Journal tomhudson's Journal: Stupid Landlord Trix - another court verdict is in. 14
For those who missed the previous installment of Pigs in Court, or came in half-way, here's the executive summary of events up to now - but since we don't have powerpoint (remember - this IS an "Executive Summary", and PowerPoint makes you dumb
- I rent house from landlord who can't flip it (and I'm paying a lot more than anyone else on the street);
- House turns out to have LOTS of problems;
- I refuse;
- Landlord then tries to force me to accept an illegal increase by threatening to sell - I have 24 hours to reply or it's sold and "you'll have to move out immediately" (this is right before Christmas)
- I ignore it, since (1) I know he doesn't have a buyer, and (2) the lease has to be honoured AND any buyer would have to pay 3 months rent + moving expenses in compensation at the end of the lease in return for my vacating the dwelling;
- Deadline passes, more BS that I ignore;
- Sends me terms for renewal, which again include a change in terms that result in over 25% increase;
- My St. Bernard (Heidi) is pregnant, so I really don't look forward to moving with half-a-dozen puppies, so I refuse the increase and renew the lease for a term of one year on the old conditions, notice sent via registered mail within the deadline;
- He claims I didn't send the notice by the deadline (court agrees with me) and that I owe an additional $300 a month;
- Heidi dies the same weekend I get his notice - NOT a good time to get into a fight with me, because I'm not in a good mood, and the only reason to stay there is now gone;
- I send him back an email, copy via registered mail, telling him to be careful what you wish for, because you just got it. Unless all matters are resolved within 10 days, I'm going to court to break the lease and ask for damages for harassment (there was a LOT of it), inadequate heating, part of the ceiling falling in, etc.;
- He jumps the gun and sues me first to try and look better in court (idiot);
- I counter-sue. By this time, it's spring, and the place is infested with mice from cracks in the foundation;
- Water heater blows up;
- He threatens to sue me if I tell anyone who is visiting the place (potential buyers) about the many defects;
- I tell EVERYONE who is visiting the place that I can't tell them about any problems because he'll sue me
- Owner offers me a bribe to shut up so he can sell the place - he's pretty desperate by now;
- I report it to the police;
- More harrassment
- I call the city to inspect the place;
- Inspector finds multiple serious building code violations;
- City sends notice to landlord by registered mail (which, since he never picks up his registered mail, he never gets);
- We go to court.
- Court agrees that, contrary to his claims, I had renewed within the deadline, and that I had every right to cancel the lease; He argues that I'm just a "professional tenant" out to gouge him. I counter that if the court honours all my claims at this hearing, I'm willing to donate any percentage they choose, up to 100%, to the charity of their choice.
- Court awards me moving costs;
- Court forgets to award me 3 months penalty, forgets to reduce the rent for the problems, and forgets to rule on my claim for harassment;
- I demand a retraction of the order and a new hearing, to include all these;
- Landlord does NOT want to go back to court for obvious reasons - he's potentially on the hook for $15,000;
- Landlord fails, in almost 2 years of appeals, to show cause as to why he shouldn't have to be dragged back in court and have ALL the claims against him heard; Lots more whining, crying, pleading on his part about how I'm a "professional tenant" out to gouge him. Nothing about how he should behave like a professional landlord
- And somewhere in all that, he gets a lawyer, lawyer fails to make a dent in my case, he drops the lawyer;
This just in today: Judgment in my favour, WE DO IT AGAIN!
So there'll be more installment of Pigs in Court as I drag these swine through the mud.
I'm looking forward to it. I know they're not. 2 hearings ago, I indicated that I had another 100 pages to enter into evidence at the next hearing
Just wow (Score:2)
-- stupid spambot filter won't let us post empty or short comments ;-p --
Best story on Slashdot (Score:2)
I look forward to the next installment with baited breath.
Re: (Score:2)
We have new trial, then the wait for the judgment, the trying to collect on it, and in the meantime, he'll probably make a lot of noise about me violating his rights by publicizing his identity in connection with an attempted real estate fraud, and then I'll introduce him to Streisand (the effect, not the actress) and then ...
Re: (Score:2)
Seriously, when all is said an done, shop the story to a publishing house as a tenant's rights / landlord's responsibilities self help book. You could make nice residuals off this story.
fucking spellcheckers (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I guess this correction makes you a Master bater?
Re: (Score:2)
Wait now I am trying to understand all this (Score:1)
Your landlord wants to increase the rent on where you are staying. He can't sell the property. Are you under some sort of lease agreement that specifies pricing?
If you are not in a lease agreement, then why can't he increase the rent to whatever he damn well wants? If he jacks it up, you move out, and he starts losing crap tons of money on the property and eventually lowers the rent and learns a basic lesson about economics.
About 6 months after the lease agreement on my previous place had ended and I had
Re: (Score:1)
Edit, just re-read through, see that you do mention being under a lease of some sort.
Really he didn't get a 30 day termination clause put in there? For a house he is trying to flip?
Also if the house has multiple building code violations, how does he hope to sell it?
Re: (Score:2)
Rental laws here give rights to tenants in any building more than 5 years old. A 30-day termination clause is illegal. What he CAN do is notify you 6 months in advance (for a lease of a year or more) that he intends to take the dwelling for his own personal use, or for immediate family (parent, child). He then has to pay all moving costs + an indemnity of 3 months rent. If instead he sells it to someone else, they assume the obligations of the lease, and have to honour it in the same fashion. If they w
Re: (Score:1)
If he doesn't have a buyer lined up, why is he trying to get you to move?
That doesn't make too much sense.
Eww. How crowded is the city where you live? Is it that hard to find housing that someone would need three months to relocate? Here in the Pacific Northwest finding housing is pretty easy, finding housing I actually want to live in and spending a few weeks barganing over the price is
Re: (Score:2)
It's simple - he tried to illegally jack up the rent by almost $300/month, I refused. He thought that all the threats to force me out would make me cave in to his demands because of my dogs (normally, it's hard to find a place that allows dogs, but he didn't know I'm exempt from any such clause forbidding them).
As for finding housing, we're the only place in the whole world where we have an official moving day [wikipedia.org] - July 1st. While July first is Confederation Day in the rest of Canada, it's "bribe friends wi
Re: (Score:1)
That is the stupidiest thing I have heard of government intervention resulting in in quite some time.
Truely amazing how the government can totally screw up the marketplace with just a simple action.
It is actually funny, down here leases are something that people think land lords to screw over tenents. If I want to have the right to move out any time, I have to pay more per month. When I moved in
Re: (Score:2)
Exactly. I had a 19-month lease, with a $100 increase after 7 months (which I have since discovered is illegal - increases during the term of a lease of 1 year or more must be after the first 12 months), and a few months after the first increase, he tried everything he could to make me kick in several hundred MORE on top of that - all sorts of threats and crap. The guy's like most would-be fli