Slippery landlord help.

[cstreit]

Hey gang,

Looking for a some collective wisdom here.

To make a long story short, he neglected to send us a lease last year. By the time he realized he hadn't, we were close to closing on a house and told him we weren't going to sign it.

Needless to say he was peeved but legally could do nothing. So, he made up a bunch of stuff and kept our security deposit. It included some things that legally he cannot recover, such as cleaning the drapes and replanting some shrubs that he claims were damaged. I have photographic proof to the contrary.

The tough point is this. We had our attorney send him a letter to his PO box and he has refused it. Any certified or registered mail to the box comes back as undeliverable. Now this guys owns like 20 houses that he rents out. So, we are going to subpoena him for small claims court, but his actual residence cannot be located.

So how can I subpoena the guy if he has 20 houses all listed as "his" residence?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

If they can subpoena people anonymously for downloading 99-cent mp3s on the interweb, they can sure as hell find a way to subpoena this clown. It's normally the sheriff's office's job to serve him. Let 'em do their job and find him.

[turbo6bar]

In many states, you can view the homeowner information at the tax assessor's office. He may have property tax bills sent to his residence.

Perhaps you can use a people finder service.

Most states have strict laws regulating security deposits. If the landlord has breached the law, you may be entitled to sizeable monetary damages.

[Tobra]

In California, you can even get interest on the deposit if you live their for a year and a day. How much money is it, or is it the principle of the thing? If you make a good faith effort to serve him, you should be able to sue him. It is one thing to get a judgement, sometimes quite another to collect it.

[tabascobobcat]

Throw a big party the night before you leave so he has to spend the money on a cleaning service.

[Joeaksa]

Get a process server and they will find him. Take him to small claims court if you have photo evidence that you are in the right. Slumlords like this need to be spanked from time to time to keep them in line.

Also might let the authorities know that the place he calls his residence is not, and wonder what he is hiding...

Joe A

[cstreit]

So more info. We've been out of the house for about 4 months already and he didn't return out deposit. He clearly just wanted to keep our deposit because he gave us a bill of a bunch of items that clearly exceeded our security deposit and suggested that he would go to court to recover it, then disaapeared.

I'm assuming he just wanted to keep our money out of spite and have us go away without disputing. He underestimated.

I was just going to ask for most of it back, allowing him to keep the money to clean the carpets which we forgot to do. THat's in our lease. But then he started adding things like cleaning the drapes (definitely normal wear and tear), cleaning the kitchen (it was SPOTLESS when we left which it was not when we moved in) and replacing some shrubs (that he negelected for 10 years).

So now I want to teach him a lesson for putting me through the hassle. I am going to sue for attorney fees for recovery and anything else I can think of. (Gas, time off work, etc..)

[onewhippedpuppy]

This is one case that I'm all for suing the a-hole. Guys like that need to be taught a lesson, he probably does it to all of his tenants, most of which let it slide. We've had it done to us in the past, but weren't smart enough to take pictures for evidence in court.

[cstreit]

The bet bit is that he cut all the bushes back to stumps (the ones he said I damaged, so he cannot prove that they were ever damaged. Kind of screwed himself there... In addition I have pictures of the debris and bits that he had left there over the last few years. Kind of hard to justify that a "damaged bush" detracts from a property when you have a ladder, pile of shingles, some soffit flashing, etc.. stashed underneath them.

He also wanted to charge us for "replanting" grass that was underneath a pine tree! Grass doesn't GROW underneath these pine trees...

[Dantilla]

Originally posted by tabascobobcat
Throw a big party the night before you leave so he has to spend the money on a cleaning service.

As a landlord (not slumlord), I can guarentee this is a bad idea.

[tabascobobcat]

Originally posted by Dantilla
As a landlord (not slumlord), I can guarentee this is a bad idea.

Then do you have any ideas how to help him ??

[turbo6bar]

Originally posted by tabascobobcat
Then do you have any ideas how to help him ??

Use the law to beat the landlord. The courts are very accomodative to tenants, especially when a landlord has breached the law. If this is as cstreit says, it's a slam dunk. Why jeopardize it by trashing the home before leaving? What's that accomplish?
jurgen

[dan79brooklyn]

The County Clerks office should have a way to find his address. I took a Real Estate developer to small claims court recently and the CC office were happy to help with proper spelling and address info. BTW got my monet withput even having to go to court...

[cstreit]

Wayne,

That's true... But it is about $1500 and I'm pissed enough to put forth the effort...

[turbo6bar]

$1500 is well worth the effort for small claims court. It's painless and cheap to file. Documentation is your friend. Go get 'em.

[einreb]

Originally posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts
Unless this is a very large sum of money, it sounds like a lot of hassle and stress.

-Wayne

CStreit = Alpha male

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men.
Blessed is Chris, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for Chris is truly his brother’s keeper, and the finder of lost children.
And Chris will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger, those who attempt to poison and take from the table of his family, and you will know Chris is the lord when he lays his vengeance upon you.

Now Chris been saying that **** for years, and if you've ever heard it form him, it meant your ass. I never gave much thought to what it meant, I just thought it was a cold blooded thing to say to a mother ****er before Chris popped a cap in his ass. But I saw some **** that made me think twice.

Now I'm thinking it could mean the landlord is the evil man, and Chris the righteous man, and Chris' 9mm is the shepherd, protecting his righteous ass.

Or maybe it means that the landlord the righteous man, and chris is the shepherd, and it's the Realtors(TM) that are evil and selfish.

Now I'd like that, but you see that **** ain't the truth. The truth is, the landlord is weak, and Chris the tyranny of evil men. But he's trying Wayne, He's trying real hard to be the shepherd.

-BERNARDO

[Jims5543]

LOL!! I rented a house in Port St. Lucie for a year while looking for a place to buy. We left the place cleaner and looking better than we found it. The landlord kept the $600 security. She sold the house for a loss just before the real estate boom. She lost over 100K - Karma is a b!tch!! Aint it??

My landlord kept my $700 security on my office space even though I have it professionally cleaned after moving out. I made sure not to send the last 1/2 months rent in ($350 in anticipation) I knew they would screw me over so I lessened the blow.

When my office was destroyed in the Hurricanes of 2004 the landlord kept my $1200 deposit. I am still trying to get that one back. To this day the office is destroyed and uninhabitable.

Any of you landlords out there want to know why tennants screw you over? Its because of assh@le landlords that rip them off. So they do to you before you do to them.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I have never rented a place where the landlord was fair to me at checkout. They have always kept part or all of our deposit, justifying it with some nit-picky BS. Last time, amoungst other things, it was because I didn't clean the OUTSIDE windows, which of course were filthy when we moved in. I have always left a place better than when I moved in, always.

Right now we're fighting with our landlord over the windshield of our 4Runner that was broken by a landscaper. My sister in law was in the car when it happened, and the crew admitted to it in front of the landlord. Of course, when their supervisor showed up they changed their tune, and the company refused to pay. Despite promising us that we would be compensated, and firing the landscape company, we have yet to see a check six months later. And it's only $200! I'm not letting this drop, I'm taking her ass to court if she won't pay up like she promised. I hate renting......

[turbo6bar]

If you have a legitimate claim, don't whine. Go to small claims court. The biggest hurdle to collecting is NOT winning the case; it's collecting. Landlords have deep pockets and typically credit scores that despise collections and judgements.

If you don't use the system to your advantage, don't be sad. C'est la vie.

[Dantilla]

I have always stressed to my manager to be very generous with the deposit upon move-out. If you have made a good attempt to leave the place in good condition, you get the entire deposit back.

You get one chance to make a first impression. I want to also leave a good last impression. Down the road, a former resident may have friends or family looking for an apartment, and I would like to have my former residents recommend my place.

If I screw somebody out of a couple bucks, they'll remember it forever, and tell people to stay away from my buildings.

Ripping people out of thier deposit is a very short-sighted way to do business.