Attorney Visit

So I visited with an attorney for a little while and not sure where to go from here.

Even with all my grievances and the pain caused from the landlord, I am looking at getting half of the deposit back, which minus the $50 she gave us already is $450. This is due to the fact that in these disputes it is a he said she said situation and even with all the documentation I have the judge will probably not award the entire amount to me.

To get this I would have to take two days off of work to file the claims, paperwork, get a court date, show up to the court date, etc.

Even if I receive a judgment, the attorney said that the vast majority of these small claims end up being either shafted on their money, or they file an appeal. In which case your looking at one to two years for a new trial and then you will HAVE to have an attorney for that. Filing motions, evidence, and more. Attorneys are $200 - $300 an hour, and you usually have to pay up front.

If they lose an appeal, they can still stiff you on your money. Then you file a lien on their rent property. If and when they decide to sell it, you then get paid first before they do. Again, this requires an attorney and more to resolve.

On a more personal note, if I take her to court I have to provide my home address. Given her son's behavior of destroying my property and his background I found out from the neighbors when I asked, I wouldn't put vandalism above him for retaliation. He could easily stop by and key my vehicle, which has a $500 deductible, making the entire case a wash. What's to say he doesn't break in an really get violent with the kids at home? He has a long history of trouble with the law, so I am not comfortable with him knowing where I live.

The bottom line, it's not worth receiving $450 - $750 two years from now to lose two days pay at work and worry about violence towards my family.

On the bright side we originally were just going to file on the big items her son stole and not worry about the small items here and there. Now you can bet that even if the item was under $5 it will be filed as part of the claim. The insurance has in house attorneys as part of their staff. They can take her to court, file on her, etc. And best of all, they pay us first, then go after her, so no appeals for me to worry about, no garnishments or liens, no worry of violence, nothing.

Landlord Saga Continues

I sent a final e-mail in June saying I hoped she would return the deposit in full after we had cleaned the carpets, paid for a professional house cleaner, edged and mowed the lawn, and kept the utilities on the entire month.

The landlord refused at least 3 attempts to do a walk-through of the house so we could discuss damages. She would hang up on us, or shout a command and then hang up on us.

Yesterday I picked up our certified letter with our deposit. Enclosed was a check for $55.93. $55.93 out of $1000 deposit. There were pictures as well of the house, a "broken" fixture (we'll get to that later), "damage to the AC unit" (also see below), and a strange fetish about a rocking horse we gave to Sally's sister.

There was a list detailing the damage claims to the house that explained each picture.

The broken light fixture photo has the light turned on, well lit, and no damage to the glass encasing the light. When I inquired about the claim that the light was broken, the landlord responded that it was a fire hazard and "you are lucky it didn't burn down the whole house."

The AC had a few grass clippings on the outside. The claim is that this somehow caused damage to the AC. Apparently you are supposed to not have any grass on the outside of the AC unit whatsoever, at least that is how they have it in crazyville.

There were other photos and wild accusations. One where she performed "tree trimming" and said that even though she didn't have a receipt, she did the work herself and that $150 was the going rate.

Another was for a charge for the sprinkler system that never was fully functional.

Another charge was for a cleaning service in May, one that we have documentation that we won't be charged for because she sent the lady in to bleach the floors before the house was shown.

The two biggest items were $250 for "lost showings" and $250 for "neglect during showings."

The lost showings were times that she agreed to not have people come show the house, and they say denied by the seller, not by the renter.

The neglect is from a showing that occurred without our knowledge, consent, or notice two days after we moved most of our items. We didn't know people were going to be in the house, therefore we didn't really tidy up. As anyone who has ever moved knows, there are things under your furniture that you don't see until you move. Dust bunnies and the like.

And no, we never did receive any more of our stolen property. So far we are missing $1700 worth of items.

Out of the kindness of my heart, and with the hope (please God) to never have to deal with this lady again, I offered her an option to avoid going to small claims court. I said that if she pays the remaining amount in full by August 10th, that I will consider the matter closed. After that day the offer expires and is off the table.

She has since responded with more accusations and insults to our family. I have asked her to stop communicating that way and to return the deposit.

My guess is that she will not return the deposit at all and will continue this strange erratic behavior.

Fortunately, with over 15 violations of the lease and the refusal to do a walk through, I feel pretty good about our chances. As some of you know, when you sue for your deposit you get up to three times the amount of the deposit, plus $100, plus reasonable attorney fees.

I also found out that the landlord has to give the tenant a chance to fix items themselves and with no walk through I couldn't fix any of these things. We are still trying to figure out how a fully functional light fixture is broken and how some trees were trimmed, even though we can't find any evidence of there being any limbs cut.

I think my favorite photo was of "abandoned trash." It was trash we set out the day before the trash ran. It was a small cracked swimming pool with a broken hose in it. Sitting in the spot where trash was picked up for a year.

I meet with the attorney this week. Wish us luck!