What do I do If my landlord lost my last months rent?

Question

I did decide that I will move out since I was given a termination for late payment, and He will not take resposisblity. Even though I was never late and never caused trouble.

Answer 1

If you were never late and caused no trouble what state or municipality are you in where the landlord can throw you out summarily like that? If you don't want to move then don't. Renters do have rights. I'd call city hall to find out what my rights are but most of all do not move. Don't give the bully the satisfaction. Let's face it it's his word against yours and your history of payment is your trump card.

Answer 2

Most landlords turn into scum because of the people they deal with or because they are scum to begin with... Ive seen a few that are good, but there are not many.

Here is what your landlord is doing. He is stealing your deposit, he didnt loose your money if you did indeed give it to him, he is saying that you never gave it to him right? Well, he is going to take last months rent out of your deposit and slip that cash payment you made into his slimy pocket.

It comes down to your word verses his. Unfortunately most renters are uneducated working stiffs who are just trying to make ends meet and therefore do not possess the knowledge or have the time or ambition to deal with courts. Or they are really young and have to learn via the school of hard knocks. In other words, this allows landlords to get away with screwing people over.

So if you have given him a deposit and you want it back, your going to have to do a few things;

1. Clean your apartment really well and take pictures of the place after its clean, the more pictures the better. In the future, ALWAYS, take pictures of an apartment before you move in, showings its condition prior to its being in your possession!! If your responsible, it will show that you took care of the place and therefore, will not give the landlord rights to your deposit in future instances.

2. Put all correspondence in writing. Mail him a certified letter stating your going to be moving and why you are going to move, when you move, mail him a certified letter requesting your deposit back. In the future, ALWAYS pay your rent in the form of a check so that you have proof and ask for a reciept.......In your letters be nice, it will help show you are of good moral character. Depending on the state he will have a time frame to answer your letter. Then you will know if you get your deposit back. If he doesnt answer then file a small claims case, its really easy. If you dont get your deposit back, he must tell you why. In your case he will say you didnt pay last months rent. Then it becomes a court case, file a court case againced him. You could research the court records via the internet for your state(ie www.state.ak.us) if you know his name you can run a report that will tell you if this guy has been in court before and for what. Dont be surprised if he has been a defendant to a few law suits. Remember the courts are there to help you and if the guy is a slum lord the courts will take it into consideration.

If it turns out to be a huge problem and you need some help, send me an email and I can walk you through it depending on the direction you take.

Answer 3

I assume You do have some to prove it.
But even if you don't have and you don't want to move, for one reason or another, you can stay.
just tell him you don't have right now, your financial situation ltl ruff, bla, bla ,bla...
For sure he will call cops ( most of them do), don't worry, worse scenario you be evicted(anyways), but in most cases they can't touch you and cops will give you by themselves or by cort order -> 6 month rent free period, to get your staff together and move.(if he tryis or threts you with water, gas, electrysity disconnections and staff like that, just pick up phone and call ti city. No land lord can do that under any situation.Law says if any human person lives in with or without permission , he must have all neccesary for living condition)that's personal matter and city and uniforms don't give a damn rat about your landlords problems.LOL
That's rule, that's why all landlords checking Credit history and do other staff to avoid that kind of situations.
It's not easy to be a landlord, most of them just know that ppl dosen't know rules and regulations, scared and will do anything they say.
If you ever had some kind of problems:
leacking, paint lead, broken doors......... bad windows, just anything what's not in your responsibility to fix, you be able to claim all that against him also.
Also it is great service called city service by phone#311
any complain takes action immidiatly.
Good Luck.

Answer 4

Did you pay by check? Or did you get a receipt? If you have documentation that you paid, then you can go to court and avoid an eviction. No proof and you're probably screwed.

Answer 5

Hopefully you have a stub from the money order or check for proof. Hopefully you didn'y pay cash because that is really stupid.

Answer 6

PLEASE tell me you didn't pay in cash. If you still have a cancelled check or money order receipt, you have paid and its the landlords loss.

Answer 7

I hope you paid by check or money order. You should call legal aid because I do not think he will give you back your security deposit. Please do not let him get away with this.