here either. I admit at the moment I am little hazy on those, so again, reading the statute would clear that up.

Of course, once I was either made whole and allowed out of the lease or the lease expired, I would be GONE. To often I see people continue to fight it out - IMHO, it isn't worth it. Just my .02.

[Metlakatla]

The biggest red flag here is that she's asked for payment in cash. Another is that your unit doesn't have a separate mailing address. Let me guess -- utilities are included in your rent?

A lease isn't binding in an illegal apartment, and I'm guessing that's what you're in. You can find out how it's zoned through Borough records.

Move ASAP and let the old rip blow smoke.

You've given her 30 days notice and you prepaid your last month's rent. Don't give her another dime.

[stiffnecked]

You should also review the Alaska Landlord Tenant Act.

Landlord & Tenant - Consumer Protection Topic

[Dakster]

Met you have a very good point there...

[MattieJensen]

When you deal with landlord(s) it's a really good idea to send correspondence by Certified/Registered mail. That way you have a receipt that the letter was delivered, not just tossed on the porch, like some mail delivery personnel are want to do.

[ak2163]

Thanks everyone! I did pay the May rent, just in case there was a change of getting an eviction on my record. I'm not American and so I have a very short credit and rental history here in the US, and can't afford any bad marks. I paid it by check, at least, so it's a bit more official. I was wondering about the lack of mailbox, and yes, utilities are included. But I've been unable to find anything about what constitutes a legal rental in Alaska. Does anyone know what the legislation is about this?

The market is slow right now and it looks like the apartment won't get rented by June... So, now I may be out that extra rent in the deposit, but at least she can't harass me for anything. But, if it turns out she is renting an illegal apartment, I'd like to report her. She has been less than nice to me, and Fairbanks is so full of these shady dealers.. I wish the city would crack down on them already.

[j.a.brooks]

This isn't on Gradelle ave is it?

[ak2163]

Nope. I take it Gradelle isn't a good place to be, either?

Now she's already started bugging me about paying rent again at the beginning of June, since no one has looked at the apartment yet. I'm moving out May 27th, and she still has my "last month's rent" since I did pay for May. If she isn't able to rent the place out after 60 days notice... that's just ridiculous.

[ak2163]

Oh, and all our correspondence after my official notice has been by email. I figure it's easier to track than paper mail, and I have the whole thing on record somewhere I can't accidentally lose it.