landlord shut off electric

[ranna27]

Recently my landlord and i haven't been seeing eye to eye, which makes our living arrangement difficult because i am renting the upstairs to his house. Beause of our differences he threated to evict me even though I have not violated the lease. In return i wrote up a letter giving him my 30 day notice. Now ever since i have givin him this notice he decided to manually disconnect my electric. This is quit bothersome due to that fact that i have a 6 year old boy and the police say that they can't get invovled in a civil matter...Which brings me here...any advice?
marnada

 

[mafioso]

Did the cops give you any advice on what to do or who to contact? The normal legal steps you can take take a while and you might be out before it comes to fruition.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Did you pay him in advance for the lack of electricity? The best way is to give him notice in writing by a certifiable method (certified return receipt and/or fax) and sue him in small claims court. Do you have a deposit with him? When you go after the money you want to make sure that the landlord is nailed for what he did instead of it looking like a case of "sour grapes" later.

Mafioso brings out a good point. You need immediate assistance. You may want to call your local housing department and report the landlord for shutting down the electricity. He will be even madder than before but you'll get what you want. At this point you may also need to leave and can charge the landlord with reasonable expenses you incur. Just make sure you've given the landlord notice. Good luck.