My husband's father rents a house but only uses half, the rest is closed up.He told us we could fix up the other half, split the rent and live there to save up money for a house.He told us the landlord said it was fine.We've been living there for about 6 months,long story short, the landlord didn't know we were living there & is evicting us & my father in law.My husband and I put over $7,000 into fixing up the other side of the house, plus all the time & effort.We spoke to a lawyer & he said we had a weak case to get our money back.Does anyone know if we could sue my husband's father to get our money back? Since he lied about the landlord knowing & we we're splitting the rent with him the whole time.If anyone knows anything we can do, please help! Serious answers only please!!!!
2007-07-29 18:16:59 · 7 answers · asked by pokeyprincess727 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
I do have bank statements & some receipts. I know it sounds horrible about trying to sue my father in law, but my husband and I are not bad people!His dad tried to have us kicked out b/c we had an arguement with his girlfriend(who we do not get along with).We called the landlord & that's how we found out she didn't know we were living there.We have a 5 year old and family is the world to us, but my father in law screwed us so bad & right now we're looking for a place to live & my son is supposed to start in a month.We never signed anything (which was stupid) but it was my husband's father so we trusted him & now he doesn't care that we have no where to go & spent all that money that just got wasted.
2007-07-29 18:33:00 · update #1
The lawyer with whom you spoke was being generous. You don't even have a WEAK case against anyone here. The time for you to have sought legal advice was before you ever moved into those premises.
Obviously, your father-in-law had no legal basis for telling you that you could move into premises he did not own. Sad to say, you were extremely gullible in accepting what he told you as factual.
You have no legal grounds to sue the landlord, and your chances of getting anything in a court of law from your father-in-law are extremely weak, since you have no contractual agreement with him.
Write this one off as a VERY expensive lesson in Law 101, and learn to never do such a thing again.
2007-07-29 23:51:19 · answer #1 · answered by acermill 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can sue anyone for anything, but it is hard to say if you will be successful, and is it worth $7000 minus lawyer's fee to destroy a relationship? I don't understand why you would spend that much money on something you did not own. You could rent a nice place for $1100 in most parts of the country. (How much you spent per month) Never spend money without agreements being written. Consider it an expensive life lesson and move on, or try to work something out with the landlord apart from your father-in-law.
2007-07-29 18:24:29 · answer #2 · answered by starrystarrynight 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
He was trying to do you a favor as well, I say drop the whole thing for the sake of family peace and next time check with the other parties yourself. On a side note if you are saving up money for a house why would you put $7,000 into a house that your father-in-law rents??? He dose not even own the property so you just threw that money away.
2007-07-29 18:28:18 · answer #3 · answered by Robin 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Why if you did all that work to the place would this lady evict you? Try talking to the lady, get on her good side. Perhaps she will work with you, and perhaps you both can sue your father in law. It does sound like you have a weak case against the landlord, and even if you do sue your father in law, he still technically does not have to ever pay you. Thats the way teh court system works...GO AMERICA!!
2007-07-29 18:52:48 · answer #4 · answered by Kraze 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you have proof that you were splitting the rent with your husband's father, and proof of expenses for fixing up you did then you have a case. Proofs like bank statement and reciepts. If you were paying using cash then it's a weak case.
2007-07-29 18:26:15 · answer #5 · answered by keep_out85 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
SUE your FATHER IN LAW?!...man...Americans are great. Family's nothing to them. He was just trying to help. Now he's getting kicked out too AND you want to sue him? I guess you won't be seeing your father in law anymore. Selfish. I'm glad he has a daughter in law like you. Anyways, Good luck with that.
2007-07-29 18:25:42 · answer #6 · answered by Blue 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
i would take him to small claims NOTE:I AM NOT A LAWYER. FOR EXPERT LAW ADVICE PLEASE CONTACT A REAL LAWYER.
2007-07-29 18:22:22 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋