Ok - so here is my long lease story - and questions to follow...
I have been living in this apt for 2 years, and it's been horrible. I have written many letters to complain - about noise - about maintenance entering my apt without my authorization - and other smaller things. The main noise issues I have stem from the fact that I am in a loud part of the building - there is a parking lot outside my window - and it is also where all deliveries are made, where people drop off and pick people up, and where the garbage trucks dump the dumpsters for an hour every mon, wed, and fri starting between 7:30am-8:00am.
I have 2 letters from the management stating that they have contacted the waste management - and they are not to be there before 9:00am. However - it hasn't changed - and it has become unbearable. I have explained to the management that I can't deal with those hours - because I work 16 hour days and can't get a decent night's sleep. And I told them I would be willing to stay in their complex if they would find me a place in a different part of the building.
They called me in Jan to tell me they had another place for me - and told me to stop by during their hours to see it. So - I left work early (same day), only to arrive at their office and have them tell me that they already rented the place out. They said there was a miscommunication in their staff - and they thought someone else was moving out - and it turns out they weren't - so they had to give the place to someone else... and they had no other place for me.
Then - they called a week or so later and said that they had another place with a guy who was moving out in March. I asked when I could see it - they said March - I said I couldn't say yes to moving in to a place I had never seen - so they said they would call me back the following day to let me know when I could view the place. They never called back for 3 weeks - and in that time I had begun looking for a new place, and hadn't signed anything yet - but had interviews with other people.
My lease ran from May 1, 2005 - April 30, 2006. However - it did say I had to give them 60 days written notice or it automatically renewed.
They called me a week ago - and said that they hadn't received my lease renewal - and if I wasn't planning to renew - to call them and let them know. So I did - they said just put it in writing (no mention of the 60 days) and so I wrote on my April rent check that I wasn't renewing - and they called me Mon, April 3rd to say that wasn't sufficient, they needed a move out date and a forwarding address, and also because they received my check on the 3rd (even though it was in their box on the 1st) that I would owe them May and June rent.
Here are my questions:
1. Is there anything in the law that says that they broke their end of the lease because they told me 2 times (in writing) that the garbage trucks would not be there before 9am?
2. They didn't get back to me about the second apartment that I could look at until slightly after the 60 day period - so do I have any right to argue that I couldn't have given them 60 days notice since they hadn't upheld their end by showing me the place within the time frame?
3. Their maintenance people entered my apt without my consent for a non-emergency, after an initial letter and response from them stating they would not without 48 hours notice (which is also printed in the lease), and I have a witness to this - and also a service receipt note that was left in my apt that states "Authorization to Enter in occupant's absence" and "NO" is checked. So does that not break their end of the lease, therefore not making me responsible for upholding it?
4. I have heard about some sort of "mailbox" rule - that says that if I put the notice in writing in their box by the required date - then it is upheld?
5. A lawyer in Ohio told me that I am not required to give them notice of everything in one letter - so any written notice should be valid - and the rest can follow. The lease doesn't specify what the notice should be - just notice in writing - so - is should my original notice be upheld?
Sorry for the length - I just want to try to include as much info as possible.
I am having a really hard time finding the info I need right now. I have found all the laws stating when they can evict a tenant and how long the notice needs to be - but nothing in the reverse. They broke the lease, and violated my rights, in my opinion - and I want to know if I have any way of ending this before going to court.
Thanks!
I have been living in this apt for 2 years, and it's been horrible. I have written many letters to complain - about noise - about maintenance entering my apt without my authorization - and other smaller things. The main noise issues I have stem from the fact that I am in a loud part of the building - there is a parking lot outside my window - and it is also where all deliveries are made, where people drop off and pick people up, and where the garbage trucks dump the dumpsters for an hour every mon, wed, and fri starting between 7:30am-8:00am.
I have 2 letters from the management stating that they have contacted the waste management - and they are not to be there before 9:00am. However - it hasn't changed - and it has become unbearable. I have explained to the management that I can't deal with those hours - because I work 16 hour days and can't get a decent night's sleep. And I told them I would be willing to stay in their complex if they would find me a place in a different part of the building.
They called me in Jan to tell me they had another place for me - and told me to stop by during their hours to see it. So - I left work early (same day), only to arrive at their office and have them tell me that they already rented the place out. They said there was a miscommunication in their staff - and they thought someone else was moving out - and it turns out they weren't - so they had to give the place to someone else... and they had no other place for me.
Then - they called a week or so later and said that they had another place with a guy who was moving out in March. I asked when I could see it - they said March - I said I couldn't say yes to moving in to a place I had never seen - so they said they would call me back the following day to let me know when I could view the place. They never called back for 3 weeks - and in that time I had begun looking for a new place, and hadn't signed anything yet - but had interviews with other people.
My lease ran from May 1, 2005 - April 30, 2006. However - it did say I had to give them 60 days written notice or it automatically renewed.
They called me a week ago - and said that they hadn't received my lease renewal - and if I wasn't planning to renew - to call them and let them know. So I did - they said just put it in writing (no mention of the 60 days) and so I wrote on my April rent check that I wasn't renewing - and they called me Mon, April 3rd to say that wasn't sufficient, they needed a move out date and a forwarding address, and also because they received my check on the 3rd (even though it was in their box on the 1st) that I would owe them May and June rent.
Here are my questions:
1. Is there anything in the law that says that they broke their end of the lease because they told me 2 times (in writing) that the garbage trucks would not be there before 9am?
2. They didn't get back to me about the second apartment that I could look at until slightly after the 60 day period - so do I have any right to argue that I couldn't have given them 60 days notice since they hadn't upheld their end by showing me the place within the time frame?
3. Their maintenance people entered my apt without my consent for a non-emergency, after an initial letter and response from them stating they would not without 48 hours notice (which is also printed in the lease), and I have a witness to this - and also a service receipt note that was left in my apt that states "Authorization to Enter in occupant's absence" and "NO" is checked. So does that not break their end of the lease, therefore not making me responsible for upholding it?
4. I have heard about some sort of "mailbox" rule - that says that if I put the notice in writing in their box by the required date - then it is upheld?
5. A lawyer in Ohio told me that I am not required to give them notice of everything in one letter - so any written notice should be valid - and the rest can follow. The lease doesn't specify what the notice should be - just notice in writing - so - is should my original notice be upheld?
Sorry for the length - I just want to try to include as much info as possible.
I am having a really hard time finding the info I need right now. I have found all the laws stating when they can evict a tenant and how long the notice needs to be - but nothing in the reverse. They broke the lease, and violated my rights, in my opinion - and I want to know if I have any way of ending this before going to court.
Thanks!
