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doodleboo_gw

help! we are being evicted!

doodleboo
15 years ago

WHo can you call if you feel you are being wrongfuly evicted? Who do you call if a building is out of code?

We are being kicked out of our apartment. It's a long story but believe me when I say it's bogus. Is the any way to fight that or are the management agencies just too rich and powerful to even go toe to toe with? I just got into it with the regional manager and they are being a$$holes. They are threatening J with criminal tresspassing for locking a sliding glass door of an abandoned apartment that is above us because people were going in and out.

Some guy actually took the microwave! The kids flipped on rent and I doubt they are coming back for any of their things but that's not the point. We live in a bad neighborhood and he didn't like not knowing who was in and out up there. Since the property manager never ever takes care of anything he took it upon himself to lock the door. Now we are being kicked out. Is it just me or was J doing us a favor by locking the damn door and keeping the riff raff out? She was totally ugly about it too. When she askedd him about it he was honest and she said he wasn't in any kindof trouble. The next day we had a 30 day notice under our door! When I called the regional manager he was so nasty he threatened to press criminal charges! Seriously?!

I can't believe the fa cats can bully people around like this and get away with it becaus ehtey have money. It makes me sick. They kicked a family with two five year olds and an infant out in the streets because the man cared enough to take preventative measures to protect his family...unbelievable. Whats worse is they own almost every property in town. This is what happens when someone is allowed to get the monopoly on any market.

Comments (43)

  • sylviatexas1
    15 years ago

    Yikes!

    don't know where you are, but there should be a tenants' rights group that can help you, or maybe a consumer protection group;
    you can also call the attorney general of your state, since (I think) most rental & leasing matters are covered under state law.

    If all else fails, call your state's real estate commission.

    Best luck.

  • theisma
    15 years ago

    Sometimes the fastest way to get action is call the local t.v. station!

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  • finedreams
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    I would call a lawyer. I lived in a bad apartment complex once, neighbourhood was nice but compex was terrible because it was cheap. It was so bad I am not even going to start here explaining what was going on. i moved out, of course ended up paying more but i will never live in a bad place. Go to a lawyer, don't allow to be evicted, but then I suggest wait until your lease is up and move somewhere else.

  • mom2emall
    15 years ago

    Do you have a year lease...or a month to month lease? If you have a month to month lease they really don't need any reason to evict you. If you have a year long lease then you have a leg to stand on. What is the cause they stated for the eviction?

    Is the 30 day notice signed or stamped by the courts?

    Since your apartment is in a bad neighborhood maybe this is the time for you to get out and find a better place. You have mentioned not liking your location or school before...maybe a move is what you need.

    If your against moving call a lawyer for a consultation.

  • doodleboo
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    It isn't a court stamped notice. Just signed. I guess they are tossing us out due to "trespassing" but the thing is he was only locking the door to keep the tresspassers out! HAHAHAHA I mmean there were people taking things from the apartment!

    We want to move anyway. The apartment sucks, the neighborhood sucks and the school sucks. What stuck in my crawl was the way they tried to make it sound like he was breaking and entering or vandalizing the apartment. All he did was lock the door and let himself out the front with the dooer locked behind him so no one could get in or out without a key.

    When I called the big dog all he did was threaten us with criminal tresspassing charges if we raise a stink and he claimed he has letters stated other esidents had seen Jonathan in the apartment prior to this incident. The funny thing is the dates of the letters were the dates when we were 2 hours away at my parents house in florida!!! I don't know if he was just trying to scare me or what. It's awful that a man would bully a family around like this just because he has his hand in every pocket in the county and he has money to get good lawyers. It's so unfair.

    Now all the money wee had for the custody battle is gone to deposits and moving costs. It'll eb a whole nother year before we can get the girls legally. God. I'm crying now. This sucks so hard. We were so ready to be done with this mess and now here we are at ground zero again.

  • mom_of_4
    15 years ago

    Well in our area and I assume it is fairly similar in most areas the dirty little secret of property management is that they can send eviction notices all day long but unless it is approved by the court it doesnt mean squat. It generally takes a minimum of three months to evict a person (and that is when you have cause) There are all kinds of steps that a property management company has to take to offcially evict someone. But, the fact is usually people move on when they get the little notice tacked on their door. Personally we had a major issue with our apartment complex once. The foundation cracked and we had a major water leak... leaving water min of 3 inches deep throughout the entire apartment... courtesy of their lack of response sooooo much stuff was ruined and there was mold already growing. We asked we pleaded for a new apartment... which we were told no. So we wanted out of our lease and we were told no without paying huge fees and what not. Our solution ended up being calling the local news station (you know the so and so on your side person) They came out did a story and magically all of our problems were solved... It is amazing what a little media pressure can do.

    Like someone else said there is more than likely a tenants rights person... or simply look up the laws yourself... being informed is the easiest way to fight something like this... then if all else fails make them look bad on tv.

    And I just remembered ... I am fairly certain there is a law or ordinance in our area about leaving vacant properties open. It is a hazard... I would check into that as well.

  • imamommy
    15 years ago

    I'm in CA. I serve papers and the first step is giving an informal notice. Usually it's a 3 day notice to pay or quit, or a 30-60-90 day notice. That has to be served and can be served by the landlord/management. Once the time on THAT notice (and the right form has to be used according to the reason they are evicting) passes, then they must file a court petition to evict you. Once you are served with that, you have a period of time to file a response and then it may be set for a hearing. At that time, you can explain to the court why you disagree with the eviction and the court will decide if you have to leave. Continue to pay your rent. If they refuse to accept your rent, put your rent money into a separate savings account so when you are in court, you can show the Judge that you have put your rent money into an account because the landlord refused to accept it.

    You have rights. Most courts have unlawful detainer assistance or legal aid to answer questions. An attorney might be too expensive but there are usually other resources.

    You may also have a defense that THEY failed to provide a safe situation for your family because THEY should have locked up the apartment to keep out the riff raff. There is more to being a landlord than collecting rent and fixing the plumbing. They cannot create an unsafe condition and if another tenant skips out, leaving a unit empty where it attracts bums, drug dealers, prostitutes or anyone else to go hang out there and become a nuisance, it places your family in danger and it's the landlords responsibility to see that doesn't happen.

  • believer
    15 years ago

    I know that when my DD20's stalker boyfriend was behind in his rent his landlord had to hand him the notice to evict and then they both were at the court house on the same day, same time. BF was even given the chance to speak with the judge.

    I'm not sure your landlord is doing it the legal way. I would call the courts and find out for sure. I would think the landlord may have more to loose in the long run than you do.

    I'm so sorry Doodle....will pray for you guys.

  • serenity_now_2007
    15 years ago

    I would fight it, Doodle. Even though you want to move anyways, you don't need the 'bad press' these days when it seems many landlords want "references" as well as credit checks before they'll let you move in somewhere new. ESPECIALLY when the bad press is totally unjustified! Let the landlord bring it to court, then it'll be on him (it already is, but even more so) to prove just cause for evicting you. Unless he has photos of J in the act of doing serious damages, I don't think he has a leg to stand on. You can present your side of the story. Any proof you can find to document that J wasn't there when the landlord and his fake letters say he was will show the landlord to be a liar. Any proof of J being drug-free, gainfully employed and a prompt rent-and-bill payer will also help, as will character witnesses. You should also work on putting into concise and convincing terms an alternative theory as to why you believe this landlord is unfairly picking on you, and any additional hard evidence you can find to back that up. If you can show that he has another motive, he could be in serious trouble.

  • believer
    15 years ago

    There isn't any way that BM and her BF could have a hand in this? Just remembering what a jerk BF was when he was at your place a while back.

  • quirk
    15 years ago

    Well, mom2emall had a good question; are you on a lease or m2m? If it's m2m, the 30-day notice they gave you was probably perfectly legal, depending on the specifics of the rental agreement for required notice. Even so, check it, though, it might say something to the effect of a month starts at the first and 30-day notice due by the first, which would be the difference between having to move by April 18 or 30.

    If you're on a lease, though, they can only evict you for violating the lease and they probably first have to give you notice of how you are in violation of the lease and give you opportunity to correct it, then when you don't correct it they can go to court and have you legally evicted. The specifics of how they do that vary according to local laws, but they have to go to court to do it.

    Do you think they're trying to do something like empty out the building so they can sell or convert the property? I ask because if they're looking for excuses to get rid of paying tenants, leaving apartments vacant, not taking care of the place, etc, it would fit. And if that's the case, first of all it's not really legal but you might be able to use it to your benefit. You want to move anyway, but money is a problem. They're trying to intimidate you into leaving, but maybe if you don't let yourself be intimidated, they would be willing to bribe you? If they really want you out, and you offer to leave without a fight for the small small price of reasonable moving costs? Obviously I'm speculating, but it is not an unheard of situation.

  • mariealways
    15 years ago

    doodleboo, what state are you in? And do you have a lease? I'm a lawyer. I don't practice landlord tenant law, but I do landlord tenant pro bono work from time to time. I'll offer some advice, but I need more information first.

  • believer
    15 years ago

    Mariealways,

    Such a cool thing for you do to....Bless you.

  • sweeby
    15 years ago

    So Doodle -- Why do you think they want to evict you? Because what J did sounds responsible to me, and like the kind of behavior a landlord would want in a tennant. In other words, while that may be what they're saying, I don't think it's the real reason.

    If you think of something else, you certainly don't have to share it here -- but it's something to think about. Because evicting tennants who pay the rent in a recession like we're in just doesn't make much sense...

  • organic_maria
    15 years ago

    Sounds to me like your landlord is rotten and there is definitely funny business a foot if he is so eager to throw you out.
    For one: the letter is not court approved.
    Two: As tenants, you have the legal right to stay until the end of your lease and since there is no criminal charges against your husband and there is no proof..because the burden of proof is on them to prove that your husband tresspast in court....then the letter means nothing.
    You can send a letter yourself stating your lease is up on this date and that you will move on that date. Its up to them to take you to court.
    Let them waste their money. Let them pursue. Have a back plan in case...but i'm sure Mariealways can offer you good sound advice to top it.
    And sweeby has a point. Land lords tend to keep good tenants. It doesn't make sense to me...unless you are paying low rent and its an excuse to get you out...so they can raise the rent as high as they want.

    Plus, its not trespassing to lock a door. You can be physically standing out on the hall way see the door open and close it.. ...I've locked by neighbours door by not standing in her house. I reach with my hand , pressed the button and closed the door. That is not tresspassing.
    so unless there is somehting else...i honestly do not know what ot say.
    And if the area is so terrible...why would you wnat to raise your kids in it?

  • silversword
    15 years ago

    Hi Doodle,
    I was so sorry to see this post! I'll be thinking of you.

    Organic Maria, I think the trespassing was because her husband had to go in the house to shut and lock the sliding glass door, then he let himself out the front door (able to lock and leave, unlike a slider)

    I agree with above though... if y'all have been paying rent, etc and are good tenants, this seems a little overblown. Could there be anything else/any other reasons?

  • finedreams
    15 years ago

    when i lived in a bad compex we had people evicted for the following: substance abuse in a hallway, excessive noise, breaking and damaging property. Those seem to be the reasons. Not to say you did any of that but maybe neighbours complained about somehting and if complains are continous, landlord might decide something. My neighbors were evicted after all of us repeatedly complained. I wonder if someone complained about something (maybe it is BM's and her BF's doing)

  • doodleboo
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Wow thanks for all the input.

    Sweeby-

    We are MODEL tenants. We have never been late on payment. The kids are well behaved and quite. The apartment is clean (for a couple with a newborn), we get along really well with our neighbors. We've never had a tuft with the landlord. We never complain....even though we should. Hell, we even always park in our parkking space. We did only sighn on for six months lease so maybe they want us out for that reason? Another guess is they are trying to get rid of all the Non-Hud tenants. She has been getting rid of all the working families and all she has been moving back in is government assissted families. We think they may be trying to turn this place into Government housing.

    She has been doing this left and right to seemingly good families. We are the fourth apartment that everyone is shocked to see evicted. The last was a family with two children. He was a cop and she was a teacher. Same kindof circumstances.....she made a mountain out of some tiny mole hill nad evicted them over some stupid he said she said accusation that he was flashing his weapon on property...totally absurd! They were a real nice family. I have heard from tons of folks that the owner is a crook so who knows.

    Besides...why would they feel the need to find an excuse to evict us if they had a real legit reason? That makes no sense. They are pretty much accusing him of trying to steal. That's pretty insulting. I can't imagine why they would use this instead of just being honest if it was something else because it certainly isn't a flattering accusation to be called a thief! If they have the balls to say that I imagine they'd say if it were for another reason. It seems like they are LOOKING for reasons to me.

  • doodleboo
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    As far as it possibly being BM and BF....I doubt it. I don't think she would want her kids chunked out in the streets. She has no where to keep them so I would HOPE she wouldn't do anything like that. As for possible complaints.....we don't do anything. We never have company. We never throw parties. We don't listen to loud music. The kids are really well behaved and keep it down. The baby cries sometimes but I don't think you can hear her through the walls. Our landlord lives right next to us so if there was a noise problem we would of heard about it a loooong time ago. She would of been the first to know.

    I think theres something bigger going on here. I think they want to turn this into government housing so they won't have to keep the grounds up out of pocket and they'll get one huge check monthly from uncle sam. My elderly neighbor feels they are trying to push her out by raising her rent to where she can't afford it.

  • serenity_now_2007
    15 years ago

    I think one or both the reasons suggested by quirk and organicmaria sound plausible: the landlord either wants to sell or get higher rent from someone else. Or he wants to take advantage of the housing market 'down time' and go in there & do renos and then sell later, and you have to have tenants out to do that. Highly possible that he's buying up properties in the area while they're cheaper, overextending himself in the process and looking to recoup costs.

    Could be something else, but generally if there's something hinky going on in a situation where money changes hands it's because someone wants more money. Somehow. And especially when the economy's got many people in panic/blitzkrieg mode. I seriously doubt it's anything personal against J or your family, but it's still crappy and unfair of the landlord to handle it this way. And not entirely legal.

    It might not be a bad idea to try and find info to 'connect the dots' regarding this landlord's activities/expenditures. At some point it may be possible for a lawyer to find some of this stuff out, or a court to subpoena the landlord's financial information. I'm no legal professional, but it would seem to me that if a court finds the landlord to have a financial motive and to be unable to produce credible evidence of any offenses committed or any paper trail of legal notice to you, he could be found guilty of fraud, libel and/or breach of contract. If, of course, you have a regular lease. If you don't, there's no breach of contract and he can kick you out, but I would still do what I could to protect myself against the unfounded accusations as fraud/libel.

  • doodleboo
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    We live in Georgia

    We have a six month lease.
    We have been living at this apartment complex for a year.
    The first lease was nine months and then we signed a six month lease.

    The eviction letter we recieved was not court stamped. It was just typed up by Tammy. Do we HAVE to get out in 30 days or do we have 90 legally? DO you know?

    We are going to leave regardless but a family with three children is going to need more than thirty days to move.

  • mom2emall
    15 years ago

    Another idea...have you complained about anything to the management? If so they may want to get rid of you and get some people in there who don't care if things are not fixed.

    I know that I once had a slumlord that never fixed anything. From the day I moved in there was problems ranging from no smoke detectors, to a stove that the gas company turned off gas to because it leaked gas, to windows with no screens, etc. I made a list and gave it to the landlord and nothing. We battled. I ended up calling the local building inspectors from the town we lived in and my landlord got $10,000 in fines for the place not being up to code.

    He tried to evict me after that and it was nothing but trouble..but I stayed for the lenght of my lease and then got the heck out. I had begun moving my things and had 2 weeks left on my lease. All my important things and things I used daily had been moved into my new place and I had planned on going back slowly over the next two weeks to get the rest in my car and clean so I could attempt to get my security deposit.

    The landlord sent some employees over during the day when I was gone and they emptied the rest of my things out of my apartment!! One of my neighbors called me and I showed up to see the dumpster full of the rest of my things. I called the police, they took pictures. Then I took the landlord to small claims court (they had a lawyer and I did not)

    The judge caught them in tons of lies and pretty much told them off and awarded me $3000. It was funny because I was my own lawyer and I got to question them and point out lies.....made me want to go into law :)

    They tried to not pay and I had to bring them to court again and I finally started receiving payments.

    Landlords do not have lots of rights...tenants have more rights than landlords in a lot of cases.

  • doodleboo
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I think you and the others are right. I think I mentioned that this man is buying up all of the apartment complexes where we live. I don't know where we are going to go because he almost owns all of them!

    It's just really cruddy that they can't just be honest about. It is just so awful to kick a family out and then threaten them with criminal charges for LOCKING A DOOR! J has felt awful ever since. I think he's apologized a thousand times. APOLOGIZE FOR WHAT! Doing the landlords job?! She should of secured that building and the ironic thing is we were friendly with the kids who lived there and if they were here and he had locked their door for them while they were at work they would of said THANKS! I think the criminal tresspassing charges thing is BS becuase technically Chris and Lauren still live there since their lease hasn't been terminated so the only two people who could even press charges would be them....and they wouldn't anyway.

  • doodleboo
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    There was that one time when I was pregnant when they had to put us up in the hotel room because of fumes from carpet sealant. Do you guys remember that? The fumes were so strong we got sick. We had been gone all day to an OB appointment and came home to an apartment full of fumes. They were so strong the cat was vomiting. We demanded they put us up in a hotel since I was pregnant and we had no notice prior to it being done. They tried to argue but we called my doctor who said it was dangerous so I guess they started thinking it wasn't worth being sued.....That has been the only incident.

  • serenity_now_2007
    15 years ago

    I don't know how that would work, with making the place into government housing. The landlords certainly couldn't decide to do that themselves, that would be the government & eminent domain. Or they could be wanting to willingly sell the place to the government. I have no idea whether the government pays really big or really small when it comes to that.

    But if the government is or will be involved, my guess is the transactions would be public record and perhaps even easier to prove there was a personal financial motive for landlord.

    If ---worst case scenario--- you are right that the place will be govt. housing and it also becomes evident that the local municipal government are all in bed with the local landlords, I think you'd have to get a lawyer and try to get any court proceedings moved to a different jurisdiction.

    Another question: is your 6-month lease up or soon to be up? The timing would seem to be pretty important because if it's about to come up, they might be trying to intimidate you out of renewing, for their own purposes, all while claiming that since your lease is almost up they are giving you appropriate notice. If your lease is two or more months away from being up, they're probably trying to do the same thing, but they'd have to resort to the trumped-up charge to justify why they're terminating your lease so early.

    Do you know the timeframes of the other evicted tenants' leases? Try to get together with them and share information amongst yourselves and see if you all can find any patterns.

  • doodleboo
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I only have contact with the one family. One lady had cancer and got kicked out when she returned from the hospitol. ON THE SAME DAY NO LESS! How cold is that? Hey, Welcome home. How'd your cancer surgery go...by the way....GET OUT.

    The other guy was asked to leave after he signed a six month lease and told Tammy he wasn't sugning for another whole year because he was looking for a house. He got the boot roughly a week later.

    We just signed the new lease at the end of January which is further proof that we wew good tenants. Why did she offer us renewal just to kick us out 2 months later? We didn't go from good tenants to the Osbournes in two months for weeping out loud!

  • serenity_now_2007
    15 years ago

    That's just horrible. Sounds like these landlords are looking to get all the money they can get, no matter what, obviously. I'm guessing they have full confidence they can always get new tenants, based on the risks they're willing to take (flouting the law, messing with other people's lives and not keeping the place in decent shape) in exchange for the crappy treatment they think they can afford to get away with.

  • doodleboo
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    It is horrible. We just all keep thinking "How can they get away with this?"

    J told me when he went on the back porch to talk some of our neighbors after recieving the notice they all went to check their doors for one too! Everybody is paranoid. It seems people are getting booted out for such bogus reasons and it's like we are all holding our breath waiting to get the letter.

    The elderly lady I mentioned lives right next to us. She has been there 27 years and she is terrified she's going to get kicked out before her car gets paid off because she's on a very fixed income. When we told her we were being evicted she cried. She's gotten attached to the girls and she is afraid of who or rather WHAT Tammy will move in next to her. It seems nothing but bad news has been moving in lately. It is us, the elderly lady and a Reverend who lives above the elderly lady in that building now. It's pretty quite except for the good Reverends morning sermons but we don't mind those at all:) I'm sure she's scared thugs are going to get moved in next to her....maybe that's the plan. Kill two birds with one stone.

  • quirk
    15 years ago

    So you have three months left on your lease? Then no, they can't just tell you to leave, they have to evict you for a lease violation. That's kind of the whole point of a lease-- it legally locks both landlord and tenant in through the end of the lease term.

    So, what to do?

    First off, are you scared enough of the trespassing prosecution threat to just leave? (i'm not going to offer advice on this). Or do you think they could find actual, legitimate lease violations to allow for eviction? If they actually take you to court and have you legally evicted, you would be in a worse position because at that point it would be immediate so you could be locked out on the streets with no place to go (well, unless you manage to line up a place between now and court date). They CAN NOT just change the locks on you and put you out at the end of 30 days, but once the actual court has ordered and eviction (if they could get one), then they can do that. (And, no, I do not know your local laws, but I'm reasonably certain this is universally true in the US).

    So if you think either might stick, you might want to just move. But it sounds like you don't, so if that's the case...

    So, assuming you want to try to stay through the lease... how to handle the 30-day notice? I can see two options, other people might have other thoughts. 1)You can ignore it and just not move. 2) You can send a certified letter reiterating the dates of the lease and letting them know you will be moving on (last day of lease here).

    I'm inclined to go with #2 because it creates a written record and makes everything clear and up front. I'd also hesitate to go the #1 route because I would be concerned lack of response to the notice might be legally interpreted as agreement to move, so I would NOT do this unless you get genuine legal advice saying it's ok.

    The downside I can see to #2 is that it gives them notice you won't be leaving and lets them get started right away on actual eviction, if they would even bother to go that route.

    You almost certainly have local tenant's rights groups, so yeah, if you want to stay through your lease, I'd get advice from them on the correct way to go about it. I'd also ask (if you don't already know) about local court biases... different jurisdictions tend to lean different ways in terms of how favorable to landlords vs tenants they are in disputes. Your likelihood of winning if they do pursue eviction might depend somewhat on the natural biases of your local courts, and might influence your choice of whether to fight.

  • Ashley
    15 years ago

    Doodle...I live in GA too, and I'm fairly certain that the other ladies are correct...the landlord has to take you to court before they can just kick you out.

    I was just wondering how they found out that J went in to lock the doors in the first place? How did they know they were not locked by the former tenants?

    Serenity...I don't think Doodle means that they plan to sell the complex to the Govt., just that the Landlord plans to move Section 8 tenants in to the apartment. The Government covers a portion and sometimes all of the rent under section 8 housing.

  • justnotmartha
    15 years ago

    Ok, this one stinks. My first thought was Section 8, so I'm glad to see someone else went there as well. The expectations and standards of government housing are often less than that of 'nice' housing, so it's less expense for the owners. There are other perks that make this attractive for property owners, so out go the tenants that do not qualify for government assistance.

    My next question was did the owners know about the people coming and going upstairs, and were they participating in something that wasn't exactly legal?

    I like the idea that they could be in the wrong for not securing the vacant property. I'd check that out right away.

    I'd like to see you move just because this doesn't sound like a great place for all the Doodlebugs, but I hate to see your saving for custody issues go to deposits. If you can fight this long enough to get through the court stuff that might be your best plan??

    Hugs to you babe.

  • doodleboo
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Section 8 is exactly what they are pulling. They are bullying all non hud tenants into leaving or finding any stinking excuse to evict them. Thats what everyone here thinks and thye are scared to walk sideways for fear they'll get their walking papers.

    raek-

    Her nosey obnoxious 14 year old kid was in the back yard when he went into the apartment but he didn't think anything of it. It never crossed his mind he was doing something wrong and he should be sneaky about it. The kid ran and got his mom and by the time J had checked to make sure no one was in the apartment and let himself out the front door locking it behind him....Tammy and her husband were coming up the stairs. He had nothing in his hands so it isn't like he walked out with a TV. I just don't see why this has gotten so blown up. As far as how did they know the door was open I'm guessing one of two things. SHe didn't have a CLUE untill her kid went running to rat J out and thought she'd better get in there and cover her @$$ fast OR it was a setup. They knew other people had been going in and out of there and wanted to catch someone and J was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

    When I got home today J told me he got into with her and basically told her that he knew that she and the owner was up to something. He also told her how disgusting they both were for kicking families into the street and he hopes she enjoys her weekend. She told him "Thanks for ruining my day" His reply was "Thanks for ruining our year Tammy. We were going to court to get the girls with that money." He walked out at that point. sigh. What a total mess.

  • mariealways
    15 years ago

    doodleboo, I have been swamped with a case that needs motions filed on Monday, but I will look at the law over the weekend and get back to you.

  • sweeby
    15 years ago

    "It seems like they are LOOKING for reasons to me."

    That's exactly what I meant! NOT to imply that you aren't model tennants, because I didn't believe that for a minute. Sometimes it's personal, but more often (I think), there's a financial motive.

    "Another guess is they are trying to get rid of all the Non-Hud tenants. She has been getting rid of all the working families and all she has been moving back in is government assissted families. We think they may be trying to turn this place into Government housing."

    NOW I think you're onto something!...

    "The Government covers a portion and sometimes all of the rent under section 8 housing."

    There's some financial advantage to this for the landlord. I don't know much about it, but when we were setting up our TV and couldn't change the channel yet, there was an informercial on about buying up real estate and renting it undeer Section 8 laws, and how you could 'get rich quick' doing that. I wouldn't be at all surprised if that was what Tammy was up to.

    Is there a decent newspaper anywhere nearby? One with an investigative journalist who might be willing to do some digging in exchange for a juicy story? Because I smell a rat...

    Or course, you may not want to go to all of that trouble since you were wanting to move anyway. But if that landlord controls a large chunk of the market, you could be in trouble no matter what happens with this particular apartment. And maybe the only way to have any housing security would be to get the government looking into her business.

    How much effort are you willing to go to?
    And regardless of the 'right and wrong of it' (easier said than done, I know), what do you want your outcome to be?

  • mary_md7
    15 years ago

    Your county or city should have a landlord-tenant office or housing office that can tell you exactly what your rights are. That office should also be responsible for evaluating possible violations by landlords. I would recommend that you write all of this out clearly (the facts, not speculation) and talk to someone at that office on Monday morning.

  • cat38
    15 years ago

    doodle
    call you local legal aide office they will help you with everything.. They have laws for a reason your landlord cant evict you for no reason and especially when you have a new baby and the twins... GOOD LUCK

  • lamom
    15 years ago

    doodle,

    First I'm sorry that you are going through this. My husband and I are landlords so I can give you perspective from the other side of the fence.

    Someone earlier said that landlords and managements companies do not like to lose good tenants. This is absolutley true! Not only that, but most bend over backwards to keep good tenants. Good tenants are those who pay on time, in full and maintain their apartments.

    Is your rent low compared to the other apartments in the area? They may want to put in Section 8 tenants in order to get guaranteed cash flow. However, just so you know, the government is pretty strigent on maintenance so Section 8 is often a double edged sword for landlords. Market (regular) tenants who pay are much more desirable than Section 8 tenants any day of the week.

    Did the management company give you a Cure or Quit notice or a Pay or Quit? These notices give you an opportunity of either 3 or 5 days to fix whatever they say you are doing wrong whether it's being behind on the rent, or whatever. What the others said is true, it can take months to complete an eviction. However, you don't want that on your credit because it will make near impossible to get a new place.

    Whatever your notice says you need to do or have done, comply. I understand that you are angry but if you can show an eviction court that you have tried to comply with whatever they are accusing you of, that will help you. Continue to pay your rent if they will accept it. The burglary thing sounds trumped up and as a landlord kind of dumb. There must be more to this.

  • doodleboo
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Lamom- All we got was a letter typed up by the property manager saying we had to be out in thirty days. There was no court stamp and no cure or quit option. Just get out.

    We have been looking into Georgia law and it seems our hands are pretty much tied. We want to leave anyway...just not right now! If we raise a stink all they would have to do is go to the court and see if they would grant them the eviction and if by chance they did....we could all be locked out tomorrow. The courts may or may no grant it based on the situation but with kids in tow we can't risk getting tossed out without a place to go.

    This is a plain and simple case of the little guy getting screwed by the man and it makes me mad as hell but with the kids we have to sit back and take it. It isn't worth the risk of them not having a roof. At least this way we can line something else up.

    I hate this. I hate that they are trying to make J out to be a crook when I know damn well he isn't one. Ihate that they can sleep at night knowing they kicked a family of five out on the streets. What I hate the most is knowing stuff like this probably happens everyday and there is nothing or no one to really stop it.

    Thanks for all the imput ladies. It's going to be hard but we will manage.

  • silversword
    15 years ago

    It must be awful to have his name smeared like this. I'd imagine that's the worst part. You can find a better place to live but getting past that would be hard for me. At least you know better but he must feel awful. That's what you get for trying to be a good neighbor. It's sad.

  • doodleboo
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Silversword-

    You are so right. That has been the worst part os all of this. He really was just trying to keep trouble from brewing. Frankly he was doing the managers job when she wasn't! Look at what it got him.

    He just keeps apologizing to me over and over for "getting us kicked out." It makes me sick. I told him this wasn't his fault but it doesn't help him to feel better. On a positive note what has happened has spread like wild fire amongst our neighbors and they are all horrified. At least they all know what really happened.

  • silversword
    15 years ago

    Well, you can let "J" know (I think I can speak for everyone) that all the women on this board think he is a 'real man' and would be proud to have him as a neighbor. And in the long run he probably did you all a favor. A landlord like that is not one worth having, and who knows what the next straw would have been.

    Take care,
    Silver

  • fiveinall
    15 years ago

    I used to work in tax credit (low income) housing...luckily it was for a great company. Here is my opinion:
    1) Have you recieved any warning letters at all from this place? If not, and you are NOT month to month, then they have to have a REASON to evict you. I don't buy the whole tresspassing thing at all...something else is going on and YES sometimes management and owners have other motives they aren't gonna share...so you need to go ASAP to legal aide and talk with someone....I am sure they would be glad to send a letter on your behalf to fight this....and honestly, when my company recieved a letter from legal aide..we negotiated with them and settled cause we didn't want to have to go to court.... So if you have been a "model" tenant get your hiney to legal aide ASAP!!!!!!!
    Once you have that straight though...I would get out of there!

  • believer
    15 years ago

    Doodle,

    I'd take J and you and the girls as neighbors any day.