Landlord and double rent

[Nik3689]

I moved out of an apartment a month early, in October, because I had started a family and the neighborhood was very scary, not quite what the landlord described.I paid October rent in full, even though I wasn't staying. I had 2 items left in the apartment for the first few days of October because I had no way to transport them and I had paid the rent anyways. The landlord called me harrassing me 4 times a day telling me I needed to get my stuff out of the house now so he could get someone in to shampoo the carpets and stuff. I explained to him several times that when I had access to a truck I would get it out, I moved the items to the kitchen so they wouldn't be on carpet, and still he called me several times a day telling me I needed to move my stuff to the porch if I wasn't going to take it. Not to mention the fact that he had people in our home everyday without notice to look at it the last week or two of september. I even came home once from dinner with my family to people in my house, the landlord's friend was showing them our home while we were gone. Needless to say we had all our stuff out by the 5th and then we noticed that someone new was moved in on the seventh. I called and asked him to prorate my rent for the month and he said he really didnt have the money so I agreed to only take $ 300.00 back and he said he could send me a check the begininng of the next month because he didn't have it them but he would send it when they paid rent. I waited and no check, I called him a few times leaving messages and he finally called back saying he doesn't owe me anything at all and he isn't giving me anything. Can I in fact get my money from him. And if I was to try would I be successful. I have no way to actually prove these people moved in last month, I mean I know they did because they had their moving truck and cars there moving stuff in for a week. I didn't know if I should even bother trying to get my money back or if I should just forget it becasue it is a waste of time. Thanks for any help.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

A landlord cannot "double dip" (i.e., get money from two different tenants) but it sounds like in order for him to fork over this extra money you'll need to file a lawsuit against him.

These things are typically done in Small Claims Court where an attorney is not needed.

There are filing fees though and these can vary from state to state and county to county. Check your area to see what these might be; this may help you decide if taking legal action is worth it.

If you win your judgement filing fees are usually attached to this (so he would be ordered to pay) but, unfortunately winning a judgement often does not guarantee you'll see a penny of this money.

Gail