Can My Landlord Sue me for this?

[Mr_Geek]

Originally Posted by dusklady

The house was dirty but there were no actual damages that paint and a cleaning service couldn't repair. If there were any damages they were minor (ripped window screen, broken worn out blinds, etc.) and I agreed to pay them for them. I do know that the house was in excellent condition within a couple of weeks because I drove by it a few times. I only moved up the road. There was also a For Sale sign in the yard the following month. The pictures of the house online in the listing looked amazing and they even had prop furniture in the house to make it look inviting to buyers. If the house were so trashed then how did they get it ready so fast? That just wasn't the case. It was just dirty and I believe that it took them no time to get it ready for sale. It is just odd to me that they can sue me for a month's worth of rent when the didn't plan to rent it out after moving out.

Maybe they used old pictures?

[Rabrrita]

Originally Posted by dusklady

It is just odd to me that they can sue me for a month's worth of rent when the didn't plan to rent it out after moving out.

Your former landlord has the legal right to sue you for as much as they want. The amount they sue for is meaningless if they can't prove a dollars worth of that amount.

If they sue, they will name a specific dollar amount based on all sorts of things. They will have to show a Judge that those dollar amount for those things are true and legally sufficient. Your job is to show they are wrong and the amounts are not legally sufficient.

If your landlord is claiming you owe a moths rent for the time they were unable to rent due to the condition you left the property in, you need to just be able to dispute that (disputing also included saying that the landlord failed to prove anything). The fact that they are selling is an issue that goes to when they can last claim damages. If you moved out on the 1st, and they were planning to rent, you will still be liable for any time period they were unable to rent due to your mess. Even if it legitimately took them 60 days to fix your mess, if they decided 3 days after the end of your occupancy to sell and no longer rent, they only have a claim for those 3 days.

The fact that they are selling makes your job a whole lot easier because they established a fix point in time. All you have to do is show that there was no damages to be repaired so they aren't entitled to any damages based on unable to rent up to that fixed point in time..

[AZ Manager]

That law states it only applies "if the cleaning or repairs are performed in a timely manner." 30+ days is not timely unless the damage is more severe than the OP has implied. The problem is further compounded for the landlord by way of selling the property. How much of the work was done, and potentially delayed, in order to sell it. I would let the landlord take you to court and let the judge sort it out, if anyone waited a month to do their job they would be fired.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Originally Posted by dusklady

....... but is now threatening to sue me for a month's worth of rent, the time she said that it took her to get the house ready to rent out again. Can she do that?.......

It depends. Was your lease and notice period completely over? Did you move out with 30 days left on your lease, or move out without notice?

Your landlord can charge you for loss of use of the property. If the repairs took that long, then yes, you owe for that. Currently workmen are busy and hard to come by. They might be scheduling weeks out. Last summer, it would have taken me almost a month to get a painter in, and my painter gives me priority because I am a regular customer. This year, it took 2 weeks to get roofing delivered and another 2 weeks before the roofer could get to my property. Maybe the carpet ordered didn't come in. Maybe the workmen who hauled off your garbage were busy and couldn't get to it.

I didn't see how you left the property, so I have no idea how long it would have taken to fix it up.

If you want to contest it, either the landlord will back down or else the landlord will have dated receipts for the work showing that it wasn't finished for 30 days.

In future, if you don't want to pay so much for damage, take better care of the property. Don't destroy things and keep the place clean. Clean and remove trash when you move out. It will save you a lot of money.

.. moved out .... on July 1, 2015. ........the house was listed for sale on August 13, 2015 and sold on September 30, 2015........ never planned on renting it out after we moved.....

I'd like to point out that you left July 1 and the property wasn't listed until Aug 13, which was more than 30 days after you left. It wasn't listed within those 30 day that the landlord claimed repairs were going on. It's very possible that the clean up was so much work that she decided to sell and not get stuck with another tenant who took such poor care of the property. You have no way to prove that she never intended to rerent it. If she wanted to sell and clean-up only took a week, she would have listed immediately instead of missing the best month to sell.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

I'm going to add this for other persons. This is Oregon law we are discussing and this very well might not apply to other states.