If I skip my last months rent, can my landlord sue/file eviction on me, or are they legally obligated to use my deposit before that?
Absent specific contractual terms, I don’t believe that your landlord is going to be obligated to engage in self-help and use your deposit (which is insurance against apartment damage) as a de facto final rent check. There are certainly landlords who do this (I once rented a house that was being remodeled after I left, and my landlord took the security deposit in lieu of a final rent check because adhering to the literal terms of the lease was pointless), but voluntarily agreeing to do something is different from being legally obligated to do something.The truth is that you have almost certainly breached your lease. Your landlord is entitled to a set number of monthly payments plus a security deposit, so your failure to pay your rent as agreed is a problem. As a practical matter, considering that your landlord is holding a month’s worth of rent, it would be difficult to see how she could claim to be damaged (assuming your claim of no damage to the apartment is correct), so it’s likely not worth anyone’s time to bring a lawsuit. However, you describe the landlord as a “notorious slumlord,” and generally speaking, slumlords tend to be a litigious group, that is, the kind of people who will bring the occasional weak lawsuit in order to scare other people into compliance or prevent them from asserting legitimate claims. A lawsuit brought against you would be time-consuming and expensive, and could have a long-term impact on your creditworthiness. It’s not a risk that someone in your situation should likely be willing to take.Your offer of compromise was reasonable, and I think your landlord is being ridiculous, but unfortunately, your landlord has the right to be ridiculous. I’d pay my rent and then work like hell to make sure my deposit was refunded in full ASAP if I were in your shoes.
Fighting False Collection Claim?
A contractor claims that I owe them another $1,600 for light remodeling work that they did, and I refuse to pay as I already paid them 2x the estimate and there were no change orders, and the scope of work never changed. They're just trying to scare me out of another $1,600 because I'm young, single, and live in an affluent neighborhood. I am fighting this through complaints to state regulatory committees for contractors, the better business bureau, and will take them to small claims court if it comes to that. The problem is that they are ready to send me to collections before I can get this resolved through a 3rd party, and I know that once something is on your credit report, it affects your credit for 7 years, and is difficult to get off. I need some advice on how to fight this without it affecting my credit. Or, once it hits my credit, work with the credit agencies to get it removed given the circumstances. Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you
Apartment says I owe money, sent to collections they are now calling my family what can I do?
They apartment complex I lived in sent the money that they say i owe to collections, I told them day one that I wasn't going to pay because there isn't a debt to collect. Apartment complex are crooks and have said I owe money that I already paid. They have be negligent the entire time we were there losing checks and the 60 day notice I turned in. Collections were calling me I told them to stop calling. It stopped for about a month and now they have continued to call me and called my parents last night. I looked it up and it is said under law that collections can not call third party members, well they can but it is illegal. Any advice on where I should take it from here, continue to just talk through emails or is small claims court in my future?
Do I have to pay rent after eviction?
No. The eviction stops any need to pay rent, and wipes out unpaid back rent.Instead, unpaid back rent up through the date of the trial will be converted to a Judgment Amount, along with any legal costs incurred by your former landlord for the eviction. You have to pay THAT instead,You still have to pay it; just that it isn’t rent anymore. You have 30 days to pay it before it begins having interest added to it.Also, in Texas (where I am referencing), a Judge can award ONLY pure rent on an eviction judgment… no late fees, repair costs, etc. He doesn’t have jurisdiction for any other amounts, in an eviction suit.If you have late fees, NSF fees, etc. that couldn’t be awarded on the Eviction Judgment, you can be sued again with a Small Claims suit that follows, leaving you with TWO judgments against you; one for the rent and the other for non-rent obligations and any damages that the security deposit wasn’t enough to cover.The landlord has two years to file the second suit, it can happen immediately, or anywhere in between.
What does "honest debt" mean?
"Honest debt" is veiled harassment. Basically they are saying "you aren't being honest!" They're whining. Yes, they can report the account to the credit bureaus at any time...but if you don't owe the debt, you can sue them and laugh all the way to the bank. Sending a debt validation to the CA isn't going to do you any good, since they'll just get a letter from your ex landlord claiming the debt is valid. You need to take this up directly with your landlord. I will say to be careful. Situations like these often end in lawsuits with "gutter service". This occurs when the CA files a lawsuit but intentionally sends the court summons to the wrong place or doesn't send you one at all. Thus, you don't show up in court and the CA gets a default judgment and garnishes your wages. Unfortunately, everybody disputes their debts, so it doesn't do much good anymore. You need to take this to court before they do.