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first off unless you have somethign in writing from him stating this stuff its your word against hte LL. also i get your frustratedand you want the LL to accept the first person that comes along but keep in mind its the landlords property and money at stake not yours, you get to walk away and live happily forever in your new house after this, you dont have to upkeep the property and get paymetns from teh future tenant.
also, you mention the LL has been of no help to you however why should they, you are the one breaking the lease, its your job to find a new tenant or pay the penalty to break the lease.
first off unless you have somethign in writing from him stating this stuff its your word against hte LL. also i get your frustratedand you want the LL to accept the first person that comes along but keep in mind its the landlords property and money at stake not yours, you get to walk away and live happily forever in your new house after this, you dont have to upkeep the property and get paymetns from teh future tenant.
also, you mention the LL has been of no help to you however why should they, you are the one breaking the lease, its your job to find a new tenant or pay the penalty to break the lease.
First off, if you'd read through the entire thread, you would note that the OP actually has texts from the LL stating they don't want to rent to a family.
Secondly, if you have any understanding of the LLs requirement to mitigate damages, you'd realize that the LL HAS to be of help to the tenant; it's required by law.
I know she did not accept them based only on their family status because she didn't even bother reaching out to G or running a background check. After I told her about G, she asked if it was a couple, I responded yes and that they have a 11mo daughter. After that she pretty much didn't text me back. My girlfriend then texted her the next day asking how his application was looking, to which she responded that she does not feel comfortable with a child in the condo. I had been talking to G during this time, and he can agree that the landlord did not reach out to him, even though I said in my initial text about him to the LL, that he was a very interested applicant and that he was available anytime for a chat (I gave her his contact # and email).
I have proof of all of this, and so does my girlfriend since she has been giving us both the same run-around.
The last tenant she denied was a single mom who PASSED her background check. Everything else on her application checked out too. The landlord initially told her that she got the condo, and then a few days later retracted her statement and began ignoring the applicants calls.
I know she did not accept them based only on their family status because she didn't even bother reaching out to G or running a background check.
If the place doesn't get re-rented before you move into your new house you seriously need to step back and decide based on facts whether this is worth pursuing for a mere two month's rent. The reality of court is way different than what you see on an edited TV show. Serving of papers, weeks and sometimes months to an actual court date, sometimes several wasted trips to the courthouse when the calendar is changed for one reason or another, etc. etc. Travel time, time off work, wasted time - and time is money. And that's not even including the aggravation and the fact that there's no guarantee that you'll prevail, however strong of a case you think you might have.
It's three months rent. $800 x 3 = $2400. We, as new home owners, cannot afford this. It was our fault for not getting her "I will just keep the deposit if you decide to leave" quote written into the lease, however, we were not expecting her to act the way she has. We were comfortable with giving up our $450 deposit if that meant finding a house we loved and not letting it slip away because of a few hundred dollars. Sadly, this isn't the case anymore.
We are trying to not get lawyers involved, however, I do believe we have a strong case and with word for word evidence (text messages) that scream illegal discrimination. If anything, we will take her to small claims. Hopefully, just hearing the words 'court' will shift her thinking and realize we have a real shot at winning and getting her in quite a bit of trouble, especially once G and K are involved.
I'm not trying to threaten or blackmail her into getting us out of our lease by throwing around words like 'lawyer' and 'court'. I just want her to realize the stress she's added to the situation by the actions she is taking and do something about it. As of now, she is doing something and I appreciate it. I just wish it didn't have to get to a point where I am writing on a forum about whether or not what she is doing is illegal. If she was a proper LL, we would not be here. We, as tenants who are breaking the lease, did our part. I have talked to over 50 people about the place, posted and posted all over the internet, and have done showings at less than convenient times. She (until now) was less than helpful; slow application processing, poor communication, no advice or tips..
This is just not how we were expecting things to go. Thankfully, renting will no longer be a problem for us. Now we will be in debt for 30 years instead!
Only in the very best case scenario could you expect to be awarded that amount IF a new tenant were approved and ready to move in on June 1st which of course is one week from now. Even if you had found someone of whom the LL approved there's no guarantee they would have been able to move in right away and the minute you moved out. That rarely happens. Even two months is barely realistic.
In any event, my sole intent is just to tell you that even small claims court isn't a walk in the park as you may think. And if you retain an attorney, do you really think they don't absorb the lion's share of whatever money you MIGHT have returned to you? You'd likely come out with zero in your pocket.
Sometimes it's more sensible to walk away and take the small licks (and in this case they are very small in the grand scheme of thing) than embark on a frustrating mission. But that's your decision to make. Once you move into your new home, things might look a little different. Enjoy the new place!
You do know that you will be required to prove that the landlrod did not accept the applicant based only on their family status, and nothing else. If the landlord rejected the person because there was something not quite right in their application or background, and the landlord is able to prove that, the fact that they mentioned "family status" as a potential reason for rejection would not rise to the level of acceptable proof. When using a violation of federal/state/local equal housing statutes, you must show the to the exclusion of all other reasons, that is was only based only on the protected class. Very tough wall to climb!
You're absolutely right. But...(you knew that was coming, huh? LOL!) it can be used to negotiate a settlement, I think, quite successfully, given that the OP has text messages from the LL saying she would prefer not to rent to a family with children.
We are trying to not get lawyers involved, however, I do believe we have a strong case and with word for word evidence (text messages) that scream illegal discrimination.
Who is "WE"???? and what would "WE" be suing the landlord for?
You're absolutely right. But...(you knew that was coming, huh? LOL!) it can be used to negotiate a settlement, I think, quite successfully, given that the OP has text messages from the LL saying she would prefer not to rent to a family with children.
True, but even the feds can't sue based on that type of evidence. It is very rare for a equal housing descrimination suits to be based on those complaining. Thats why it takes so long to build a case.
A landlord without a legal advisor will bend, but one with a legal advisor will end up turing the tables on the average Joe/Jane if they brought a suit based only on that type of evidence. Thats why we read many legal articles advising people not to bring private housing descrimination suits because it could end up costing the person a lot; always leave it to the proper governement agency who has the expertise to do it right.
WE= My girlfriend and I. I have brought her up before. Also: Not sure why you also needed to include four question marks...
I also am not sure why it matters...
WE are both on the lease. WE both have evidence of our LL stating that it's a liability for her to have someone with a child renting from her. WE also have proof that she did not reach out to applicant and tell him he won't be approved for housing. She simply just dis-regarded us and G.
WE have evidence of her refusing to run a background check and also reach out to a interested tenant AFTER learning that he has a child. She did not call, text, or follow through with talking to G and getting more info. She completely acted like he never applied or even existed in this situation.
If it takes so long for those who are COMPLAINING to file a suit, maybe the person who was actually discriminated against (G), will make the process faster. I am sure he will love to learn about why he and his family will not be moving into the condo which they had quite a liking and interest for. There are quite a few pro-bono lawyers who we've been able to find that we will pass onto him and allow him to do what he wants with all this information.
*WE = my girlfriend and I (just so I'm clear)*
@Rabrrita: These questions lead me to believe you have not been following on the thread....? Not that it matters. WE will do what WE believe is right. My uncle was a lawyer in the state of Minnesota; he is retired and no longer practicing. I will be sending our info to him anyway to see what he says.
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