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Dealing with a slight Landlord/Tenant issue here on property "damages" mixed with a possibility of sabotage.
I'll jump right into it.
I currently live in a residential home with my landlord and roommates. I am the youngest in the house, Landlord is old. A couple of months ago I returned home from work at night, parked my car in the driveway and somehow my shift gears switched to neutral. I believed I leaned on it a bit too hard and my purse strap got caught on it; when I grabbed the bag it yanked the shift forward. Crazy but true. My car slowly rolled uphill. When I finally looked up my car was pressing against the garage door, there was no impact, no sound. I immediately backed up and got out to check for damages, which revealed to be a barely there impression in the one bottom panel where my licenses plate came in contact . Basically, it was slightly pushed in, yet non detectable. You could only feel it.
Once inside, I notified my LL through text, in good faith. Moments later, I could hear her going outside, to which then I hear a solid constant banging noise coming from in front of the house. Shrugged it off. The following morning she responds and says she went out last night with her flashlight, and that there was a dent on the door and that the whole entire thing needed to be replaced because the manufacturer no longer makes them.
Here's where it gets interesting.
I check out the dent, confused and just felt iffy about the whole situation. The mysterious dent, still barely there, sat right in-between where the two panels meet. There was also some dings on the side, and on the bottom of the door. The dents were inconsistent, minimal, and distant, not like a usual car-garage incident. Just below the dents, you could faintly indicate where my license plate pushed in the metal. Going forward, I agreed to find someone to repair it, not replace it. If it could not be repaired, I would cover costs to replace the bottom panel of equal value. I will also add, the door is 18 years old. I live in Southern California. The door looks beat up and worn already. She told me that the dent could not be popped out because of the material, and that the whole door still needed to be replaced.
I planned to get my own estimates on repairs once I came back from vacation with family. However, once I returned in 3 days, the dent was clearly worse and much larger (yet still small) than it was initially. I noticed it immediately. I took pictures and compared them to the before's then emailed them to LL. Her response, She doesn't know what I'm talking about, but looks forward to getting door fixed.
The dent was now clearly irreparable. Weeks later she informed me she was going to order a door and that I would cover the cost of 2 panels and she pays for the other two and installation and springs. I reminded her of the new nature of the dent. Her hesitant response was she had someone to come and repair it and they "maybe" made it worse . Later that day I asked her to forward me their information so that I could instead pay her what "they" charged for repairs. She told me that the information wasn't relevant, that the contractor could lose his job for his attempt, and that still I hit her door with my car. OK.
So the other day I decide to take another look at the door. I drove my car up to the door and realized that the dent in between the panels actually sits above the front end of my car. It doesn't reach/touch at all. The dings on the sides and the bottom also doesn't reach. LL sends me a receipt totaling $360 for the bottom panels, but no full bid. I then let her know about my discovery, and she sent me a long nasty response, ending with where I can forward my payments to.
She's also given me 30 days notice for absolutely no reason. I have 7 days left. Literally weeks before this car-garage incident, I respectfully addressed her about going into my room without permission and removing items and asked her to stop, to which she responded I should maybe live somewhere else. I feel that this incident gave her the power she needed to give me the boot without reason; And I'm almost positive that she is after my $600 security deposit, so I do want compensate somehow to prevent that.
Although I don't think there were any real damages, my car did make contact, so I'm making an effort to pay a little something. I have a month to month lease agreement, so I assume something needs to be forked over. It's just matters of whats fair. LL is still trying to hold me accountable for 2nd panel. Bottom panel also has dings and dents where my car can't possibly reach. Also, the door is old as hell. I was thinking of coming up with a price off of the depreciated value, but I'm having a hard time on figuring out how.
What is a way that I can come up with a number towards repair? I tried getting my own quotes but most of these garage repairmen don't care about dents or landlord-tenant problems... they just want to sell you a door. I did however receive a cheaper bid to replace just the 2 panels, but she hasn't acknowledged it. What else can I do to come up with a price to pay this lady so that I don't have to waste my time taking her to small claims for taking it out of my Security Dep.? How could I find the depreciated value of a garage door? If the door is 18 years old, does it hold the same standard as say old carpets and old chipped interior paint? Yes the door still works perfectly fine. LL is obviously trying to come up off of this, but I just want to handle it (fairly) and move on with my life without succumbing to her bullying. Any suggestions appreciated
She's also given me 30 days notice... I have 7 days left.
Have you found a new place? Have you started packing?
Get these done and moved out pronto.
Quote:
What is a way that I can come up with a number towards repair?
Cutting to the chase... I suspect this will be settled at an amount exactly equal to your deposit.
If, AFTER you have moved out, the LL insists on pursuing the matter... plan to play hardball.
But just in case DOCUMENT the details (like bumper height vs damage height) with photos and yardstick.
Get someone to help you.
Last edited by MrRational; 04-10-2017 at 07:38 AM..
I understand the reluctance to pay for a new door to replace an old one - but forget the attempted repairs, your notice to leave, etc & focus on the core issue.
If your (old) car is insured & someone accidentally damages the door on it, would it be acceptable to you for the insurance company to go get an old pink door from the junkyard & stick it on there? Your door was "old" and "faded" and had small dings anyway, so they're not responsible for the paint, right? Or would you expect your insurance company to make you "whole" - give you back a repair that's at least as nice as what you had before the accident?
$360 sounds like a screaming deal for what could have easily cost $1000 for an installed, painted new door. Seems like the last inexpensive, single-layer aluminum garage door I purchased was most of $800 installed, and that's not painted (they come primered) My painter charges a couple hundred bucks just to fire up his sprayer, so if I was the landlord, you'ld get a bill for everything.
Garage doors last just about forever, so the age of the door doesn't matter much. Garage door damage doesn't get prorated.
You hit the door with your car. If the panels can't be matched, the whole thing has to be replaced.
If you aren't happy with the charge, you can go to small claims court and contest it, but a very high chance that a judge is going to say that you hit it with your car so you pay to replace the garage door.
Your car insurance company would pick up the cost of the garage door, if you want to notify them of such a small damage and get your rates raised.
Have you found a new place? Have you started packing?
Get these done and moved out pronto.
Cutting to the chase... I suspect this will be settled at an amount exactly equal to your deposit.
If, AFTER you have moved out, the LL insists on pursuing the matter... plan to play hardball.
But just in case DOCUMENT the details (like bumper height vs damage height) with photos and yardstick.
Get someone to help you.
I have a group of friends coming to help me move out this week. There has also been some harassing going on so I am definitely trying to hurry on out. I will be staying with a friend until I find a new place. I have photos of the car up to the dent and you can see that it doesn't reach. I wasn't able to get measurements as she's gotten it replaced already.
I understand the reluctance to pay for a new door to replace an old one - but forget the attempted repairs, your notice to leave, etc & focus on the core issue.
If your (old) car is insured & someone accidentally damages the door on it, would it be acceptable to you for the insurance company to go get an old pink door from the junkyard & stick it on there? Your door was "old" and "faded" and had small dings anyway, so they're not responsible for the paint, right? Or would you expect your insurance company to make you "whole" - give you back a repair that's at least as nice as what you had before the accident?
$360 sounds like a screaming deal for what could have easily cost $1000 for an installed, painted new door. Seems like the last inexpensive, single-layer aluminum garage door I purchased was most of $800 installed, and that's not painted (they come primered) My painter charges a couple hundred bucks just to fire up his sprayer, so if I was the landlord, you'ld get a bill for everything.
Well, in the past, my old car got damaged pretty badly in the back. Usually serious damages to old property would deem it non repairable. When this happened, the insurance company gave me the money for the value of the car, not the value of a brand new car. I was however, able to put the money given to me, towards a new vehicle. LL claimed she hired someone to repair it, who made it worse. I offered to pay her for the repair, since it could have actually been repaired, and she could've put it towards the door.
I think the real core issue is clear. My door does not reach the dent she's referring to. The impression that my car did leave thats underneath the dent, is only detectable by hand. You cannot see it. It's not really damage, but I did come in contact, so I am willing to put something towards the replacement.
There was also, never a repairman, which is why she refuses to forward any information to me. She made the dent worse, again, so that there would be no chance for a repair, only a replacement. Maybe I wasn't clear enough
Garage doors last just about forever, so the age of the door doesn't matter much. Garage door damage doesn't get prorated.
You hit the door with your car. If the panels can't be matched, the whole thing has to be replaced.
If you aren't happy with the charge, you can go to small claims court and contest it, but a very high chance that a judge is going to say that you hit it with your car so you pay to replace the garage door.
Your car insurance company would pick up the cost of the garage door, if you want to notify them of such a small damage and get your rates raised.
I didn't hit the door. My car doesn't reach the dent. The 2 bottom panels could be replaced to match but she ignored the bid I received for it, because she wants a new door.
Can a judge ask me to replace something when there is clear photo evidence that I couldn't have caused it? What I caused is only detectable by hand, and sits underneath the dent. Theres really no damage, just an imprint. She's blaming me for dents and dings that were already present, and one that was maybe fabricated. If my insurance company was going to pay to repair the imprint, but she went and hired someone on her own to repair it and they made it worse, will the insurance company then now, have to pay for a replacement, or would they pay for the initial repair?
Sorry for all the questioning, I'm really trying to understand.
I should reiterate, my car does not reach the damages that she's referring to, at all. When I told her about the incident, I was referring to the impression, only. This sits under the dent/damages, she's referring to. She claims I'm responsible for 2 panels, but my car doesn't reach anywhere near past the top of the first panel. The dent that I did not cause, sits in between the 2 panels.
Maybe I should put it this way. Lets say there's an old car with dents, dings, needed a paint job eons ago. Then someone scuffs the car on accident. The scuff, is nowhere near as bad as the previous damage to the car. Still, you offer to have it buffed out, but the owner instead, wants a whole paint job. You find that ridiculous and proceed to find someone to buff it out, but before you can even book an appointment, the owner backs into a pole, chipping paint where the scuff was. Now there is no possibility for a buffing. There is more damage, and owner still wants you to be responsible for paint job, even for what they caused after. Legally, how would that go? I assume that you would still be responsible for the scuff, not the paint job, as owner caused the need for an entire paint job.
In my case, the owner is trying to hold me accountable for the dents and dings too, not just the paint, and owner wants a whole new car, not a paint job. This is the case.
Can I post pictures? I know I'm making it sound like i ran full force into that door. That's not what happened. I really would like to show the impression in comparison to the surrounding damage. You can't see the impression, only on one angle. It's not really damage, its just there. Still, I offered an amount towards the door. I feel any honorable landlord wouldn't try to to hold a tenant responsible for something that was not caused by tenant.
Initially, she claimed I was responsible for the entire door. Back to the car. If you only made a scuff, but owner says you have to pay for the dents and dings AND a paint job on the already chipped up car, because you can't put paint on top of damage, is that legal? If the car isn't worth more than the costs to repair the dents and dings and a paint job, would I then have to buy owner a new car?
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. Basically, it was slightly pushed in, yet non detectable. You could only feel it.
. Shrugged it off. The following morning she responds and says she went out last night with her flashlight, and that there was a dent on the door and that the whole entire thing needed to be replaced because the manufacturer no longer makes them. 
. Later that day I asked her to forward me their information so that I could instead pay her what "they" charged for repairs. She told me that the information wasn't relevant, that the contractor could lose his job for his attempt, and that still I hit her door with my car. OK.
