Can my lanlord shut off our utilities, remove our doors, and enter my home wihout me, to evict me faster?

Question

my lanlord, also an attorney, gave us a 24 hour eviction notice. since then, he has removed our outside doors to our residence, plus 2 inside doors, shut off our utilities, and put some of my belongings that I had packed into a trash pile. we have 2 small children (ages 6 & 8). He has come over and harassed us almost everyday, even getting in my daughters face and yelling at her, yelling all kinds of profanities. We had no lease, and my husband worked for him to pay the rent, until he fired almost all of his workers. My husband then had a verbal agreement that if he fixed the roof of the garage that would be one month's rent. He evicted us anyway, He now enters the home with his workers anytime he chooses, because he wants to turn the house into a haunted house. I have stayed with friends about 30 miles away for the last few days, but most of our belongings are still in the house and I don't want them destroyed. I don't have a car that runs, so I have no way to get back and get them

This is NOT a court ordered eviction, he gave us a 24 hour notice typed up by his office staff. He continually is at our house harassing us, even my children. He yells profanities at our children, has ran our names down in the town we live in so we can;t get a job, therefore not having enough money to rent somewhere else. He threw some of the things I had packed and sitting by my doorway in a trash pile, saying that nothing we had was worth anything. He is in the house constantly, because he is turning it into a haunted house. (it use to be an old two story doctor's office) We have stayed with friends for about 4 days now, but don't have a car to go back, and get our things, even clothes. The man is an attorney, but I don't feel like any of this is legal. He removed doors inside as well, and when I got doors to hang myself, he came and removed them also.

Answer 1

It doesn't seem right.

Find the tenants organization closest to you and see what they say. They tend to be an excellent resource.

Answer 2

No I don't think we should spend all summer with our doors and windows shut, but then again, I'm not a parent of two small, vulnerable children. I'd be more worried about strangers getting into the house for a start, let alone animals - and even then I would be thinking of stray dogs and not foxes. I speak from experience when I talk about strangers coming into the house - our house was burgled one summer evening with the patio doors open. Everyone was in, and I (then a youngster) was sitting in the room from which things were stolen. I was watching TV and didn't even notice the burly burglar behind me (who was eventually caught by the Police thankfully). God forbid he'd had more in mind than stealing a few of our possessions... It is a very tragic incident, but what has really angered me is that fox traps were set in the family's garden and one was caught in there last night - this has since been 'humanely destroyed'. I'd love to know how pest control knew that this was the same fox that had carried out this tragic incident - maybe they carried out a quick DNA test to be sure? Or maybe they have destroyed a completely different fox, after all, neighbours report seeing a number of foxes in the area. If people have trouble with foxes then there are reliable humane deterrents available. Knee-jerk destruction of normally harmless, beautiful creatures is not the way forward. I truly hope that those two little girls get well soon.

Answer 3

Hi,
Something smells funny here. Have you paid your rent? No Landlord does this to good rent paying tenants! I think you are spinning a pretty tall story which by the way is entertaining at best. The whole work for rent is very suspicious too, and my guess is you are the people haunting his property!
It is my experience that people will twist and spin extreme stories looking for sympathy when in fact the tenant is in the wrong, and I believe that this is the case here. The story about turning the house into a haunted house is a nice touch though, and I like your style. Let us all know what other ghoulish
goings on occur before the final curtain closes!

Answer 4

Absolutely none of this is legal. No matter what state you live in you have rights as a tenant. One of those rights is ample notification of eviction. This will be a court-ordered document, not some handwritten thing. The document will have the time and date of your eviction hearing. If you go to this the magistrate will ask you if you have the money to pay. If you do not he will ask you when you intend to be out of the apartment. From there you must either be out by the date you give him (as long as it's within a reasonable amount of time) or you will be evicted. In some states this means all of your items will be removed, in others it means your locks will be changed. In NO state is it legal for him to damage or steal any of your possessions. It is also NOT legal for him to threaten or harass you in any way. Document your things, and document everything he has done to this point. Also, check your local phone book for either the housing authority or a "tenants rights" attorney. These are usually found under the blue (government) pages. Good luck!

Answer 5

if he already evicted you you should have gotten your stuff and left.

In the eviction.......you had the opportunity to address the judge about the circumstance. An evicition is not just a note on the door that says "your evicited". If its been days since you've been there..........you stuff has been hauled to the dump.
You can't afford to get an attorney . YOu would have to do a small claims which isnt costly and isnt difficult. The court clerk gives you all the info and paperwork you need to do it.

But you had no contract.
You took no measures to protect yourself to begin with. He knew you were the type he could get away with this type of stuff.

Sorry.......live and learn

Answer 6

Pame, since your husband worked for the rent, normal rental laws do not apply. Employee law is what applies. This set up is common with storage facilities and apartment complexes.

When your husband was fired he had 24 hours to leave the property. After 72 hours he can have you all arrested for trespassing. I am sorry, but that is how jobs are, once you are fired you have to leave the premises.

Your husband was an employee NOT a tenant and does not receive any of the protections that tenants receive, as your landlord was legally his employer, not your landlord.

Answer 7

I agree with the Mom. You said, "my husband worked for him to pay the rent," This makes this an employment issue, not a landlord issue. Employees simply have to be fired, they are not evicted like tenants. There is no lease because they are not required with employees, the situation is completely differant then with a rental property.

Answer 8

Call an attorney, or a Legal Aid clinic, or even the Housing Session of the local court.

Those are criminal acts in some states.

Answer 9

Not an attorney and based on how you explained it, it sure sounds like "self help eviction" to me, if you were not taken to court, that is against the law in all states. You must be provided with due process.
Here is some links that might be useful to you
Free legal aid search for all states: http://www.lawhelp.org/ American Bar Association: http://www.abanet.org/about/
Site #2 http://www.abanet.org/statelocal/home.html

Answer 10

Go see an attorney who will file for an emergency hearing...what he has done is illegal, and you need to call the police as well who will ORDER him to replace the doors.

Take pictures of everything...b/c you have A HUGE lawsuit on your hands.

Answer 11

without a court order evication, he can not do this. Call the police and report it. Keep police reports and other paper documents, take him to court!

Even if he does take you to court first, and evicts you - You still have a case. Take pictures, video