New deadbeat landlord

[Piano1030]

We were renting a condo in Louisiana and our old landlord decided during our lease term that he was selling the property. We accommodated all the viewings from various potential buyers, even though that would mean we were rushed to find a new home a little earlier than we had expected. Then in Nov. 2003 the condo was sold to new buyers. The old landlord contacted us about this transaction and stated that he had given the new owners our security deposit. We never met with the new owners in person, the only attempt they made to meed us is by phoning us once to let us know that they would now be taking our rent payment for Nov. and Dec. and the address to mail the rent. Their agent also called us to tell us that they( new owners) were living with relatives and if we wanted to move out as soon as possible that it would be better for them. Our lease was due to be up in Jan 2004.

Another day their agent called my husband and asked if we were going to move out before the Jan 2004 lease term. Since we had bought a house we said that we could but not unless we would be getting our deposit back. She stated that we would not be getting it back and my husband told her no that we would stay until the lease was up. The agent called the new owners and then called us back and told that they were fine with giving it all back to us that they really just wanted to get in asap.
So to accomodate them... My husband, two kids and two animals moved out 1 week before Christmas. When we could have stayed thru December. We rushed our closing date on our new home and rushed the old owners of our new home to accommodate these people.


We spent 2 whole days cleaning the condo and did a walk through with the new owners. That is when they stated that they would not be refunding our deposit because they did not have it in writing that we were moving out before Jan. 1 2004. My husband then proceeded to write out a notice to them to let them know we had made this arrangement. They said fine but they had 30 days to refund the money. Well needless to say when the 30 days was up my husband went over to called them a few times with no reponse and then finally went over to collect the deposit and prorated amount for the rest of Dec. as we had paid them a full months rent for Dec. but moved out on the 18th. Theytold my husband in person and then sent a letter from an attorney stating that they would not be refunding any money because we broke our lease agreement.
We also contacted an attorney and had him write a letter to them and to the old landlord, since they was no new lease written with the new owners. Our attorney recommneded since the claim is in the amount of $1500 that we should take it to small claims court.
Does anyone think we have a chance at getting our money back? Our Attorney says yes, however he does not specialize in Real Estate laws. We don't mind spending half of it to get it back , if nothing else just for the principle of the whole thing.

 

[CALGON_ANYONE?]

You stated your lease was up in January of this year, and it is now February. What are you asking? You can't just stay because you want to. Look up your tenent-landlord laws on your search engine.

Your lease is up and now you need to deal with the deposit issue.

 

[Piano1030]

Well needless to say when the 30 days was up my husband went over to called them a few times with no reponse and then finally went over to collect the deposit and prorated amount for the rest of Dec. as we had paid them a full months rent for Dec. but moved out on the 18th of Dec. Theytold my husband in person and then sent a letter from an attorney stating that they would not be refunding any money because we broke our lease agreement.
We also contacted an attorney and had him write a letter to them and to the old landlord, since they was no new lease written with the new owners. Our attorney recommneded since the claim is in the amount of $1500 that we should take it to small claims court.

" I stated above that we moved out on Dec. 18th 2003"

 

[jlw100]

It doesn't sound good. When the new ll wanted you to leave early, your response should have been in writing detailing what would transpire.

Without this it is your word against theirs. If you go to small claims court, it could all come down to who is more believable.

 

[Piano1030]

It's their agent too

Yes it will be word against word, However I feel that their Real Estate agent should also be supeoned to court since she was the middle man in all of this. We did tell their agent that if we were not going to get our money back that we would stay until the lease expired. She called us back after speaking to the new ll to tell us that they really needed to get in ASAP and that the deposit wouldn't be an issue if the place was in good condition.
(which it was)
But can you supeona someone in small claims court? As I have never sued anyone for anything. Never had to. This is so ridiculous and frustrating that someone would be this coniving.

 

[jlw100]

You could try to supeona the realtor, but they will probably have forgotten the details of what transpired.

You could try to contact the realtor and get her version of the story in a letter. If she is unwilling to put it in writing, chances are she will not verify your story in court.

From my experience, it is just not worth it to go to court even if your are 1000% in the right! The legal system is screwed up so badly that only the conniving come out the victor because they know how to manipulate the system.

If what you state is true, and these people are this deceptive they will be able to lie convincingly to the judge.

At this point you have to ask yourself--do I want to gamble or our very flawed justice system (and I use this term loosely), or do I want to keep my sanity!

 

[HomeGuru]

Writer, have you ever read the actual L/T law regarding the issue of the security deposit?

 

[Piano1030]

In response

I'm sorry forgive me for sounding stupid but what is a L/T law?
Since I don't know what it is, I don't think I've read it.

Re to JLW100: Well my husband did speak to their agent on the phone about it and she stated that she remembered what transpired but that she was not willing to do anything about it.
I have never seen anything like. We are newly relocated to Louisiana and take my advice when I say " NEVER MOVE TO THIS STATE!" we have had nothing but problems with dishonest people since we've been here in the last 2 years than we ever have before.
These people have some nerve.
Even the old LL remembers them saying at closing that we agreed to an early termination of the lease.

 

[jlw100]

Homeguru:

Not sure if you are referring to me or the original poster.

In regards to the sec dep, the new LL's are claiming that this tenant broke their lease by vacating early. The tenant is claiming that the new LL's asked them to vacate early and were promised that their sec dep would be returned. There is no written documentation of this new agreement.

It appears that the tenant will not get their sec dep back, because all the new LL has to state in court is that there never was such an agreement. The tenant will probably not be able to prove to the court that there was such an agreement because it was verbal.

However, this tenant may get lucky and the new LL may slip up in their testimony. My experience is that the chances of this happening are slim to none.


Piano:

L/T code is the landlord tenant code. It basically spells out the right and obligations of landlords and tenants.

You could see if the old ll is willing to testify on your behalf in court.

I hate to tell you your state is not the only one filled with dishonest people. This is regretably why I have learned first hand that our justice system is a mess.

 

[Piano1030]

Thank you for your replies, they have helped me in some ways.
We do have a written statement from the old ll stating that the new ll told both agents and his broker that they agreed to an early termination. I just got the letter out and reread it. It clearly states that.
However, we do not have it in writing, so not sure if his letter would make much of a difference at this point.
As I said we don't mind taking the chance just for the simple principle of it all. However, we don't want to come out losing more than we did to begin with.

Thank you again

 

[Born to Lease]

Have you received a written Security Deposit Disposition of Account describing the charges and showing application of the Security Deposit?

Go to http://www.rentalprop.com/ltlaws.htm and click on the state of LA to view the Landlord & Tenant Laws. You will be able to determine whether or not the owner has acted in accordance to the laws regarding return of Security Deposit or Disposition.

I know verbal agreements are worth absolutely nothing, but in your case there are a lot of witnesses who could testify on your behalf. The real question however is whether or not these witnesses will actually come forward with the truth, or choose to "forget" what actually transpired.

Good Luck...I spent 3mos. in LA and that was more than enough time for me to realize I had to get the heck out of that state! I feel for you...

 

[HomeGuru]

Piano, did you send a security deposit demand letter yet to your landlord (the current owner)?

 

[Piano1030]

HomeGuru:

Yes our Attorney sent a Deposit demand letter after their 30 day period, We also recieved a letter from their attorney stating that they were not going to pay it.
We have a written letter from our old LL and he said he is willing to testify that they made it very clear to him, their broker, and our broker that they were willing to give us our deposit back if we would move out as early as the second week in Dec. 2004 even though our lease wasn't up until January 1, 2004.

So my husband and I are going to take our chances and take this to small claims court. Our Attorney feels we have a 85% chance of winning and he said he would help us get all our ducks in a row.

 

[HomeGuru]

HomeGuru:

Yes our Attorney sent a Deposit demand letter after their 30 day period, We also recieved a letter from their attorney stating that they were not going to pay it.
We have a written letter from our old LL and he said he is willing to testify that they made it very clear to him, their broker, and our broker that they were willing to give us our deposit back if we would move out as early as the second week in Dec. 2004 even though our lease wasn't up until January 1, 2004.

So my husband and I are going to take our chances and take this to small claims court. Our Attorney feels we have a 85% chance of winning and he said he would help us get all our ducks in a row.

**A: Go for it. Good luck.