can i be sued by a landlord after i move out of the house to another state?

Question

I Rented a house for 3 years, then due to job transfer i moved out of state, The landlord is now telling me i owe additional money ontop of my security deposit for damages. the home was lived in not damaged. So can i be sued for this. and if so am i required to travel half way across the country to the other state to defend myself?

thing is i moved in a hurry didnt take photos when i moved out. I know i should have, some of the things she claims are wrong i agree with. the carpet for example, but other things like the walls .$400 to clean the walls(very cheap paint used and i have children) and completly knit picking any little ding or nick. the house was lived in but not damaged :(

Answer 1

Yes you can be sued for damages and you have to appear. A contract with a landlord is no different then any other and a landlord has the right to claim damages regardless of where you moved to.

Check with your county court clerk. Some courts allow you to deal with everything over the telephone as long as you have an attorney there to handle paper work for you. They charge about $45 in CA for this. They only do it in small claims and family court.

Answer 2

You sure can. The bad part about your description is it would be in the state where you moved from, you will need to appear or a summary judgment would be assigned. Depending on the local laws a lawyer could appear for you, you need to contact a lawyer with some details, should be able to get this answered for free. If you don't have any documentation that is the bad part, the landlord has to prove the damages. Do you have any documention/photos when you moved in or stayed there, be prepared. The other option is to try and negotiate with the LL to make the thing go away. He probably knows that you are out of state and is using that to mark you for an easy buck. Do your home work and try to get free advice from a lawyer in the area you moved from.

Answer 3

yes you can be sued..hopefully you have pics of when you moved out to show you owe no damages..by not showing up there will e a judgment entered against you..the whole nonsense with subpoenas doesn't really fly in small claims court..so in other words it wont save you..obviously you are aware of the situation so have your evidence ready and go to court

Answer 4

Yes, but you have to be served a subpoena where you are now. Previous landlords are going to always keep all your deposit so they can fix everything up for the next tenant and make you pay for it.

I had an apartment once and I completely repainted it when I moved out, then after I moved out they said they were deducting money from my security deposit for repainting that they had to do. I said hell no, cause I just painted the entire apartment myself. They're a bunch of thieves,

I wouldn't tell them where you live now. otherwise someone will be knocking on your door with a subpoena for you to show up in court.

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/subpoena

Answer 5

Yes, you can be sued. Yes you will need to appear at the court if you wish to defend yourself. If you do not appear, there will be a summary judgment for your former landlord. You will then owe the money to the landlord. It is up to him to collect, though. He would have to go back to court and get a further court order to dock your paycheck or attach property to get his money.

Answer 6

Do you have proof of what the place looked like when you moved in and when you moved out? If you do, there should not be a problem proving your claim. Yes you will need to appear or have an atty appear for you on your behalf.

Answer 7

I am being sued by a landlord and I never lived there I can't wait for the court date. they're trying to get $700 out of me, I am countering for $4000 for false statements, and defimation of charactor.