Roomate Landlord Suing me... I need help.

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deanicity

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This was a unique living situation. There was three of us that signed the lease to the house we were renting from.

All three of us are being sued. Our landlord is suing us for over 4,000 dollars worth of damages. That is with our security deposit and a few other credits being associated with that total sum that he has come up with.

In the lease, it states that my roomate was fully responsible for replacing the carpets in that house. She owns a dog, so this dog was present in the home, and it was documented within the lease, with also underlining that my roomate was completely responsible for these carpets if damage was done by the dog.

Now, there is no damage to these carpets. We went over these carpets with a carpet cleaner numerous times, just to be on the safe side, even before that process started, the carpets didn't look bad. We were just thorough. We all decided that we would leave the house in tip top shape, we cleaned everything.

We also have pictures of the carpets.. They looked fine and it was the same carpet from the previous tenants that lived there. We know this because we were moving our furniture in as the previous tenant was moving his out. That is how fast that transaction went down.

He is trying to sue us for the carpets anyway, his estimate is about 2,500 dollars.

Now..

Our Landlord was not a very good landlord. When we moved in there were problems with the house, that we even mentioned to him before we completely moved in. He said he would have his people come and take care of it. He never, ever did. He did not fix one problem that was pre-existing, or came about.

The windows were faulty. The floor was sinking in. We later discovered a vent with all sorts of dust, foam, wooden boards and shavings. This vent duct was completely filled with things that I believe made me very sick. I have never been so sick in my life, I had numerous hospital and doctor bills while I lived there. I have not been to the doctor once since I moved out, I've been removed from this property for about 4 months now. Not one complication.

Also in the lease.. It states that he would cover the difference of the gas bill that exceeded more then 300 dollars during the three coldest months of winter. So, if our monthly bill was 400 dollars, we would pay 300 maximum, and he would pay the difference of 100 dollars. He NEVER did.

Instead, he came up with his overall damage sum, now he is trying to credit what he already owed us off of his damage estimate.

In his damage suit, he has listed for example, 84 dollars for pulling weeds? Are you serious?

We have pictures of the carpets, the nasty vent and everything that was contained with in it. He wrote down on the lease about the problems we were concerned with, but never fixed. He wrote down the issue and intialed beside it, on the actual lease.

The house was a health hazard for me. I was sick so much living there. During the winter time, the heat was not effective at all, the upstairs only had one floor register to heat a bathroom, and two bedrooms. It was not enough at all, it was a like a complete ice box, especially with the windows beings so bad.

One window had a crack going up the frame, you could literally see outside through this crack. Cold air was constantly coming through. I unfortunetly did not get a picture of this window. I was unable to even live in this house due to how cold it was during those winter months. I now know why he tried to reassure us that he would pay the difference on the gas bill during those three coldest months. It was unbearable.

My trial date is two weeks from today. I feel emotionally stressed and overwhelmed. I'm seeking any advice that I can get. I need to know if I have any options here, if I have a case against him. I feel I do, maybe I'm wrong.

My landlord often claims to people that he takes everyone to court and he ALWAYS wins. I would love to put an end to his streak.

He has every attorney in my town under his payrole though. Nobody will help me because it is a conflict of interest to them. I'm boggled down here.

Please help if you can.
 
Counterclaim the things he said he'd pay that are enumerated in your lease. An example would be the gas payments above $300 monthly.

Document the offsets and total what you believe he owes you. Then make that argument in court.

Also, relax. This isn't a murder rap. It is nothing more than a garden variety civil dispute.


In the end, a judge will hear both sides of this story and decide. You'd be wise to bring real people as your witnesses, not just letters. Bringing all tenants would be very wise. If they can't come, try to bring their notarized statements. Also bring proof, pictures, videoes, receipts, etc...
 
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