I am having serious issues with my landlord and was wondering if anybody knew the legality of what he is telling me. i apologize for the length of this post but it is a bit complicated.
I moved into my apartment in Sept 07. I told the landlord that I had two cats and paid a non-refundable pet deposit of $300- $150 for each cat. I also paid a large regular security deposit. During the course of my lease my cats peed on the only carpet in the house, on the stairs. I treated the areas myself and then last month when I moved out I had the carpet professionally cleaned and pet treated. I turned in my keys and thought that was the end of it. The landlord called me 3 days later saying that the house smelled of cat urine and that he could not rent it like that. I was more than accomodating and told him that I would go back and treat the spots again to try to resolve the problem. So I paid out of pocket for the supplies and treated the areas 5 seperate times. In my opinion and that of two friends who were with me, the house smelled fine. He waited a week and a half to call me back, only to say that the house still smelled and now he was going to have to charge me rent for the days in which he has been unable to rent the place out. My question is, is it even possible for him to charge me rent for the days in which he has not rented the apartment?
He has my pet deposit and I even asked him to get a quote on replacing the carpet, I feel that I have done more than is required of me by law to try to resolve this matter. I have lived in other apartments where I have had to replace the carpet but I have never had a landlord call me and tell me that I had to fix the problem or he would never be able to rent his place again....and then threaten to charge me for the time in which he hasn't rented the place. I understand that I am responsible for the cost of replacing the carpet, but I don't think that I owe him rent for the days that he has not rented the unit.
I have another issue with this landlord that I need advice on. I was out of town in Costa Rica at the end of August and the beginning of September, when Gustav came through New Orleans. I had a friend watch my cats, and he informed me that there was water on my floor in the bedroom but it was far away from any water source. My sink wasn't leaking and neither was my shower or toilet. So I told him to clean it up and not to worry because that had happened once before, my second day at the house. I assumed it to be my cats' water bowl being knocked over. When I returned home there was a reddish brown liquidy substance on the same spot, and the same liquid was in the bottom of my shower and in my downstairs bathtub as well. I took pictures and thought that perhaps the drains had backed up due to the storm. However, the spot in the middle of the floor was a mystery. My landlord called that day to tell me he had been in my apartment to check out the damages because the other side of the house (seperate apt) the ceiling had fallen. He determined that it was my fault and claimed that I had left the water running while I was out of town. He says that it's the only explanation. I know for a fact that there was no water running in the house, in fact he went there before I got home so if it were running, it would have still been running when he got there. Also, my bedroom, where the sink was located was not flooded. He says that he has checked under all the sinks and hasn't found a leak so it must be my fault. He refuses to get a plumber to check under the floor boards in the bedroom, to see if there are any pipe issues under there. Now he has informed me that he wants to charge me for these damages as well. I have pictures showing that there was no leak that caused water to pool in the middle of the floor and I have witnesses to say that there was no water running in my sink. What else do I need to do? The only option is to sue him I think.....
I moved into my apartment in Sept 07. I told the landlord that I had two cats and paid a non-refundable pet deposit of $300- $150 for each cat. I also paid a large regular security deposit. During the course of my lease my cats peed on the only carpet in the house, on the stairs. I treated the areas myself and then last month when I moved out I had the carpet professionally cleaned and pet treated. I turned in my keys and thought that was the end of it. The landlord called me 3 days later saying that the house smelled of cat urine and that he could not rent it like that. I was more than accomodating and told him that I would go back and treat the spots again to try to resolve the problem. So I paid out of pocket for the supplies and treated the areas 5 seperate times. In my opinion and that of two friends who were with me, the house smelled fine. He waited a week and a half to call me back, only to say that the house still smelled and now he was going to have to charge me rent for the days in which he has been unable to rent the place out. My question is, is it even possible for him to charge me rent for the days in which he has not rented the apartment?
He has my pet deposit and I even asked him to get a quote on replacing the carpet, I feel that I have done more than is required of me by law to try to resolve this matter. I have lived in other apartments where I have had to replace the carpet but I have never had a landlord call me and tell me that I had to fix the problem or he would never be able to rent his place again....and then threaten to charge me for the time in which he hasn't rented the place. I understand that I am responsible for the cost of replacing the carpet, but I don't think that I owe him rent for the days that he has not rented the unit.
I have another issue with this landlord that I need advice on. I was out of town in Costa Rica at the end of August and the beginning of September, when Gustav came through New Orleans. I had a friend watch my cats, and he informed me that there was water on my floor in the bedroom but it was far away from any water source. My sink wasn't leaking and neither was my shower or toilet. So I told him to clean it up and not to worry because that had happened once before, my second day at the house. I assumed it to be my cats' water bowl being knocked over. When I returned home there was a reddish brown liquidy substance on the same spot, and the same liquid was in the bottom of my shower and in my downstairs bathtub as well. I took pictures and thought that perhaps the drains had backed up due to the storm. However, the spot in the middle of the floor was a mystery. My landlord called that day to tell me he had been in my apartment to check out the damages because the other side of the house (seperate apt) the ceiling had fallen. He determined that it was my fault and claimed that I had left the water running while I was out of town. He says that it's the only explanation. I know for a fact that there was no water running in the house, in fact he went there before I got home so if it were running, it would have still been running when he got there. Also, my bedroom, where the sink was located was not flooded. He says that he has checked under all the sinks and hasn't found a leak so it must be my fault. He refuses to get a plumber to check under the floor boards in the bedroom, to see if there are any pipe issues under there. Now he has informed me that he wants to charge me for these damages as well. I have pictures showing that there was no leak that caused water to pool in the middle of the floor and I have witnesses to say that there was no water running in my sink. What else do I need to do? The only option is to sue him I think.....
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