situation with my soon to be old landlord..pls help!

[Fashionista]

the apt i have been waiting for for over a year now finally opened and i paid my rent and security there on april 30. so i started moving my stuff over. since i don't have a car i was packing up my clothes in suitcases and bringing them over before i went to work.

on may 1 i notified my lanlord in writing that i was moving. he kept asking me to show the apt but i told him i could not. actually it isn't even my job to show the apt. when i started living i paid the last month's rent in advance, so he has payment for may and that gives me 30 days to move

last week my father came with a moving van and got 90% of my stuff. some stuff had to be left behind because we were short on time

i called him last week and reminded him to send the checklist of the stuff he wanted done before i left. i told him because of my work schedule the stuff would more than likely not be done till the end of this week and the stuff would not be removed till then either.

he tried to pressure me again into showing the apt, which again i said no and i told him the place was not clean yet. he offered to clean it but i said NO because i did not want to be charged $150 for something i can do myself. he also said he wanted the painters to come in if i wasnt there but never told me WHEN they were coming. he has the new phone number here and knew that i had stuff in the apt and still had my key.

anyway i get there yesterday in the pouring rain and see that the stuff i left behind was gone AND the apt was clean. there was no note saying where my stuff was so of course i was upset. i look in the trash bin and see some of my stuff there and then find the rest of my stuff in the basement. the basement was totally flooded out from all the rain and my stuff has been sitting in water and dampness for god knows how many days now. he put the remaining stuff in these large bags but the bags have holes in it so my stuff is damaged.

my neighbor who helped me locate the basement told me it always floods in there when it rains so that means the landlord had to know that if it rained my stuff would be damaged. he never called me or anything

i took pictures and called him numerous times yesterday but have yet to get in touch with him

my friends told me i should sue him in small claims court because he had no right to remove my property before the 30 days was up without telling me.

any advice on the law in this matter? i looked in the attorney generals rental law section and it does said he could come in to make repairs and paint but nothing on removing my property and damaging it or providing services i asked him not to do (such as cleaning)

[winneythepooh7]

You need to definately take him to court. He sounds like a motherf*in prick and will definately do this to somebody else. I think that you have some mighty good evidence in your favor as well.

[Fashionista]

You need to definately take him to court. He sounds like a motherf*in prick and will definately do this to somebody else. I think that you have some mighty good evidence in your favor as well.
he is a prick no doubt about that

when he finally did pick up the phone he acted like he had no idea what was going on but gave some maintence guy free reign to do whatever he wants. :mad: he said he wanted to talk to the maintence guy but i think i should get 2 weeks back from this stuff since my items were tossed in the street along with my WHOLE deposit. i guess i have to wait to see what happens next

[winneythepooh7]

Well keep us posted. Your situation may be able to help someone else!

[kevin0tech]

I understand the need to be upset, and to get back at the landlord. I would - being a realist- look at the value of the items ruined by the rain. If the value of the items is equal to or greater than the expected lawsuit fees, then go for it. However, if the items left are easily replaced, then a lawsuit doesn't make financial sense, and will only stress you out and hurt your bank account.

[Sanman111]

Kevin is right. I would also add to that sum the last month's rent, since he tossed your stuff now and not 30 days later.

[winneythepooh7]

I understand the need to be upset, and to get back at the landlord. I would - being a realist- look at the value of the items ruined by the rain. If the value of the items is equal to or greater than the expected lawsuit fees, then go for it. However, if the items left are easily replaced, then a lawsuit doesn't make financial sense, and will only stress you out and hurt your bank account.

Yeah, but can't you go to small-claims court where you don't need an attorney and can represent yourself? I believe it's a small filing fee then...........just out of principle I think she should go for it. Why should the landlord be able to get away with this? Especially with the astronomical rents most of them usually charge these days......and new furniture is expensive. Even if it's just from Ikea. I don't know many people who have a spare couple of thousand lying around for "just the basics".

[shinyleaf]

That's ridiculous that you should have to pay a penny in legal fees - isn't there an ombudsman or what we have here is "the rentalsman" - an agency that gives free legal advice to landlords and renting tenants.
Good luck, that is total BS.

[ATLWill]

i guess i have to wait to see what happens next

Take the matter into your own hands. I would send him (through certified mail...don't let him use the "I didn't get it in the mail" excuse) an itemized list showing the possessions that were destroyed and their value.

I would then request that he cut you a check for the value of the items lost, or you will be taking him to small claims court.

He will probably not do anything about the letter, but it's worth a try.

[Fashionista]

i called him friday AM and he acted like he never got my message from thursday afternoon. friday i registered at tenent.net trying to get the legal info i needed to support my case.

basically on friday i caught my LL in a lie-first he said he had no idea what happened or what was going on. then he turned around and stated that the maintence man tolod him he removed the items and cleaned the apt. then finally my LL says "oh i thought you stated you didn't want the stuff" which is a total lie. when i pointed out to him that he had no right to remove my property he got off the phone saying he wanted to talk to the maintence man to get his story and told me he would call me back monday. sounds like he wants to get his story straight.

according to the ppl at tenant.net message board removing my property was an illegal eviction and i should ask for the last 2 weeks of my rent back.

most of the stuff damaged was mostly linens, but either way i am on a fixed income and can't afford to replace perfectly good stuff,especially after all the money i spent moving (moving van, security, etc) there was some electronics along with my mini fridge but i feeling that my landlord is not taking this situation seriously.

regardless of whether my stuff is damaged or not he was wrong and took my stuff with my permission and put it in harms way. i paid to rent the apt not his watery garage, so he should give me back my rent money.

so far the items are still at the place because due to the water i was unable to get the bags without totally soaking my shoes and pant bottoms and i wanted to leave it there for proof of there error. i figured due to the moisture, rough handling(the stuff was carelessly tossed in a trash bag) and water the stuff is more than likely ruined so what was the point of taking it and getting even more upset.

[shinyleaf]

at least take pictures of you stuff, rotting in the garage. Put the date option on the photo, too.
Document your conversations with your LL. Would hate to see you lose out on what you deserve because it's his "word" against yours.
good luck,

[Kitty]

Sue. I did it and it was the most empowering feeling ever. These landlords cannot get away with this stuff. Stick it to him!!

[Fashionista]

at least take pictures of you stuff, rotting in the garage. Put the date option on the photo, too.
Document your conversations with your LL. Would hate to see you lose out on what you deserve because it's his "word" against yours.
good luck,
i have the pictures already, but even if we do go to court and its his words against my mines i do believe i would win because he entered my apt without my permission and removed my property so he could paint even though i paid the last months rent which is something he cannot do.

he claims i moved out but i never left a key and i told him i was not done moving. he is so gun hoe on making a quick buck he shot himself in the foot

he knows he f---d up cause he keeps apologizing when i dropped the bombshell about getting my rent money back he was quiet too because he knows you can't toss someone's stuff out like that

[GreenFolder]

Wow, that is a MISERABLE story. STICK IT TO HIM!!!

What an A*hole. It sounds like you've kept your cool throughout this and been smart about how you've handled your conversations. I'm not sure I could have done the same thing. I probably would have tried to put HIS stuff out in the rain. That obviously wouldn't get you anwhere and probably get you in more trouble. So Kudos on that!

That's the great thing about the web- you will hopefully get everything you need to help make your case in court. I would ALSO (regardless of whether you win or loose) make sure you post anywhere and everywhere that you can (on those apartment ratings sites..stuff like that) your experience with this guy.

Give him the worst PR you can. Tell the neighbours (if you where friendly with them). Make sure you get the word out that this guy is a good for nothing crook.

He'll be sorry he every crossed your path.