We are being taken to small claims court by our old landlord. A little background. She is one of those typical bad landlords. She misrepresented her space, the surrounding area and conducted false advertising. On several occasions she harassed our employees by entering without notice, which is a violation of the lease.
We conducted business as a Pet Boutique. Items she is seeking damages for are:
1. Unpaid rent. This is in the amount for $667.00, $50.00 of which is a late fee charge. This was for November '07. Over a year later she is claiming a late fee. We did pay rent though. We deducted $617.00 for a plumbing repair. The plumber informed us that the work done prior to us entering into a contract was not up to code. The landlord did not disclose this and there was no way of us knowing this because the plumbing was behind a wall. We have a statement from the plumber. Her response was "you deal with it".
2. Flooring. We had to remove a stain covered, old and worn carpet in order to conduct business. She knew of the type of business we were conducting. We put in a floating, laminate floor. Both carpet and laminate flooring is not permanent or an alteration. We removed the flooring when we vacated. She is saying we owe $4000.00 for new carpet.
3. Paint. She claims that the walls were heavily damaged. We hung a few pictures and a curtain. We also painted our store colors. This is normal wear and tear. She is saying we owe $875.00 for repairs and new paint to return it to the original white color.
4. Garbage. She is saying we owe $150.00 for garbage left. When we entered the building we had to pay for trash removal, and we left the space cleaner than when we entered. We have pictures.
5. Store front. She is saying we owe $450.00 to fix two holes in an aluminum frame. All she did was put a new piece of aluminum over the old one. Also, the holes were pre-existing.
6. Dead bolt. She says we owe $95.00 to replace a dead bolt. Normal wear and tear and since when is a dead bolt $95.00?
7. Carpet. She says we owe $75.00 to clean the carpet. Normal wear and tear again, and this carpet, like the carpet that was removed was stained, old and worn.
8. Rent. We did not pay our last month's rent of $2888.00 because we knew she would screw us out of our security deposit of $5000.00, which in fact was the case.
All-in-all she claims we owe $9200.00 minus the $5000.00 for the security deposit totaling $4200.00. With all of her claims there is no proof of work, receipts or estimates. Just her claims in a hand written letter. We feel that we do not owe any money at all and should in fact be returned a portion of our security deposit that was due within 21 days of termination of the lease as according to our lease agreement.
Please advise.
We conducted business as a Pet Boutique. Items she is seeking damages for are:
1. Unpaid rent. This is in the amount for $667.00, $50.00 of which is a late fee charge. This was for November '07. Over a year later she is claiming a late fee. We did pay rent though. We deducted $617.00 for a plumbing repair. The plumber informed us that the work done prior to us entering into a contract was not up to code. The landlord did not disclose this and there was no way of us knowing this because the plumbing was behind a wall. We have a statement from the plumber. Her response was "you deal with it".
2. Flooring. We had to remove a stain covered, old and worn carpet in order to conduct business. She knew of the type of business we were conducting. We put in a floating, laminate floor. Both carpet and laminate flooring is not permanent or an alteration. We removed the flooring when we vacated. She is saying we owe $4000.00 for new carpet.
3. Paint. She claims that the walls were heavily damaged. We hung a few pictures and a curtain. We also painted our store colors. This is normal wear and tear. She is saying we owe $875.00 for repairs and new paint to return it to the original white color.
4. Garbage. She is saying we owe $150.00 for garbage left. When we entered the building we had to pay for trash removal, and we left the space cleaner than when we entered. We have pictures.
5. Store front. She is saying we owe $450.00 to fix two holes in an aluminum frame. All she did was put a new piece of aluminum over the old one. Also, the holes were pre-existing.
6. Dead bolt. She says we owe $95.00 to replace a dead bolt. Normal wear and tear and since when is a dead bolt $95.00?
7. Carpet. She says we owe $75.00 to clean the carpet. Normal wear and tear again, and this carpet, like the carpet that was removed was stained, old and worn.
8. Rent. We did not pay our last month's rent of $2888.00 because we knew she would screw us out of our security deposit of $5000.00, which in fact was the case.
All-in-all she claims we owe $9200.00 minus the $5000.00 for the security deposit totaling $4200.00. With all of her claims there is no proof of work, receipts or estimates. Just her claims in a hand written letter. We feel that we do not owe any money at all and should in fact be returned a portion of our security deposit that was due within 21 days of termination of the lease as according to our lease agreement.
Please advise.
