Opinions on this eviction.

[Meresgi]

To sum up the situation. I signed a 6month lease starting in April of 2008, it ended this September of 2008. Currently it is October and I have not paid rent for this month because I plan to move out before the end of the month, my landlord has my security deposit which equates to 1 months rent.


The apartment is a dump, I only took it because I needed it, I have no control over the heating at all, the downstairs apartment which is empty has control, I have no ability to close the vents because they have rusted over and the latches have snapped off. I was told by the landlord numerous times that he would fix the sink, every 1st of the month I complained to him about pests, heat being on in the middle of summer, and the sink and drains being messed up.

Now my question is, what should I be doing to protect myself? I have no way to get ahold of the landlord, who apparently is not the person I signed the lease with, a man, but is his wife instead. I've tried to get a hold of her numerous times, but she only stops by the apartment now when i'm at work (I work 12hr shifts). I told them that the only time to find me here would be 6pm.

She left a 3 day, "Pay up or get Out" notice this past Saturday, saying she would file for eviction if it was not met. Now I am not giving her another months worth of rent, seeing as I will be out of this place before even the end of October arises, I also know 100% my security will not be returned to me.

I plan to take pictures of the apartment as it is now and clean it before moving out. Is there anything else I should be doing? Should I be worried about being taken to court even though i'm moving out before the eviction date would go in effect. I'm trying to get ahold of her to tell her this, in attempt to save her a hassle as well.


btw I live in Upstate NY.

[MisterBob]

You screwed up, you're supposed to pay the rent, then your security deposit is refunded AFTER the apartment is inspected.

Good job.

[Meresgi]

You screwed up, you're supposed to pay the rent, then your security deposit is refunded AFTER the apartment is inspected.

Good job.

I know this, point being however that the security will not be refunded to me. She's gone ahead and spent the money I gave her for it.

[Sythe]

Well for one you shouldn't of paid the rent until shit got fixed. Thats your right. But I think you better get out now cause you've already told em your moving and all that. And yeah your deposit is gone lol

[Jotaru]

At the very least they have to give you a 30 day eviction notice, they can't just up and kick you out. After that, it depends on the terms of the lease / contract you signed. A lot of places will have you sign something that basically says you are paying even if you aren't living there if you aren't out by X day (i.e., if you stay past the 1st of the month, you pay the entire month, even if you are out the 2nd) Look that over, maybe post some details.

[Meresgi]

Yeah i've learned a lot of shit from this apartment that i'm applying to my next right off the bat. A lot of harsh lessons learned. I can swallow all the money i've lost in this place, I just want to make sure I dont arrive home with all my shit on the lawn or taken by her before i'm out of the place by the end of this month.

[aurik]

If they refuse to maintain the place, you can withhold rent, or pay for the repairs yourself and deduct it from the rent you owe. It'll be nice and annoying to actually fight it though. So I suggest just paying up and gtfoing.

[sb]

It takes a good 4 months to get evicted legally from an apartment. However, you should have taken pictures of the place before you moved in (seriously everyone should always, always, always do this), esp. in the condition it was in. From the sound of it she has no ability to take you to court (i.e. she's broke). Unless your security was more than a months rate, and you haven't left the place any worse than it was, just sort it with them. At least till they act shady, then its a whole other game.

p.s. Do a search on renter's rights for your area. NYC and upstate are much different in a lot of respects...

[Meresgi]

Yeah i'm not going to fight this, I dont even want to stay here anymore lol, this place is a hellhole. I'm just going to cut my loses, not pay her a dime more and vacate as soon as I can. Ive been looking up my rights online, hard to find things to deal with my situation though.

[Tyche]

For future reference, when renting...anything. Apartment, condo, duplex, house, mobile home, a fucking 2-man tent...whatever, TAKE PICTURES UPON MOVING IN! None the less, your skimping on a month's rent and she's keeping a months worth of deposit. Sounds like she's a tight bitch so I doubt you'll have to worry about court. Just in case, take pictures now, clean it up, then take more pictures. If she does take you to court, you should have a pretty good reason that you deserve your deposit, and she has a good reason to keep a month's rent. Break even.

[gandorf]

I have had bad landlords before. Best thing too do is get the fuck out now.

An the take pictures before you move in is genius. It could only benefit you and a disposable camera is like 5$ if you don't have one.

[Charla]

Extremely viable and not at all half-baked plan:
Write check postdated for next month.
Move out on schedule.
Stop payment on said check.
Problem solved!

[Meresgi]

Extremely viable and not at all half-baked plan:
Write check postdated for next month.
Move out on schedule.
Stop payment on said check.
Problem solved!

This....is....brilliant.... I should totally do this.

[Shuemue]

That sounds marginally fraudulent, might want to think before you do it.

[Vandalhart]

Well for one you shouldn't of paid the rent until shit got fixed. Thats your right. But I think you better get out now cause you've already told em your moving and all that. And yeah your deposit is gone lol

Every time I hear this, I get Judge Judy (and every other judge from a judge show) screaming in my head saying this is NOT the case. You can NEVER withhold rent. If you had taken pictures of the place when you moved in, and proved that the place was in the same state when you left, then you can goto small claims court and get your security deposit back.

It's a shame how many people run an operation like this. When my wife was in University her last year she had a landlord that was renting out a house to students. She had 7 people in the house and charging them all $380 a month.

[MarkM.]

Pretty sure they only have to give you 24 hours notice to evict you. Even though they are screwing you over by not fixing the apt, the only thing they have to do is provide you with electricity and running water (or that the apartment can safely get these.) The thing about the heater/air conditioner sucks balls, but a judge is going to tell you that you SOL if you are trying to with hold rent because of this, because it's considered a luxury. Good luck with your situation.

[kamugi]

I'd make a copy of the key and go back in the middle of the night a week after I left and make huge holes in the walls and break everything else I could. Or at least toss a brick threw a window or 2 though if you're not that vindictive. It will make you happy.

[sb]

Pretty sure they only have to give you 24 hours notice to evict you. Even though they are screwing you over by not fixing the apt, the only thing they have to do is provide you with electricity and running water (or that the apartment can safely get these.) The thing about the heater/air conditioner sucks balls, but a judge is going to tell you that you SOL if you are trying to with hold rent because of this, because it's considered a luxury. Good luck with your situation.

This is wrong.

Heat is not considered a luxury. There are laws in NY state requiring access to heat if the temperature goes below a certain point. In upstate NY, it must have during the night as its been just about there in the city and the average inland temperature is 5-15 degrees cooler than the city, esp. at night.

[Vandalhart]

For those welcoming it, I'll offer some assistance/tips on renting anywhere.
It may be "common sense" but I'll post it anyways.

Treat it like you're buying a home. Before signing the lease take a walk through along with the Landlord with a camera, or a piece of paper to make lists of issues that you can see. After you're done that, both you and the Landlord sign the paper saying they were aware of pre-existing conditions in the apartment. Provide a copy to both parties and keep it for your personal record.

This will make things a lot less rocky should shit hit the fan later.

Oh yes, and make sure you have a paper trail of letters for something you ask the landlord to repair. If you do indeed end up in small claims court you have to show proof that you requested it. It'll go much better for you if you have various letters stating what repairs were asked for, and the date.