I received a legal document for eviction this morning.. it says that i failed to pay the rent for February. I did leave a check under the office door like i usually do and paid it with a check... i checked my bank to see if it cleared and it didn't.. I am now worried that it either got lost or someone deliberately misplaced my check.. now i have to go to court for this mess. it says that i can contest the claim and pay the required fees on or before the trial date.I have no idea what that means? does that mean i can pay and continue to stay here with the eviction being cleared? or does it mean i have to pay and move out with it still affecting my credit and going on my record? Please help me out with this situation because i am very confused as to why i'm even getting evicted... I went to the office after i picked up the document under my door and tried to pay.. the secretary said she couldnt take my payment and i showed her the original carbon copy check i wrote back in February.
2007-03-03 06:58:58 · 6 answers · asked by hottropics79 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Assuming you have a written lease... if your lease provides for late fees your management MUST accept payment from you if you offer to pay the rent and any and all late fees. If they refuse to accept your payment, not only are they stupid, but they are in breach of their own lease... they are OBLIGATED to accept your payment in performance of your obligations under the lease. As long as you can bring yourself up-to-date on all payments due, you should be able to stay where you are.
If management continues to refuse to accept payment, you may still be able to avoid eviction and any negative mark on your credit if you show up in court ready and willing to make payment in full that brings you current on the lease.
If you don't have a written lease you are probably out of luck... get ready to move.
Moral of the story... sign up for online banking and check 2 or 3 times a week to make sure all important payments go through as expected.
2007-03-03 07:16:56 · answer #1 · answered by cmor5859 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What that means is that you if you want to contest the eviction you will have to pay the court fee(court cost) and if you prevail(win), which I do not believe will be the case, you would have the fee returned. You could explain what happened to the court and they could or could not rule against the eviction or they could leave to the discretion of the landlord to void or not void the eviction. You would forfeit the fee in either of these scenerios. Also no matter if you contest or not you still owe for Feburary rent and you should put a stop payment on the check you previously wrote.
Just because you have a carbon copy of an unprocessed check is no proof that that you ever intended to pay the charge because you could have written that check at anytime and that is just like the old saying "THE CHECKS IN THE MAIL". Now a processed check(all the bank stamps on the back of the check) would have been proof of payment.
You could contact your landlord and explain what happpened and they may rescind the eviction but I do not see why they would evict without contacting you on the non payment issue first unless they have other motives in mind.
Always mail your check or if you deliver it in person always get a receipt for it and when mailing for important things always send it with delivery comfirmation.
2007-03-03 07:40:35 · answer #2 · answered by RPP 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
there is a really easy way to fix this without going to court.
1. look at your check book. and pull out the little copy paper under the check that you wrote. almost all check books have these.
2. go to the office and show them that little peace of paper.
3. go to the bank and make a stop payment on the lost check. it will cost you a fee but you don't want someone getting a hold of your rent check and cashing it.
4. Then write a new check for your rent.
If you don't have a duplicate checkbook then you can't prove that you paid them. You should make a photocopy of your rent checks from now on or hand them in when the office is open and get a receipt.
If you can't prove that you paid rent then you will have to pay your rent plus a late fee. If a lawsuit was filed, some landlords pass the fees charged by the court to tenants. Talk to the landlord, maybe they won't charge it. If you landlord won't accept payment, write a letter to them stating that you did drop off a check and it must have been misplaced. State that you came into the office on xxxxx date to pay your rent but payment in full was declined by the office staff. That will help you at eviction court. Usually at eviction court, if this is your first time not paying rent and you have the $ to pay then you won't be forced to move out. Pay your rent this month and keep the Feb rent $ aside for when your landlord will finally accept payment.
2007-03-03 08:01:10 · answer #3 · answered by chris 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
prolly consider two options. One- move out. Two-barricade the door, stock up on food, water, and shotgun shells.
Happy Hunting
2007-03-03 07:05:30 · answer #4 · answered by dsjunior1388 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One isn't evicted due to missing one months rent....you are not giving us the whole story.......
2007-03-03 08:56:40 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
the only thing you can do is wait. tough huh.
2007-03-03 07:05:54 · answer #6 · answered by anton t 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋