Landlord refused to accept rent check.

[racer063]

let me tell the story and then ask the question. I have been renting this house for 5 month's now. For the last two months, the agent to the owner , and i have been conversing over the phone concerning the last two months rent. I had been talking to him over the phone for the last 4 months about problems i am having in my home. Octobers rent came due, and i tried to deliver it as usual to his residense. he was not home. I also tried to deliver rent to his work. Not there either. and he was not answering his phone. I tried till the 14th of october. He finally contacted me on the 18th, inquiring about rent. I explained that i had tried for 14 days to deliver rent. he said he was out of town, and to put the rent in the mailbox. i told him i was uncomfortable with this since i wouldnt know that he got the rent check. my wife and i talked about our current situation on the night of the 18th. we decided that we would not rent from him anymore and we would move out. i tried to contact him the night of the 18th to let him know what we had decided. no answer on the phone. on the 21st of october, he called and inquired again on the rent. i at this time informed him of what our intentions were. we talked for 45 minutes. he offered to use the last months rent i paid when we moved in to cover octobers rent. i agreed to this. he then offered to use 700.00 of the of the 900.00 deposit towards novembers rent. this should give us time to find a place. and the remaining 200.00 would go towards any clean-up needed. i agreed to this as well. on november 7th, he called me to see if we had found a house yet. i told him that i had an appointment the following day to look at a house. it was too small. 6x6 bedrooms. i contacted him on the 8th and told him about the house i went to look at. on november 9th, we were served with a 3 day notice to pay rent in full or quit. this notice expired on the 14th. i called him and he answered this time, and he told me that the owner wanted possession of the house, since rent wasnt paid for the 2 months. I went to his work on the 14th and tried to pay him the back rent in full, 2200.00. he refused to take my rent. on the 16th of november, he served me another 3 day notice to pay rent in full or vacate. on the 23rd of november, i get this notice that he is sueing me for unpaid rent. i have 20 days to reply, to set a court date. now for my question, what rights do i have, and what can i do. i have contacted a lawyer to represent me in court. and as far as the house hunting goes, we are still looking. it is hard to find a 3 bedroom house with reasonable rent in daytona beach.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

let me tell the story and then ask the question. I have been renting this house for 5 month's now. For the last two months, the agent to the owner , and i have been conversing over the phone concerning the last two months rent. I had been talking to him over the phone for the last 4 months about problems i am having in my home. Octobers rent came due, and i tried to deliver it as usual to his residense. he was not home. I also tried to deliver rent to his work. Not there either. and he was not answering his phone. I tried till the 14th of october. He finally contacted me on the 18th, inquiring about rent. I explained that i had tried for 14 days to deliver rent. he said he was out of town, and to put the rent in the mailbox. i told him i was uncomfortable with this since i wouldnt know that he got the rent check. my wife and i talked about our current situation on the night of the 18th. we decided that we would not rent from him anymore and we would move out. i tried to contact him the night of the 18th to let him know what we had decided. no answer on the phone. on the 21st of october, he called and inquired again on the rent. i at this time informed him of what our intentions were. we talked for 45 minutes. he offered to use the last months rent i paid when we moved in to cover octobers rent. i agreed to this. he then offered to use 700.00 of the of the 900.00 deposit towards novembers rent. this should give us time to find a place. and the remaining 200.00 would go towards any clean-up needed. i agreed to this as well. on november 7th, he called me to see if we had found a house yet. i told him that i had an appointment the following day to look at a house. it was too small. 6x6 bedrooms. i contacted him on the 8th and told him about the house i went to look at. on november 9th, we were served with a 3 day notice to pay rent in full or quit. this notice expired on the 14th. i called him and he answered this time, and he told me that the owner wanted possession of the house, since rent wasnt paid for the 2 months. I went to his work on the 14th and tried to pay him the back rent in full, 2200.00. he refused to take my rent. on the 16th of november, he served me another 3 day notice to pay rent in full or vacate. on the 23rd of november, i get this notice that he is sueing me for unpaid rent. i have 20 days to reply, to set a court date. now for my question, what rights do i have, and what can i do. i have contacted a lawyer to represent me in court. and as far as the house hunting goes, we are still looking. it is hard to find a 3 bedroom house with reasonable rent in daytona beach.

First of all, do you have a rental agreement? If it is a month to month agreement then no matter what you do you'll have to move shortly since he can likely remove you within 30 days by providing you with notice.

Second, I'm not sure how much a laywer will help you. I'm not sure I understand what the problem was in placing the rent in the mailbox, just like any other kind of postal mail. If you really want to be sure, send it certified mail to the owner and he'll have to sign for receipt. How about slipping the envelope under the door? Is there a mail slot? If I was a judge, I would think it's a flimsy excuse for saying you don't have the rent -- not that I'm accusing you, just telling you perception of what a judge might think.

Your best bet? Pay the landlord the outstanding rent and do not go to court. Agree with him to vacate in a short period of time, perhaps one month, and be done with this. If the landlord wants, make an agreement in writing that you will waive rights to certain notices/procedures so that he can evict you quickly in the event you don't hold up your end of the bargain, which may include paying an additional month's rent in advance. I've arranged that before. If you can't agree with the landlord and go to court, you may have to pay attorneys fees in court (perhaps not as likely without a lease) and you will be paying an attorney to buy you precious little. I'm sorry about the situation and wish you the best of luck in your relocation.

 

[calalily]

Refused Rent?

He refused rent on the 14th then sent another notice for you to pay? It may be too late but send that check return receipt like the administrator said and follow the rest of his directions. I don't understand why you keep trying to pay him in person rather than sending certified mail.