EMERGENCY HELP! Lost Lease New Landlord (Pittsburgh PA) (apartment, tenant, evict)

[jmd1513]

All,

Thanks in advance.

We have been living in an apartment for the last two years. Last August when it came time to sign a new lease none was provided. We called the property management company numerous times to get one, but it never came. After a month or two we cornered a maintenance worker and asked what was going on. He told us if a new lease wasn't sent no terms had changed and we had rolled into a new lease and signing wasn't needed.

Now we just were informed we have a new Property Management company taking over. They were not provided a lease by the old company and are asking us to come in tomorrow to sign one.

We do not have a copy of the old lease and do not have any documentation showing we asked for one. We can only provide bank statements with the payments recorded (never late, always full amount).

We do not want to renew for a full year yet just keep it till August and decide then if we stay or go.

We do not want any of our terms to change.

We have a cat that was grandfathered in ( no extra charges, monthly or deposit ).

The new company never inspected our apartment before this change over. The house has problems that we tried to get addressed by the old company but they must have known this was coming and put them off. Can we force them to fix rotten shower, mold issue and a hole in the wall due to stress and temp changes?

Also they are asking that only I have a background/credit check performed on me, not my girlfriend who has lived at this apartment much longer. That leads me to believe they do have some documentation on us. They also want me to pay the $50 to have it performed. (my credit is shoddy (student loans), background clean)

What rights do we have what can we do? Can they change our terms? Can they force me to pay the $50? Can they evict us if we do not agree to their new terms? Can they raise rent or ask for another security deposit? Can they force us to renew for another year now? etc. etc.

Any help is appreciated!

Edit: For reverence my form about when we couldn't get the new lease.
//www.city-data.com/forum/pitts...l#post25742547

[jmd1513]

Update:

I contacted the old property management company they have verified that our lease renewed last year, and that they sent all physical documentation to the new company and are checking for a digital copy. It didn't sound likely that it would have been uploaded.

[AdotAllen]

Relax. They didnt' sell the place, that is why there was no inspection to your apartment. You are freaking out before you even speak to them.

[jmd1513]

I know I am getting ahead of myself., but you would too if you saw this review.

Trends Capital - Pittsburgh

[KonaKat]

Is there a physical office location for this company? I'd march in, in person, and ask to see the property manager for my building. Ask for a copy of the lease. Ask for proof in writing that your deposit has been transferred, by what means, and into what kind of account. Don't leave till you get it.

[Koale]

Originally Posted by jmd1513

Update:

I contacted the old property management company they have verified that our lease renewed last year, and that they sent all physical documentation to the new company and are checking for a digital copy. It didn't sound likely that it would have been uploaded.

First of all...your lease did not renew if you did not sign it. You are month to month at this point. I wouldn't listen to a thing any maintenance personnel told you. Take it all up w/the new PM.
Koale

[yousah]

Every state has their own laws, but in our state, if a lease has a definite expiration date then the lease expires on that date and you would have had to have moved out- even if the landlord never notified you. That's why there's a particular date that it expires.

This can be waived however if the parties agree to different terms. Your original lease should have addressed the issue of it either being automatically renwable or provide terms for a holdover tenancy. Some leases provide that a holdover tenant converts to a month-to-month tenant at perhaps a higher rent. You need to review what was in your lease to know how to proceed.

[campion]

Originally Posted by Koale

First of all...your lease did not renew if you did not sign it. You are month to month at this point. I wouldn't listen to a thing any maintenance personnel told you. Take it all up w/the new PM.
Koale

Perhaps not. I've had leases in the past that stated if a new lease wasn't signed or the tenant or landlord didn't ask for it to be broken that a new year-long lease went into effect.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Some leases renew automatically of the tenant or landlord does not give notice that they are terminating. Nobody has to sign anything but the original lease.

[yousah]

Some of this stuff is handled on a stauatory basis. I know there are some states that make it illegal to have leases that auto-renew.