I came home one day and was denied access to the apartment. I called and asked why I wasn't allowed in. They told us that we could not live there anymore and wanted all of our belongs out by the end of the week. They then called on Monday and told us all our stuff had to be out by Wedesday or they would pack our things and put them outside. We arranged to borrow a friends truck and called them on Tuesday to work out a time. Wednesday wasn't good enough for them because they had made plans and wanted our stuff out that night. We had no way to remove our belongings that night so they packed our things and put them in the dining room. Thursday night I arranged to come get a few of the boxes they had packed since they wanted our things out and tried to arrange to pick up the rest of the things on Saturday morning. I was told not to come over on Thursday to pick up anything if I couldn't take it all. I took it all that night. I live in VA. Can I take them to court and sue?
2007-07-13 09:23:14 · 18 answers · asked by Kimberly T 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
You can try taking them to court, but I think you're chances of winning at all are less than 0. You're not on the lease, so legally you aren't supposed to be living there. So you have no rights to being evicted. And since you are not on the lease, you can't say that you were evicted illegally, since you were living in the apartment illegally.
2007-07-13 09:28:44 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
You can take them to the court and sue. you are only going to be able to win if you can proove one of the following:
That you had a legal right to live on the property. Since it is real estate, law says all agreements must be in writing to have any legal standing. SInce you aren't on the lease, you have no standing. So this wouldn't work.
If when they handled your property they caused it to be lost, stolen, or damaged. They also can't unreasonably deny you your property. For instance, if they said you can't have your property until you pay back rent, that would be clearly illegal.
Since they did have your items on their property, and they were basically holding it, they have a basic responsibility to keep it safe. From what you've said, it appears they did everything they should have done to protect your proerty until you picked it up.
I suggest you should chalk this up as a hard lesson. Getting in on something by avoiding the legalities, like being on a lease, can seem easy in the short term, but whenever you do that, there are always protections in the legalities which you lose when you don't do them.
Don't waste any more hurt or emotion. Learn from this and go on.
Good luck.
2007-07-13 09:59:16 · answer #2 · answered by rlloydevans 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Legally, if you were actually a resident, they most follow formal eviction procedures with or without a lease. You can sue for damages IF you can prove residency. That will be you problem. Your exact rights vary by location. Don't even try to sue without consulting an attorney to find out what rights you actually have. The local bar association usually has a referral service and many attorneys will offer a free consultation. That should be enough to decide if suing is worth the effort.
2007-07-13 09:37:56 · answer #3 · answered by STEVEN F 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You don't have to take them to court, call the police. They will come over and tell them that they cannot resort to self-help measures to evict you...lease or not. A lease is irrelevant in this case.
The police will tell them that they have to give you the key back and that you can stay there until you find a place. They will even stay while you remove your belongings.
Be prepared to show the police officer some type of documentation that you have lived there, such as a bank statement, credit card bill, cell phone bill, driver's license, etc.
2007-07-13 09:48:28 · answer #4 · answered by Expert8675309 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can always sue, but it's not worth it. You weren't on the lease so you weren't really a tenant. What are your actual damages? Were you paying rent? Don't tell me pain and suffering, that doesn't work. I'm sure their version is different than yours. Are your really ready to go through the hassle of filing a suite in small claims court? You don't want to hire a lawyer and legal aid won't take this case. The best advice is to just move on and not dwell on it. Revenge doesn't help, it hurts everyone. Just move on and tack it up to experience.
2007-07-13 09:33:46 · answer #5 · answered by tidww 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It sounds like she isn't on the lease according to what you assert. although, you have no longer have been given a criminal stunning to "placed her out" if she lives there now. Your landlord says which you're "the two tenants" because of the fact if he have been to evict her, he won't be able to. He has no settlement together with her. He does, although, have an settlement with you. A month to month lease is called a continuation of the signed lease you do have on a 30-day foundation. for this reason, to get her out, he could ought to evict you and all tenants. you ought to provide her a smart time to vacate the premises, 30 days. This ought to be offered to her in a written request. If she fails to vacate at that element, you will ought to record an eviction with the courts. it is going to take a lot of time and cash nevertheless. It additionally could disenchanted your landlord. you may run the possibility of your landlord getting unwell of the drama and supply you a word to bypass away. became into it against your lease to enable her pass in? i could attempt to paintings it out or discover out what it is going to take to get her to bypass away on her very own accord.
2016-10-01 13:17:13 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
call the small claims advisor and explain the situation....you can also call legal aid...they will assist you.
However, in many states- even if you are not on the lease - after 30 days you are considered a 'tenant'...especially if you can prove that you paid rent.
if you have cancelled checks or money orders for even one month showing that you paid rent or utilities or apt expenses...you may have a glimmer of hope...if you do not have any documentation....
then it is a snowball's chance in he_ _!
Good luck...get some legal advice.
2007-07-13 09:32:38 · answer #7 · answered by Blue October 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You back and forth between "I" and "us". You don't explain who "they" are. This narrative makes no sense.
I can only say one thing with confidence: you weren't "evicted". You say that you weren't on the lease. That means that you had no legal right to be there, and can't complain about the circumstances of your being asked to leave.
Note: in real estate law, all agreements must be in writing; verbal agreements and understandings don't exist.
2007-07-13 09:33:22 · answer #8 · answered by Ted 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
u cant take any recourse, u might be able to sue for the remainder of the month that you paid for that you are owed. u subsided to their demands which you shouldn't have, instead you should have called the police and had them arrested for illegal eviction.
2007-07-13 09:43:20 · answer #9 · answered by spadezgurl22 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Can you take them to court and sue? Sure. Would you lose? Sure as God made little green apples, you would. You had no right to live there. You weren't on the lease.
Have you learned your lesson? Do you have a lease now, or at least do you have a month-to-month arrangement with your landlord?
2007-07-13 09:30:30 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 4⤋