Our landlords have become quite upset with us after we gave them proper 30 day notice of our intent to not stay past the end of this lease. (It inconveniences them to have to re-lease the property.)
We gave them notice on the 30th of July, with a rent check that paid up through the 21st of August. We asked them to take the remainder out of our damage deposit. They refused (within their rights), and stated we owed them the remainder of August rent. The next day, we received mail at our residence indicating that we have been paying more than required for the water bill for 9 months, and the landlord never notified us. We had paid to the landlord over $300 above what we should have since last September. We notified them of this, and told them that we would expect this to cover the remainder of the rent. They agreed and said they made a mistake, and applied the overpayment to our account for rent. Rent was paid in full, right? We had also asked them for an immediate refund of the remaining $130some dollars that was left from the overpayment. They stated it would be held "on account" for additional rent and damage. We felt this was wrong of them to continue to withhold money they acknowleged was ours without our consent, so we stopped payment on the original rent check, and issued them a new one minus the money they refused to refund.
All of this took place between the 30th of July and the 10th of August. After the 10th is when a late fee of $50 kicks in if rent is not paid in full. Rent was paid in full by the 10th. On the 11th, we received 3 day notice for failure to pay rent. They acknowleged that the original rent amount was paid in full, but assessed charges for furnace repair done in 11/05, plumbing repair done in 4/06, and for hot tub filters purchased on the 10th for replacement because they were dirty.
We had never been previously notified that they expected reimbursement for the furnace repair. We thought since it was a major fixture of the house, and it was not under $50 (as th lease says), and it was a repair, not care or maintenance, it was the landlords responsibility. They never indicated it was our bill.
We offered to pay for the plumbing repair on the date of service (the landlord fixed it), but he declined payment for his time ("Don't worry about it" was his statement). He accepted payment for parts.
The dirty hot tub filters have since been cleaned, by me, and are working fine.
Questions:
1. Can they add rent the day after the cutoff, then charge us a $50 late rent fee, and evict us for nonpayment of rent?
2. Can they bill us for work performed months ago? The lease states added rent will be paid on the next rent cycle.
3. Can they arbitrarily decide to replace the hot tub filters before the lease term is over, and add that as "added rent"?
4. Can they really get us evicted over this?
Thanks for any help!
We gave them notice on the 30th of July, with a rent check that paid up through the 21st of August. We asked them to take the remainder out of our damage deposit. They refused (within their rights), and stated we owed them the remainder of August rent. The next day, we received mail at our residence indicating that we have been paying more than required for the water bill for 9 months, and the landlord never notified us. We had paid to the landlord over $300 above what we should have since last September. We notified them of this, and told them that we would expect this to cover the remainder of the rent. They agreed and said they made a mistake, and applied the overpayment to our account for rent. Rent was paid in full, right? We had also asked them for an immediate refund of the remaining $130some dollars that was left from the overpayment. They stated it would be held "on account" for additional rent and damage. We felt this was wrong of them to continue to withhold money they acknowleged was ours without our consent, so we stopped payment on the original rent check, and issued them a new one minus the money they refused to refund.
All of this took place between the 30th of July and the 10th of August. After the 10th is when a late fee of $50 kicks in if rent is not paid in full. Rent was paid in full by the 10th. On the 11th, we received 3 day notice for failure to pay rent. They acknowleged that the original rent amount was paid in full, but assessed charges for furnace repair done in 11/05, plumbing repair done in 4/06, and for hot tub filters purchased on the 10th for replacement because they were dirty.
We had never been previously notified that they expected reimbursement for the furnace repair. We thought since it was a major fixture of the house, and it was not under $50 (as th lease says), and it was a repair, not care or maintenance, it was the landlords responsibility. They never indicated it was our bill.
We offered to pay for the plumbing repair on the date of service (the landlord fixed it), but he declined payment for his time ("Don't worry about it" was his statement). He accepted payment for parts.
The dirty hot tub filters have since been cleaned, by me, and are working fine.
Questions:
1. Can they add rent the day after the cutoff, then charge us a $50 late rent fee, and evict us for nonpayment of rent?
2. Can they bill us for work performed months ago? The lease states added rent will be paid on the next rent cycle.
3. Can they arbitrarily decide to replace the hot tub filters before the lease term is over, and add that as "added rent"?
4. Can they really get us evicted over this?
Thanks for any help!
