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But does anyone actually DO this? Any time your LL pays a bill?
Yes, with the advent of email and text, is is extremely easy to send a confirming email/text leaving a written documentation trail anytime you want to document a decision. I send confirming letters/emails/texts all the time.
Yes, with the advent of email and text, is is extremely easy to send a confirming email/text leaving a written documentation trail anytime you want to document a decision. I send confirming letters/emails/texts all the time.
Wouldn't the burden be on the LL to prove she had tried to bill us?
We do have a text thread and nowhere in there does she attempt to bill us, nor was there any other attempt to bill us (remember this was in December 2018). She just writes "please remind guests not to flush anything" and I responded affirmatively and posted photos of signs I had then posted in the bathrooms. She said "perfect" and that was that.
In any event, I was suspicious she would pull something like this as I declined allowing her to renovate the house while I was living there, not to mention the fact that she disappeared when it came to paying for the yard maintenance that was included with the lease.
Wouldn't the burden be on the LL to prove she had tried to bill us?
I don’t know about having to prove she tried to bill you .. depends on the judge and what he thinks. He may take her word for it - some judges have built in bias against tenants and some have built in bias against landlords. You want to believe justice is blind but the reality is that judges are like everyone else and have their biases which some control better than others. That is why going to Court doesn’t mean you will prevail even if you are in the right. And it is why I always try to compromise before going to Court unless the issue is so open and shut that there is nothing to debate.
In my case, I document everything in writing with all my tenants. It helps that I don’t like to talk on the phone so email/txt are second nature to me. I just screen shot texts if I think I need to keep them and email is always saved. In the case of something serious, I send certified letters.
Wouldn't the burden be on the LL to prove she had tried to bill us?
Yes. And a competent LL would have sent you a "pay or quit" notice the 1st of the next month
when your rent payment didn't include the extra amount. Add'l fees like this should be counted BEFORE the rent.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hgsouth
Either way, the deposit was well past due in CA.
I just want to know more about how to approach this to the court.
You just did. If you need help with filing paperwork and staying on point ...then get some.
Those are LOCAL questions to your County.
Quote:
The plumbing ...
Is mostly just a distracting sideshow at this point...
it's only role is that the LL is trying to gig you for it.
If they were late with the refund you expected you wouldn't have raise the late issue.
Yes. And a competent LL would have sent you a "pay or quit" notice the 1st of the next month
when your rent payment didn't include the extra amount. Add'l fees like this should be counted BEFORE the rent.
You just did. If you need help with filing paperwork and staying on point ...then get some.
Those are LOCAL questions to your County.
Is mostly just a distracting sideshow at this point...
it's only role is that the LL is trying to gig you for it.
If they were late with the refund you expected you wouldn't have raise the late issue.
That doesn’t work .. if the charge is disputed and the tenant pays the rent in full, the LL can send a “pay or quit” notice but it is a waste of time. No Court, at least in the states I have properties in, will allow an eviction of a tenant over a disputed repair charge IF the tenant is paying the full rent payment as required in the lease. In most situations, the payment is first applied to outstanding rent then, if there is a balance left over, to outstanding miscellaneous charges.
If a LL were to do as you suggested and then tried to get an eviction approved by the Court, they would fail and be out quite a bit of money and possibly liable to the tenant for the tenants costs.
The implication of the comment is that the LL did in fact go over it all.
Perhaps too casually but in their mind at least the expected something more on the 1st...
And you know that.
But if disputed that would have all been sorted out a year ago.
And you know that too.
The implication of the comment is that the LL did in fact go over it all.
Perhaps too casually but in their mind at least the expected something more on the 1st...
And you know that.
But if disputed that would have all been sorted out a year ago.
And you know that too.
Not necessarily .. I had a tenant dispute a chargeback for a electrical issue he caused when I charged him for it. He didn’t pay it and it sat on his account until he moved out at which time is was paid out of his security deposit. What you are not taking into account is that the housing laws exist largely to protect tenants and to make sure no one is unreasonably evicted and possibly made homeless. If the LL went the “pay or quit” route, the judge would not allow an eviction and would tell the landlord to take it out of the security deposit for this specific type of issue. If the tenant did intentional damage thats a different story but we are talking about a plumbing issue not a party that destroyed the place.
Arguing about it online isn't going to accomplish anything. Run it by a local landlord/tenant attorney and be done with it.
Statute of limitations on things like that plumbing repair is going to be years so them not billing you for it right away isn't a defense. Them not returning your security deposit in the correct time frame can be an argument but really only a lawyer in your area who can look at all of the facts will be able to give you a good answer to your questions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spokaneinvestor
That doesn’t work .. if the charge is disputed and the tenant pays the rent in full, the LL can send a “pay or quit” notice but it is a waste of time. No Court, at least in the states I have properties in, will allow an eviction of a tenant over a disputed repair charge IF the tenant is paying the full rent payment as required in the lease. In most situations, the payment is first applied to outstanding rent then, if there is a balance left over, to outstanding miscellaneous charges.
If a LL were to do as you suggested and then tried to get an eviction approved by the Court, they would fail and be out quite a bit of money and possibly liable to the tenant for the tenants costs.
That's not how things work everywhere. I can absolutely evict over unpaid bills in AZ. All charges are rolled into the next months rent and the courts see these fees as rent, repair costs, HOA fees, late fees, etc. If it were me I would have given a 1 month grace period then charged late fees because the full rent wasn't paid and moved to evict in Feb. The court website even specifically states that the only way to stop an eviction is to pay all rent, late fees, court costs, and attorney fees.
A clogged drain caused by a tenant is not the landlords responsibility. Buy a plunger and stop flushing stuff that you shouldn't, problem solved.
Arguing about it online isn't going to accomplish anything. Run it by a local landlord/tenant attorney and be done with it.
Statute of limitations on things like that plumbing repair is going to be years so them not billing you for it right away isn't a defense. Them not returning your security deposit in the correct time frame can be an argument but really only a lawyer in your area who can look at all of the facts will be able to give you a good answer to your questions.
That's not how things work everywhere. I can absolutely evict over unpaid bills in AZ. All charges are rolled into the next months rent and the courts see these fees as rent, repair costs, HOA fees, late fees, etc. If it were me I would have given a 1 month grace period then charged late fees because the full rent wasn't paid and moved to evict in Feb. The court website even specifically states that the only way to stop an eviction is to pay all rent, late fees, court costs, and attorney fees.
A clogged drain caused by a tenant is not the landlords responsibility. Buy a plunger and stop flushing stuff that you shouldn't, problem solved.
Not always true. If the property has a documented history of plumbing problems that have not been repaired, the burden shifts to the landlord. If it is a one time thing, yes, the tenant should be responsible. If it is an ongoing issue due to an inherent flaw in the plumbing it is a landlord issue. While the clogged drain could be caused by the tenant in the property owner’s eyes, if the root cause is flawed plumbing and if the tenant can demonstrate that, the property owner loses.
The other thing to remember, at least in Court, is that what is possible under the law and what a particular judge allows are two different things especially in housing Court. Judges have wide discretion especially when it comes to ordering an eviction. Local practice here is that while you may be able to file an unlawful detainer over an unpaid damage charge, most judges won’t order an eviction unless it is a very egregious damage charge clearly 100% tenant caused. Not paying for a clogged drain doesn’t fall into this category. Having a party that destroys the place - yes you are going to be evicted.
What I do in these types of situations is charge the tenants account for the repair so it shows as a debit on the account. I also send a letter asking for reimbursement and the reasons behind my asking. If they don’t pay it, it continues to show as a charge to the account each month. If they never pay it, then when the security deposit is applied to the outstanding balance at lease end, the charge, along with any others, is paid. There is no confusion where this charge came from with this process and I have never had an instance where I wasn’t able to collect.
Unless tenant caused the damage, landlord is responsible for the repairs. I would not have paid the plumbing bill and would then sue you in small claim court if you attempted to withhold it from my security deposit. The burden of proof in this case is on landlord.
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