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Our landord gave us a 60 day leave notice...stating he sold the home. ( FTR no-one came to look, a Chase rep had come by to deliver a pre forclosure notice and a housing rep to file a sale of tax lien on this house)...Anyway, he were fine with leaving, he never replaced smoke detetors he said he would, hole in ceiling in bathroom, bought the carbon Dioxide monitor we requested, paved the driveway he said he would as he got fined for it..Put in th efence he said he would, and he tried to renovate the basement into a 3rd apt and there are exposed wires hanging EVERYWHERE.
So he mentions to us that if we "bid" higher then his seller, we can buy the house ( LOL...yeah ok...I ended up calling my real estate friend. She called the twon and they said this was listed as a one family, no permit. Some other small stuff that lent us to not even CONSIDER buying this house.
So , we are moving Nov 14th ( well within the 60 day notice) . We did NOT pay Oct's rent ( Oct15th-nov 15th) . We called him once to get it, no answer, no VM. He stores a large dump truck on the property and he is here daily and never knocked or asked for it. When we found a new place, we used it as security for there and were going to tell him to use our security as rent for the month ( which I know we shouldnt do)...
Our lease expired in like 2009 , but he quotes the old one constantly...probably defaulted into it.
NOW...We get a notice of petion to appear in court for failure to pay rent and attempt to evict.
Does anyone know..
1- Do I have to go to court? Can I reschedule? My sons school has a class trip that day and I would have to keep him home to go to court and seems unfair...
2- Can he sue for backrent on illegal two family?
3- I want to report him, this house is a DANGER to everyone. Theres plumbing in a garage out back with no permit, the basements a fire hazard and he told us it was legal and I'm pissed he lied.
How do I report him? ( We are in Town of Babylon) ...
So , we are moving Nov 14th ( well within the 60 day notice) . We did NOT pay Oct's rent ( Oct15th-nov 15th) . We called him once to get it, no answer, no VM. He stores a large dump truck on the property and he is here daily and never knocked or asked for it. When we found a new place, we used it as security for there and were going to tell him to use our security as rent for the month ( which I know we shouldnt do)...
I really dislike people like you.....just because he didnt answer the phone doesnt mean you dont owe him rent...and assuming to use the security as a last month rent is another low move. People like you are why there are so many horror stories with landlords because as SOON as you dont get your way the apartment is illegal...but it was legal enough the rest of the duration that you were there....Moderator cut: language
I had NO idea the house was illegal until he tried to get US to buy it, which is when I decided to do some research and discovered he had not paid the mortgage is almost 2 yrs...the CHASE rep told us to not pay him rent BTW...we choose to as it was not yet in forclosure and he has not paid Taxes in 1 yr. So I'm the lowlife????
He also told us the basement area had permits when we moved in, he endangered us and our 3 children by allowing us to live with wires everywhere that he did himself.
He is also putting all the neighbors in danger with the electric issues, the plumbing without permits that puts stress on teh cesspools...and the fact he doesnt pay taxes , and also pays less for a house thats not even legal.
He also never repaired anything we asked in the 3 yrs we lived here.
yet somehow I'm the lowlife? You would have a hardtime selling me that point, sorry.
I just dont want to fight with him over getting my security back, only to hand it over to him for one months rent. Would rather leave peacefully, but he wants more and more, he is greedy, wants our money and doesnt pay his mortage etc with it.
if its in a basement its illegal.... if utilities are included its illegal...there are many ways to clearly tell if its a legitimate apartment or not. At the end of the day whether or not you are happy with how he is handling it you STILL LIVE IN HIS HOUSE AND SHOULD PAY HIM RENT.
Also you say stuff like:
he endangered us and our 3 children by allowing us to live with wires everywhere that he did himself.
I disagree...YOU allowed yourself to be endangered by staying there. But again, things didnt go your way so now you want to live free and do as you please. Thats the truth.
If your lease expired in 09 that means you've been there since 08. Sounds like plenty of time to determine whether or not its a safe environment for your family no? But again...since you are not happy NOW you want to report him....thats not a lowlife? I'm not saying the landlord is in the right either...but the truth is you are doing no better.
Go to court with your expired lease and tell the judge you've been squatting.
You can always(because of a class trip?) reschedule. Make the call.
Anyone can sue anyone for anything, it's up the the judge to decide who in in the right.
Usually whoever does the first wrong is where the buck stops.
You think your right, go for it.
I am not a lawyer and don't pretend to be. I do know one thing though and that is if you don't show up at the appointed time, he wins by default. There is no second chance. So if I were you I would take as many pictures of the place and explain to the judge what he was suppose to do to make the rent worth while but he didn't. That being said the judge would in all fairness to you would reduce the amount that needs to be paid. I would do everything I can to make his life miserable while you are there. I would let the city electrical, and plumbing inspectors know of the condition of your home and let them into your home. Maybe it is so bad they would say you can't live there and must move. This then would be the reason for not paying the rent. His failure of promises to put the place in a liveable condition noted by the city inspectors as independent proof.
if its in a basement its illegal.... if utilities are included its illegal...there are many ways to clearly tell if its a legitimate apartment or not. At the end of the day whether or not you are happy with how he is handling it you STILL LIVE IN HIS HOUSE AND SHOULD PAY HIM RENT.
Also you say stuff like:
he endangered us and our 3 children by allowing us to live with wires everywhere that he did himself.
I disagree...YOU allowed yourself to be endangered by staying there. But again, things didnt go your way so now you want to live free and do as you please. Thats the truth.
If your lease expired in 09 that means you've been there since 08. Sounds like plenty of time to determine whether or not its a safe environment for your family no? But again...since you are not happy NOW you want to report him....thats not a lowlife? I'm not saying the landlord is in the right either...but the truth is you are doing no better.
Wrong again. We live on first floor, there is a second floor addtional apt. He told us he had permits for the basement....We JUST found out 3 days ago he does not. We were never allowed down there other then for laundry purposes. We trusted him telling us it was safe with permits. We like I said, just found out that he did the work himself and its not legal.
He tried to SELL us this house, we did the research, and found out this info. I'm not paying him the last months rent because he is a liar and a theif and wanted to try to convince us to buy this piece of crap house.
We are moving next week and he can take our security ( which is a month and halfs rent and the house is in perfect condition) ..and he will actually be making money off us, sicne we just want to be gone from here.
Just some thoughts on your post. I am not a lawyer but rental law is resonably similar in most localities.
Your landlord gave proper notice for you to vacate the property. You as a tenant are obligated to pay rent or a pro-rated portion of until you vacate the residence. The fact that the lease expired in 09 and both parties did not push for a new lease the terms of the existing lease continue on a month to month basis.
Deficencies in the property that are safety realated would have been valid if you notified him in writing. After a resonable period (town hall could clarify) if the "safety issues" had not been corrected then you could escrow the rent money until the problems are fixed. An attorney would be able to clarify it better. Driveway condition, hidden fence..etc sound great but were they identified as terms in the lease or writing? I will guess not and they are not grounds to avoid paying.
If the house was not a legal 2 family then you are at fault also, did you ask if it was legal? Any violations to codes need to be addressed by the town the house is in. You can report it but it's not your place to enforce it. As it would appear that you lived there @2 years it must have met your needs and the dangers you mentioned were not an issue. Only now are you bringing up a laundry list of faults with the house. If he's going bankrupt thats his issue not yours.
I would point out to your LL that if he proceeds in court, than it will be brought up that the apartment is illegal, in which case the judge will NOT require you to pay owed rent, and your LL may be fined by the town for thousands of dollars. Also point out to your LL that the next call you place will be to the IRS for tax fraud, as I am quite confident someone like this did not claim the income on their tax returns.
Tell your LL you do not want to go this route, but if he comes after you than you are coming after him. In some instances, though rare, the judge may even hand down a judgment against your LL requiring him to pay you back rent. In doesnt happen often, but it does happen once in a while.
Tell him you want to move out quietly with no problems, but if wants to create one for you, you will certainly create one for him.
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