My 'landlord' just took our washer and dryer. (Portland: extended stay, sale)

[forizzer69]

Shoot, I hate to be that guy that makes a thread about himself and his problem on the first post, but my 'landlord' is being ridiculous. I put landlord in quotes because I don't know if he (and his sister) have any actual ownership of the house. They own part of it (with their other brother, my father-in-law) since it was put into a trust and their father is now in a home. Today, while we were out, they came in and took the washer and dryer.

There's more to the story - and you can read it all below if you want - but if you've been in this kind of situation, what did you do, or if not but know of some legal advice, what can I do? I took pictures - it's pretty obvious they took the thing just an hour ago (water on the floor, holes in the wall) and I'm sure if I had the money to go to a lawyer, I would take this case to him and see where it stands, but I don't. I really, really don't. I could barely afford a cup of soup from Flying Elephant Delicatessen today. Tomato Orange.

Okay, so more of the story -- last week, we were called and told that they will no longer be paying for electric services/hinting at the idea of us moving out by the 16th (when the electricity goes out).

On August 8th, when their father was put into a home, my father-in-law's brother and his wife put a note on our fridge saying "There will be a dumpster here on August 22nd-24th. Have the house empty by September 1st". I've read into Oregon eviction notices - you need at least 60 days if you've resided in one place for more than one year, or 30 if they sell the house and have a reciept. I don't think we've gotten a legitimate notice, which makes me bring into question their actual authority. Because if people are coming into your house and taking the washer and dryer that is yours (actually, my father-in-law's) and yet have not given a court-sanctioned notice, it makes me think they've got no precedent.

I'll be sure to call PGE and see if I can get the electricity reinstated for a short time - we were only told to about all of this "moving" business on August 8th, via that letter (not even face-to-face, or a phone call; not even typed, just scribbled and stuck to a fridge). We don't quite have a place to move into yet and we have a few animals, so it will be tricky. I'm not feeling any immediate fear because I am able to stand my ground and tell people to **** themselves if they think I'm being uncooperative. Did you know I straight-catheterized that old man for four months because he was unable to on his own after a surgical incident? I'm absolutely loving and cooperative. It's just that, at this point, there is no humanity and I'm just looking for any hard words I can keep in my brain to let it be known that these pieces of **** are powerless - because I swear they are, why else would they act so absurdly?

Additionally, I believe they think they can threaten and intimate me because I'm a Canadian citizen who has been married and living here for 18 months. Because of all the work I did with Wayne, their Alzheimer's ridden father, nurses would come by - and when they heard about all of this nonsense, they told me that as long as I have lived here for a year, I have all of those same tenant rights, and that no one but the Sheriff can escort anyone who has resided here for at least that long off of these premises. Because we've been moving a lot of stuff around, I don't think I have any envelopes that can prove that I have been here since then, but they did see me at a party last April and there are four other people living here that can vouch for me. I guess my wife is a little nervous about the law so I'm mentioning that side of it, but I believe they're just plain ignorant and will have some ugly karma to deal with.

Thank you to anyone who read this post and a special thanks to anyone who replies. It really means a lot to me and us right now because I've never felt so infringed upon in my life. I mean, really? Taking a person's washer and dryer? It was certainly not theirs - and I was just about to do a load after my bike ride.

[joe from dayton]

Here's my 2 cents:

They have more of a right to the washer and drier than you do since it belongs to their direct relative. Unless your lease states they will provide a washer and drier they were just letting you use it. While the people who took it may not own it, you don't own it either and have no legal standing in the matter.

In Ohio, and I imagine everywhere else, you can't be evicted without a court order. There has to be an eviction hearing and you have to have the opportunity to respond. Your city or county may have an office that deals with landlord-tennant issues, so check into that.

[forizzer69]

Originally Posted by joe from dayton

Here's my 2 cents:

They have more of a right to the washer and drier than you do since it belongs to their direct relative. Unless your lease states they will provide a washer and drier they were just letting you use it. While the people who took it may not own it, you don't own it either and have no legal standing in the matter.

In Ohio, and I imagine everywhere else, you can't be evicted without a court order. There has to be an eviction hearing and you have to have the opportunity to respond. Your city or county may have an office that deals with landlord-tennant issues, so check into that.

In the note they put on our fridge, they said they don't want anything in the house, so we did have a garage sale with many of the belongings and decided to keep those for the move. I was also thinking that since it has been used by my father-in-law and my wife for many years, and since they don't and have never lived here and never gave notice, it would be illegal, since he is also a direct relative, lived with him for 20 years, may have even paid for it, and only his brother came by and took it - again, without notice and it is a utility we all use. It just seems illegal.

Thank you for your reply.

[Minervah]

If you want actual legal advice, you should seek an actual attorney. If you want friendly advice, and I only have a paralegal degree so my advice is based mostly on that, I am sorry but the best I can give you is you have few legal rights in your scenario despite how you feel emotionally.

Your landlord does not have to phone you or tell you to your face you must leave. A written notice is all that is required. There is no law that states where the written notice must be left or in what manner it must be written as long as it is in writing and gives you the amount of days in which you much vacate. But if it is written improperly, you do have the opportunity to appeal. You would need to consult an attorney to determine whether or not that is the case in your situation.

With all that is going on, this seems to be your only recourse. But even if you got that corrected it would only buy you a little more time before your landlord corrected the situation and served you with a proper eviction notice. I don't see any other possible legal rights you may have. If I were you I would start looking for a new place to live ASAP. Rentals are not easy to come by in Portland especially with animals. The washer/dryer does not appear to be your property and your hold on your apartment to me looks tenuous at best.

[forizzer69]

Originally Posted by Minervah

If you want actual legal advice, you should seek an actual attorney. If you want friendly advice, and I only have a paralegal degree so my advice is based mostly on that, I am sorry but the best I can give you is you have few legal rights in your scenario despite how you feel emotionally.

Your landlord does not have to phone you or tell you to your face you must leave. A written notice is all that is required. There is no law that states where the written notice must be left or in what manner it must be written as long as it is in writing and gives you the amount of days in which you much vacate. But if it is written improperly, you do have the opportunity to appeal. You would need to consult an attorney to determine whether or not that is the case in your situation.

With all that is going on, this seems to be your only recourse. But even if you got that corrected it would only buy you a little more time before your landlord corrected the situation and served you with a proper eviction notice. I don't see any other possible legal rights you may have. If I were you I would start looking for a new place to live ASAP. Rentals are not easy to come by in Portland especially with animals. The washer/dryer does not appear to be your property and your hold on your apartment to me looks tenuous at best.

Yeah, that's what I was imagining - about the attorney advice - but I did read that it's illegal for a landlord to take your property, and since my father-in-law didn't know about that happening and seemed pretty bothered by it, I was hoping to find some way for, you know, that not to happen. I mean, if he comes in tomorrow and I'm not here and my bed is gone or my desk, then what? It's obvious the washer/dryer wasn't his to begin with, nor is this bed, nor is any furniture left in the house, so "Where does it end?" is I guess what I'm asking.

I'm not concerned with staying here much longer. Thank you for your concern and advice on all of that, but I'm happy to move out of here. I am certain the notice they gave does not meet Oregon state's eviction requirements, so I know when I tell them - on September 16th (because it seems that's when they want us out) - that their notice does not meet those parameters, they will be annoyed and stuff, but I don't care - I don't want to be homeless until I have a new place to live. We're working on it though, day in and day out. My wife's parents seem to have found a place they can move into on October 18th that will the dogs - my wife and I are looking for our own apartment and we'll take the couple of cats. They're just ridiculous and I wanted to know if I could let them know it, you know, legally.

[mc0624]

Here in CA, we have several "lawyer schools" that will provide low to no cost advise. Basically a student giving advise with oversight of the teacher type of thing. I don't know if they do that up in Portland...but I would think it might be worth a shot to see.

[Larry Caldwell]

Definitely attend the eviction hearing and explain to the judge that you need more time to find comparable accommodations. The judge may give you up to 6 months extra time. Then put the squeeze on the property owner. I have seen landlords pay moving expenses plus first and last months rent at a new place just to get rid of tenants.

[Ms_Christina]

There is a tenant advocacy agency in Portland that can help you. A copy of the Landlord/Tenant laws for Oregon are on the Rent section of the City Data Real estate section.

A verbal agreement is treated as a month to month lease. Otherwise it should be a written lease. Do you have a written lease? If not, you treat it as a month to month lease. They have to give you 30 days written notice. Which, if you got it on 8/8 would be 9/7. So it's 9/12, Have you moved yet? They have every right to start the eviction process. They go to the courthouse, file eviction papers, Once they are approved they can then call the sheriff to physically remove you from the house.

An eviction on your record and you can kiss your chances of renting anywhere nice for a LONG time. Try to avoid this at all cost.

Get your stuff packed. Put it in storage and move to a extended stay hotel until you have a new place.

The family relationship has nothing to do with this. Business is business. It will only get worse. Save you and your wife a lot of stress and move ASAP.

[Steve Pickering]

I didn't even know it was April 1st. Only a fool seeks legal advice in any forum. I will never understand why people must post the drama in their lives and ask for legal advice from anonymouse forum posters. If you're broke see legal aid.

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by Steve Pickering

I didn't even know it was April 1st.

It isn't. The rest of my post violated several stipulations of the TOS and therefore has been voluntarily deleted.

H