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Ok so i need some advice. My landlord is well hes a slum lord. After repeated attempts to get him to fix things wrong in my apartment i decided to stop paying rent( i know i went about this the wrong way) well he gave me a notice to quit that said pay up or move out basically. Well when the week that he gave me to pay was up he showed up and told me i had to move out then. Im not stupid and told him that wasnt the way things worked that he had to file and eviction with the court. Which he did. I am a single mother and i dont drive and live in a rural community so i had no way of going to this hearing to defend myself. A couple of days after the hearinf a recieved a notice of judgement/transcript residential lease. On it it only says the amount of money he sued me for. No where does it say how long i have to be out. However he had a nieghbor tell me that in 10 days hes locking the place with all my stuff in it. Is this true. Others have told me that he would have to give me 30 days because i signed a year lease
Call the court and find out from them. You should be able to find a number to call by looking at the transcript.
He can't "lock the place with your stuff in it" but he can have the police come and remove you from the property, which leaves you and your stuff sitting by the side of the road.
Now would be a good time to start looking for another place to live. Since I'm assuming you didn't pay your rent, didn't document the requests for repairs, didn't have any sort of showing at court it's probably too late to do anything but move out and pay the court-ordered settlement.
You could try goading your landlord into doing something illegal--like locking you out, himself--to try to aid in some sort of appeal of the judgement, if he's really a bad guy and operated outside the law, and you think you've got a shot at winning an appeal. However, that's going to take more effort and follow-through than you seem to be willing to put forth.
Call the court and find out from them. You should be able to find a number to call by looking at the transcript.
He can't "lock the place with your stuff in it" but he can have the police come and remove you from the property, which leaves you and your stuff sitting by the side of the road.
Now would be a good time to start looking for another place to live. Since I'm assuming you didn't pay your rent, didn't document the requests for repairs, didn't have any sort of showing at court it's probably too late to do anything but move out and pay the court-ordered settlement.
You could try goading your landlord into doing something illegal--like locking you out, himself--to try to aid in some sort of appeal of the judgement, if he's really a bad guy and operated outside the law, and you think you've got a shot at winning an appeal. However, that's going to take more effort and follow-through than you seem to be willing to put forth.
He has a to have an eviction from the courts. He can't just throw you out. See what the judgement was he received from the courts, if he didn't do an eviction than he can't do squat. In Maryland they can get a judgement three times on you than do an eviction, but they have to do it all thru the courts. Also, the sheriff arranges the time the eviction takes place.
I am looking for a new place. I have pictures of damages that took place when pipes burst in my cieling ruining things in my kitchen because water poured thru it and the tiles fell. We had to fix the pipes because he would not return my phone calls. I also have a lot of things that are covered in mold because he neglected to tell us that the basement leaked. But that is besides the point. I want to move and have found a place but wont be able to move in right away. The paper from the court says That 1. a judgement was entered against my with the amount and date and 2. that possession has been granted. However like i said it does not state a date or time frame.
I am looking for a new place. I have pictures of damages that took place when pipes burst in my cieling ruining things in my kitchen because water poured thru it and the tiles fell. We had to fix the pipes because he would not return my phone calls. I also have a lot of things that are covered in mold because he neglected to tell us that the basement leaked. But that is besides the point. I want to move and have found a place but wont be able to move in right away. The paper from the court says That 1. a judgement was entered against my with the amount and date and 2. that possession has been granted. However like i said it does not state a date or time frame.
I would call the housing department of the county you live in to inspect the mold, trust me mold is not good and you have a child, they will fine him.
I am looking for a new place. I have pictures of damages that took place when pipes burst in my cieling ruining things in my kitchen because water poured thru it and the tiles fell. We had to fix the pipes because he would not return my phone calls. I also have a lot of things that are covered in mold because he neglected to tell us that the basement leaked. But that is besides the point. I want to move and have found a place but wont be able to move in right away. The paper from the court says That 1. a judgement was entered against my with the amount and date and 2. that possession has been granted. However like i said it does not state a date or time frame.
Yes you went about it the wrong way. You should've entered the court system first and filed a grievance.
Yes he sounds like a slum lord.
When the 'eviction' will happen, is when the county sheriff's show up, and stay there while he 'nicely' removes your possessions from the property. This will be given to you in the form of a posted notice before the date. I believe at least a week, if not two.
Talk to the court system, and try to file an appeal for the settlement, (hopefully you have repair bills, etc) and attempt to at least get yourself re-imbursed for the amount of the repairs, and also ask for additional time to move. State you have a unit, and you will vacate on date X. The court might side with you and give you until then to vacate, provided you pay back rent.
Don't stop paying rent. It makes you look like you're in the wrong, no matter how nasty of a person your landlord is.
In Maryland they can get a judgement three times on you than do an eviction, but they have to do it all thru the courts.
That's right. He can try to evict you through the courts, but they give you a chance for restitution. The third time you're out! The landlord can file the day after rent is due. Grace periods aren't recognized in court, that's just the landlord being nice. You do have to pay rent to somebody. If you simply stop paying, you will be sued and look like a dirt bag. Pay an "action of rent escrow". That means that you pay rent to a third party, your lawyer. It shows you are willing to pay, but the court will withhold the amount until it's deemed warranted (after a hearing). The court will take out any amount to bring the apartment to standards and give the landlord what's left. I see landlords as employees, the renters are the employer. The landlord must preform in order to get his wages. Sit on his butt and do nothing, he doesn't deserve pay. But, if he works well and the employer doesn't pay, it will become a legal matter.
Thank you to everyone who repsonded. I appreciated it. I have not recieved anything from a sheriff's office or had anything im guessing posted on my door. Like i said i have found a place and have the money to move its just i cant move in yet. and im worried that he is going to show up here( the landlord) and have us removed from the house. I live in PA if that helps at all. I know i had 10 days to appeal the court decsion but they wanted me to pay the judgement to the court first. So maybe thats where my landlord came up with 10 days. I dont know. Like said im a single working mother. And i have the money to move but not if i have to go and pay the court the judgement and appeal this. I dont want to stay here anyway like i said its an awful place.
Look at it as a learning experience. There has been a lot of good advice posted in this thread. Keep it in mind, and if you ever have trouble again you will know the way to proceed properly that will keep your rear legally covered. Good luck with the new place.
Ok so i need some advice. My landlord is well hes a slum lord. After repeated attempts to get him to fix things wrong in my apartment i decided to stop paying rent( i know i went about this the wrong way) well he gave me a notice to quit that said pay up or move out basically. Well when the week that he gave me to pay was up he showed up and told me i had to move out then. Im not stupid and told him that wasnt the way things worked that he had to file and eviction with the court. Which he did. I am a single mother and i dont drive and live in a rural community so i had no way of going to this hearing to defend myself. A couple of days after the hearinf a recieved a notice of judgement/transcript residential lease. On it it only says the amount of money he sued me for. No where does it say how long i have to be out. However he had a nieghbor tell me that in 10 days hes locking the place with all my stuff in it. Is this true. Others have told me that he would have to give me 30 days because i signed a year lease
It's really unfortunate that landlords don't fix things the way they should. If he would have done this, you probably wouldn't felt that you needed to withhold rent in order to get things fixed. If you damaged something and expected him to fix it that's another story. With that, I would highly recommend that tenants DO NOT withhold rent - there are other ways to go about getting things repaired without doing this... and it is - in most states- grounds for being evicted. The fact of the matter is you are being evicted and there's not much that can be done about it - the only variable is when and not if he can evict you. I would suggest you find a place to live quickly and don't wait until someone knocks on your door to kick you out. Good luck.
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Good luck with the new place.
