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Can I sue my Landlord

The details are this…

My landlord and I agreed to term my lease because of the flood and it was not getting fixed fast enough.. in the mist of all of this he has sent me a letter stating I damaged the place (carpet, back screen and changing the locks as well as breaching the lease because I had animals there) Feb. rent check bounced and I know I owe him for that.. but I have proof I did not damage the carpet etc. plus I was not really wanting to move and it was a big expence to me that I was not expecting to come into at that time. Please advise.

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Answer #1

Depends: written agreement or your word against his - if written read it very carefully, paying attention to stated responsibilities - see if there’s room for compromise, if not, consult a lawyer - many times the first consult is free…I wish you the best !!

Answer #2

What are you trying to sue him for? It seems that he’s the one who has more cause to sue you.

If your animals damaged the apartment, you need to pay for it. The simple fact that your rent cheque bounced puts you in a bad position, and you said you agreed to terminate the lease - you don’t have much to go on.

It’s not his problem that you can’t afford to move.

Answer #3

Yes, some landlords should be sued. However, if you had pets and the lease said no pets he will be able to blow everything out of proportion in his favor. It would be in small claims court where lawyers are not allowed. I had a tenet sue me for his deposit and I always make a video tape of the apartment before and after new tenets and I was able to inflate the damages quite a bit believing the judge would disallow some of the damages. I won three times what I’d countered sued for. He refused my request for payment and because I knew his bank account number (from the rent checks) I was able to garnish his account (under a court order) and he wrote a lot of checks before he found out the account was dry and the insufficient check charges really added to his troubles.

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