Changes In Lease Without My Knowledge

[tvhoose]

I rented a house through a real estate agent in July 2009 with my lease ending in July 2010. I signed a lease stating that if rent was late at anytime that I would be required to pay a $25.00 late fee on that rent. No big deal. Since living in the home I have had what I like to call "revolving roommates." I have rented out to other rooms and have had new roommates in and out since living at the residence. I am the only person on the lease.

I had gotten behind on rent after evicting a roommate for failure to pay their rent. Suddenly, my late fees changed from $25.00, then to an additional $50.00 a few days later. Putting the late fees now at $75.00. I asked the agent why these fees had increased and she stated it was in my lease. I told her that in my lease these items where not present. She sent me a copy of my lease in PDF format Online and the lease she sent me is different from the original lease I have in my hands.

She went back into the lease and added in additional fees and clauses that were in blank space on the lease in handwriting. However, the copy I have has all these spaces blank with both our signatures on it. Therefore, she has went in and added these new things into the lease after I signed it. I have the original lease as proof.

This same landlord has also refused to take care of an on-going mold problem in the home which I have been complaining about since we moved in July.

Right now I need to know what my legal rights are. I have been told that due to her altering the lease without the my knowledge that she has made the lease null and void. Is this true? I'm curious as what I can do in this matter.

I have actually already moved out of the residence and am in a new place with stable landlords. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[mightymoose]

Pay the the fees that you agree to, which apparently is $25.
If the landlord wants more then the landlord will have to get a judge to order it. Your original lease with the blanks will protect you. If the landlord wanted to change the terms of your lease then you should have been asked to sign a new one with the new amounts.

I doubt the landlord will take you to court over $50. Hopefully you can convince the landlord to drop the $50 since it isn't in your lease... but sometimes the smallest things lead to the biggest fights.

The landlord might get nasty and threaten eviction, but in order to do that will have to prove to a judge that you didn't pay money that is owed... which doesn't appear to be possible based on what you have said here.

 

[tvhoose]

Yeah, I've kept on payments though they have been late but at the same time I have been paying for repairs in the house every month due to the fact that the landlord won't see to them. Things like leaks and excessive mold that is causing sickness. Which is the reason I went ahead and already moved out of the house into another one, even though my lease isn't up till mid-July. I was curious about whether the lease was still valid at all? If not, I'd rather not pay the final months rent and use that money to pay for all the expenses that have come about because of her lack of taking care of fixtures in the home. I've rented 6 houses during my lifetime and have never had a landlord like this. She even blatantly lies to me about stuff on the telephone. People like this drive me mad!

 

[mightymoose]

How long have you been out of the apartment? Has the landlord made an effort to rent it to someone else, or is someone already in it?
The landlord must make a good faith effort to re-rent the apartment, and if no renter is found then you are responsible for the rent. If the landlord makes no effort then you have a valid argument for not paying.
If the apartment is already occupied by someone else then you are off the hook and owe nothing.
Personally, if I were you, and since you are already in another apartment, I would not pay the rent. If the landlord sues you over it then she will have to show that she has attempted to rent the apartment, and there will also be the silliness over her fees to sort out.
Besides, I will assume that you have not had any deposits returned since you moved out. The way things are looking, you are probably going to have a hard time getting it back, so why keep giving her money?
If she is unable to rent the apartment then she can keep your deposit money for rent that is due... in the mean time you just hang on to what you have in your pocket.
Do yourself a favor and don't spend that rent money on anything else... you just might be ordered to pay it at some point... but if it were me... I wouldn't be paying squat if the landlord hadn't been making repairs and had the nerve to slap me with silly fees that are not even in my lease.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Ohio does allow the tenant cetain options should the landlord fail to address needed repairs but they are very specific and outlined in the attached:

http://www.ohiolandlordtenant.com/revised.html#5321.07

You are required to notify the landlord in writing (for documentation) of needed repairs and give them a reasonable amount of time (typically 30 days) to address these. Their failure to do this does allow you to withhold rent but such rent must be placed in escrow with the court system. You can't simply break a lease and take off without the risk of financial penalties.

Be very, very careful claiming that mold has caused illness. The "mold card" has truly run it's course as a legal excuse to break a lease; it has, unfortunately, been overused to a great extent by many tenants who are either 1. fearful that any evidence of mildew is deadly black mold and/or 2. believing that seeing this is an automatic out to their lease. One would need to provide evidence in court that this was a specific type of mold linked to some respiratory problems.

At any rate, what I've attached is a pretty good article on the particular statues on landlord/tenant law in the state of Ohio.

Gail

 

[tvhoose]

Thank both of you for your replies.

Just to clear the air the mold is not the reason for my moving out. With the least ending in July the landlord has informed me that the owner wishes to put the house up for sale and she has told me she has went ahead and listed it for sale. So they are now switching it from leasing for rent to sale. The main reason for moving aside from that is the lack of fixing things such as a leak in the piping below the bathroom which is the actual result of the mold. Second reason being the washer that has been broken for months in the house without repair --- "Oh, it's on our list."

For now I'm not paying anything and am simply foregoing my deposit. I'll just wait and see what type of action if any she tries to take --- though I doubt she will.