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[quote=austin-steve;8832806]Rent is due on the first, late after the first. If paid late but within the grace period, it's still late but incurs no late fee. Most tenants mistakenly treat the last day of the grace period as the due date and thusly pay rent late every month but think it's "on time" because they are not charged a late fee.
Exactly right; I also owned a management company with about 120 properties. Our late fees occured if rent wasn't received by 11:59PM on the 3rd. Can't tell you how many folks thought that the rent wasn't actually late if it was paid on the 3rd.
I think some of the tenants who post in here should be landlords for a year or two, then come back in here and post their experiences after doing so. I would gamble that their posts would look considerably different. Bottom line; take the time to actually read your lease
Yes, but you are the one who hit the "start" button on the chain of events. I've never seen a landlord sue a tenant for finishing the lease and doing everything they were supposed to, but I've seen a lot of tenants sue landlords over things that started with a broken lease. Yours is a textbook case.
Quote:
Originally Posted by austin-steve
Don't want these problems? .. then don't break your lease and move early. If you do break your lease, get all agreements in writing. If you fail to get everything in writing, accept the consequences instead of suing the landlord. Consider it a seminar fee and move on with life.
I'll just add that I've evicted about 80 tenants over the years and thus have sat while waiting my turn and observed a LOT of landlord/tenant disputes in JP Court, which in a sadistic sort of way I enjoy, but also find very educational and interesting. Most are just like yours. Both sides screwed up and one side wants the other to pay 100% of the cost of their mutual boneheadedness. More often than not, the Judge gets so confused over the he said she said, they call it a wash and nobody wins or loses, both sides pay their own fees, and that's the end of it. I give your situation a 50% chance of that outcome.
Go forth in righteous indignation if you must, but don't be surprised if it all turns out to be a big waste of time.
Steve
Many props Steve!
This is one of the best posts I have ever seen in the rental forum; very well put from someone who obviously has lots of experience with the industry. I think someone should cut and paste this to every rental post in here.
i think that steve the landlord guy sounds like a total dick
Obviously from the mouth of someone who's never been a LL but probably has always been a bad tenant - and you had to drag up a year-old thread to make the comment?
Small claims court is fast and cheap (he pays the court cost if you win) and their are no lawyers/jurrors involved. You are no longer responsable for a property that is under contract with a new tenant. As you already stated he has 30 days in TX to supply a reason for keeping any/all the deposit. A deposit is exactly that "deposit". More States are requiring that deposits be held in seperate accounts in which it cannot be spent, check with TX law, if so he is breaking the law by not having it to return to you. Sounds like the dirt bag needs to get draged to court, some States allow for you to sue for interest+3 times the amount of the deposit if it is held with out warrent or proof of repairs (which they also has to give you a reasonable chance to fix first).Good luck, don't let up on him-just go to the court and file.
There was no way to serve him.... anyways, I let it go. I have better things to do with my life.
In CA you can serve someone for small claims by certified mail. If that is the case in his state, he might as well do it. The LL could possibly settle before court or he could win his case if the LL or rep doesn't show. Either way, he has more to lose be doing nothing.
just saw the comment the guy made about me making a comment on a year old post. Noticed you had no problem doing the same. And wrong, buddy. I have been and AM a landlord. When I was a tenant I always left properties in better shape than I found them. You are very rude.
Austin Steve -- What do you do if the tenant breaking the lease refuses to pay the reletting fee (80% one months rent) and insists on moving out anyway?
He has communicated very well, and found new tenants, but gave me no recourse on breaking the lease. He took another job and is moving 1 Jan, period.
He always paid late and accumulated $500 in late fees I never charged him for.
Its more than a rental problem. I think you should talk to any lawyer about all this matter, it is not going to be solved like this you should take some legal advice.
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