What do I do if my landlord won't respond to my emails or phone calls, refuses certified letters, and called the cops when I tried to contact him in person?
This is an old question but a newer answer may help others with a similar question. More facts are required to fully analyze your situation. I am a Florida Real Estate attorney but cannot give you legal advice without reviewing all the relevant documentation and thoroughly investigating the issue. The following attempts to guide you in the right direction, but should not be considered legal advice: I take it from your post that you do not want to live there or continue your relationship with the landlord. Although you state there is "nothing in writing," it does not mean that you did not have a valid oral rental agreement wherein you agreed to stay for a specified period of time not to exceed one year. If that's the case, the landlord may try to keep your deposit based upon the additional months left in the agreement. Another thing to look out for: Did you inspect the premises before you took over possession? Were these issues brought to your attention prior to entering into the arrangement? If so, you may have waived some of these issues when you took possession. Assuming a month-to-month rental agreement without waiver: You should first provide 30-days notice to vacate the premises and document in that written notice all of the reasons concerning the habitability of the premises. When you move out, leave the premises the way you found it and take pictures to document its condition. Upon vacating, make formal written demand for the return of your security deposit. If you anticipate resistance on the part of your landlord returning the security deposit, have a lawyer prepare the demand for you. Make sure you have copies of the canceled checks evidencing your security deposit and rent paid handy. If your landlord refuses to turn over the security deposit, a lawsuit may be inevitable. You may be able to handle it in small claims court if the amount in dispute is less than $5,000.00 (assuming Florida lawsuit) but I would highly recommend hiring a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction to handle the lawsuit for you. David D. Gongora, Esq.Blaxberg Grayson & Kukoff, PA25 SE 2nd Ave, Suite 730Miami, FL 33131http://davidgongora.com
My landlord (in the UK) is not responding to emails concerning dilapidations and the release of my deposit. How long do I have to claim full refund?
I can't speak for the UK, but here in the US a landlord has 45 days to either return the security deposit in full, or send a bill showing the charges for repairs as well as the remainder, if any, of the security deposit. If there were damages in the apartment that you cannot prove were there prior to your move in (typically there will be a move in inspection sheet), then your landlord has every right to keep as much of your deposit as they need to repair the apartment. If they are not responding to your emails, then they may be waiting to assess the damages before sending you a final bill. In the US, the tenant would have the right to sue in small claims court for the security deposit, but you would need proof that the apartment was already damaged, or proof that the apartment was not damaged when you moved out (I always take pictures of my apartment when I move out to have for my records). If there are damages that you have caused, you will more than likely lose some or all of your deposit, depending on the severity of the damages. I would write your landlord a letter requesting your full deposit be returned, or a list of itemized damages be sent over. Once you have the list of damages you can try to dispute charges you don't agree with. You can also request supporting invoices to make sure you are not being overcharged. Your landlord is the one who has a set timeframe they must meet regarding the return of your deposit. The tenant has a much longer time in which they can dispute the return of their deposit.
What would you do if your landlord takes your mail into his apartment and keeps it there until you come looking for it?
Well, I would try to better understand the problem and come up with a solution before making accusations of stealing mail.This sounds like a multi-unit building where the landlord occupies one of the units. And it also sounds like there is only one shared mail slot; if each individual unit has its own mailbox, then the letter carriers must be told to place the mail into the appropriate mailbox and not hand it to anybody.Now, when there is only one letter slot, the letter carrier pushes mail through it, and that mail ends up on the floor. When mail's on the floor, it gets stepped on; imagine what happens on a rainy or snowy day - wet mail after it is used inadvertently as a doormat.So, the landlord does not want anyone's mail to serve as a doormat and picks it up for safekeeping. But maybe there's a better solution …This solution is now in place in one of my multi-unit properties, where there is only a single mail slot. And this solution was improvised by one of the tenants living there! And I don't live there BTW.The solution is quite simple really. The tenant found an old louvered shutter, and mounted it on the wall near the mail slot. Whoever sees the mail on the floor, picks it up and places the mail not intended for them between louvers of that shutter. Tenants can then retrieve their mail whenever they come and go past the shutter that holds the mail.Ingenious! And from a tenant too.So I would avoid jumping to conclusions that might be suspect in the first place. Give the landlord a better solution, now that you know one.
What can I do if my landlord won't fix our mailbox?
We found a notice attached to our mailbox exactly 1 month ago. It said the mailbox needs to be replaced or our mail will be stopped August 31. The mail has been stopped for a full week and he still has done nothing to fix it. I called USPS and they said it is his responsibility becuase they don't own it. There are also several housing violations this guy would be guilty of. Any thing I can do about that? There are loose wire around the electrical box. My bathroom ceiling has fallen in and has a HUGE hole. Toilet water was pouring down for about 9 months until he finally fixed it. Now there is black mold everywhere around the hole. My fire alarm and carbon monoxide detector both dont work. I have told him of everything for the past 2 years and the only repair he did was to the water line for the leaky toilet above. Moving right now is not an option! We are planning to buy a home in 6 months. I am currently unemployed but I should have an offer soon. I really dont want to piss my landlord off as I want my deposit back later! I would like to do all this annonymously. I was going to print ohio codes off and tape them to the mailbox or something.... Also he enters all of our residences all the time without notice. He just lets himself in...
How do I get my W2 if my employer will not respond to me at all?
I was working for Qwest for 7-8 months last year, and since being employed there I have now live at a different address. Upon leaving my old apartment, my landlord assured me absolutely no mail will be forwarded to my new address, which means I need to get ahold of someone at Qwest to change where it will be sent. Problem is, Qwest will not answer my emails, or return any phone calls to my messages. There is no online solution I can find for previous employees, all their public 800 numbers are all automated and have no options to get ahold of a live person that I have found, they are just COMPLETELY avoiding me. Do I have to hire a lawyer to subpoena Qwest for my W2? Should I call the attorney general? I am at a loss for what to do here, I cannot believe they are being this unprofessional towards a former employee.
My landlord hasn't responded to my letter asking about my deposit, what should I do?
I live in Michigan. I have recently moved out of an apartment. My landlord sent me a letter where he charged me for damages and kept half of my deposit.I received that letter on November 1st and I had 7 days to respond. I sent a response on the 5th asking why I was charged for certain things, especially since he didn't provide pictures for all the charges. According to MI law, he had 15 days from his first letter to send me a court summons if I disagreed with the charges, or I get my money back. It's now November 18th and I haven't had any sort of response from them. I've now sent them two e-mails asking if they received my letter and no response. I'm thinking that they received my letter and threw it away? What do I do? (I didn't get my letter certified, because I didn't know that you could do that until now and I feel stupid. I do have a friend who watched me put it in the mailbox at the post office on the 5th, though. And the mailbox was three minutes away from the apartment office so it's close to impossible that it got lost.) Is there anything I should/could do?
Garbage disposal replacement. is it landlord's responsibility?
If you did nothing to damage it, then it is up to the landlord to fix or replace it. I don't think he has to put another one back in but does need to fix the plumbing. I would not put any money into his apartment unless it was damage. Write letters and send return receipt and keep copies. That will give you proof you tried to get it fixed and put all the info of all the conversations in the letter as well as it wasn't your fault. It will be the same thing for the next thing that breaks. If I was told there was a garbage disposal and then the landlord refused to fix it, I would be tempted to move...after I triedd to get the landlord to fix it. I think you have a right to everything you were promised when you moved in and that includes a disposal.
Have you ever responded to an email scammer?
Yes I have — I recognized her MO — she cheated another landlord out of cash. So I, playing the part of an idiot, sent her my reply:click hereWelcome to JaronSummers
My old landlord from 3 months ago called me yelling that the washer is broken and I owe him money. When I left 3 months ago the washer was working. What do I do?
I believe that enough time has elapsed that it is a moot point.This and many other reasons are why you should do a walkthrough with the landlord on moving in and moving out. Then you both sign a checklist or some type of paper saying you are in agreement with the condition of everything.In the future, this would be helpful to you to prevent this type of disagreement. If you should have a landlord that won't agree to a walkthrough, have him sign a paper stating so.Your previous landlord probably knows he can’t hold you liable for repairs 3 months out from your leaving the rental. He probably has had this ploy work before so why not try it again?Do not use my thoughts to form a legal opinion. Always contact an attorney for legal advice.Best wishes!
What should I do if my landlord doesn't return my depost?
What should you do if your landlord doesnt return your deposit?To start, I'm not an attorney and everything you'll read below is not legal advice. Always consult your lease & the laws impacting renting in your area. I advise contacting a local real estate attorney for accurate advice based on the unique parts of your situation.The first thing you should do is email your landlord, just a polite checking in email. “Hey, just wanted to check in on that pesky old deposit of mine!”. The reason for this is, your landlord is only human & you'll get more with sugar than spice usually. Plus sending an email is free.No response in 1 business day? Reply to that email but add some more emails to it, of people inside the office. Like a manager or something.No response in 1 business day? Call. No response? Physically visit.Please dont forget, be painfully polite. It always kills me when people are rude.Next step with no response? Contact that real estate attorney. Make sure its a real estate one, the others just want to take your $$.Still no response? Call that attorney up and ask what the next steps are in your area.Reasons I've had for delaying a resident's security deposit?Resident never provided a forwarding address. They called in screaming mad one day, threatening to sue, cussin, yellin, wouldn't give me a moment to talk. They slammed down the phone and had their attorney send me a letter. I simply called up the attorney, explained the situation & we had a good laugh. Few minutes I got an email from the resident that simply had their address in it. Sent it out same day.Lost in the mail. We processed it, mailed it out, closed the file. Like 3 months later, resident calls “hey, just wanted to check in on that deposit, been a little while & I haven't heard anything" super nice guy. We canceled the old check & sent a new one. He left us a glowing Google review.I lost track of the days. As a new property manager I honestly totally forgot when a tenant had moved out and that a house had gone empty. Mega screen up, pissed off client, ended up costing the company some cash. The reason I caught it was the tenant called in asking about the deposit. I was mortified and just honestly explained what had happened. Resident was totally understanding, laughed & said just get it to me when you can.Moral of my stories, mistakes happen sometimes. Reach out, if that fails escalate it.