Do I have a case against my landlord? Neglected to fix lock now I'm out of $10,000!?

Question

In june we requested that our management fix our back sliding door lock, the request was ignored for a month even after tellin them 3 times with 2 different people. Well we had already planned a vacation in july, so we put a pad lock on our 6 foot patio fence before we left. We get back in town to find out that almost $10,000 of our property was stolen, and conveniently the lock was fixed the day AFTER a gardener guy found out our place was broken into. We went to a pawn shop to see if any of our stuff was there, and it was! We find out that the person that broke in was a guy that lived right behind us! He confessed to the break in but we were only able to recover a $90 DVD player. The management gave them 10 days to leave the property, it's been 3 MONTHS! and the apartment coldy claims no liabilty. Our lease states that they have no liabilty "unless neglect was involved" it also states that no tenant can change or add a new lock! What can we do? I've resorted to yahoo for help.

Yes, the requests were not in writing but the persons in management that the requests were made to actually remember us making them, does that help? They are not even denying that we made the request. It's the president of the company that owns the property that doesnt want to help...

This piece of my lease I thought was espectially interesting...

"Tenant shall be liable for any and all injury or damage to the same and/or to the
apartment.building, common areas, facilities , grounds and other
buildings and property of Landlord, and t o property of other tenants ,
occasioned by the acts or omissions of Tenant, h i s immediate family,
v i s i t o r s , i n v i t e e s or other persons whom Tenant permits t o be i n or
about the leased premises, apartment building and other areas. Repairs
and replacements required hereunder shall be determined solely by
Landlord who shall cause the same to be made and performed at Tenant's
cost, and Tenant shall pay the cost thereof as additional rent.

Shouldn't they at least be getting money from the other tenants for us AT LEAST!!!!
Do you guys know how weird it is to see the people that stole your stuff everyday! And legally you cannot do anything??

I now know about the broom in the door jam thing..lol but that's why i put the pad lock on the outside gate from the guy's confession he says "we were checking locks and their patio gate was locked so we jumped it and got in the back door"

Answer 1

You will find this difficult to pursue unless you have sent the
request in writing, or can get one of the 2 people you spoke to
to testify to this fact in court.

In the future, sliding doors are easily locked on a temporary basis
with a broom handle or stick. The fact that you could have secured it yourself might come up in court as well.

Many states have small claims court, but your loss is greater than that, which means going into a higher level of court, which involves more expense and complication.

Sorry to be so negative, but there are obstacles you should be aware of when you try to pursue this kind of thing. Maybe offer it
to someone on contingency and take what you can get. Beware that the landlord may retaliate if you do go after them.

Landlord-tenant law is tilted in favor of the landlords.

Answer 2

So you lost $10,000 and you don't see the wisdom of paying $50 for the opinion of a lawyer?

Isn't your renters insurance covering any of the loss? If you had so much expensive stuff, surely you had a cheap renters policy.

I would not put my person or property in jeopardy over lack of a lock, no matter what my lease said. If they weren't over to fix it immediately, I would have had it done myself.

When you filed the police report, didn't the cops arrest the thief based upon the pawn shop records?

Answer 3

What you'll do is speak with a attorney approximately this and ask him/her if the owner can legally do that. ALso the owner has no proper to go into your condo unit with out your consent. That might be viewed a crook trespass if he entered your condo with out your permission. You additionally would wish to reread your hire and spot if it says some thing approximately puppies allowed within the hire then you'll nonetheless preserve your puppy. You additionally would wish to appear for one other condo that permits puppies. My private feeling approximately this that the tenant, who had the pit-bull puppy will have to be the one one within the elaborate who will have to no longer be allowed to have the puppy after the incident and no longer each person. If the owner simply manages the condo constructing, you would wish to speak to the man or woman or persons who possess the constructing what's going on and inform them approximately the incident with the pit-bull if they do not know approximately it already. You would additionally speak with the police and inform them how the owner is treating you and the best way he's calling you names and making such feedback. Hopefully, you don't have got to eliminate the puppy, Yes this can be a unhealthy factor to occur to have that positioned-bull assault a few youngsters, and one ended up having stitches, nevertheless it I used to be that landlord, I might simply have handiest that tenant eliminate the puppy and no person else. Also if the owner does no longer possess the constructing however does mounted particular regulations, he's only a supervisor and no longer a landlord.

Answer 4

It definitely sounds like something you should consult with a lawyer on. They will usually give a free first visit to check out your case. Your landlord was definitely negligent.

Of course the president will say no because most people will take no for an answer. If they can just make it go away like that, why even consider saying yes?

Answer 5

Ahhh, sadly YOU have almost total responsibility here...did you have renter's insurance? No,,,eh. It is cheap and this is why you need it...why didn't you put a broom handle in the door so no one could open it?? YOU KNEW it was broken. How could you even sleep in there?? If your stuff was not safe why were you?

You could get a lawyer and I am sure one will gladly discuss this with you and even take your case BUT lose it you shall...sorry.

Answer 6

unfortunetly if it wasn't in writing, you have a very weak case. Next time put ALL requests in writting, and get renter's insurance.

Answer 7

if you had the request in writing