Retaliatory Eviction employer/landlord

[lillea]

I was a housekeeper that worked and resided in a apartment complex for 8 yrs. Last year (FEB2014)
I fell broke my ankle during work had gotten lawyer (long story short)was asked to resign when I recieved my settlement. Dec 29 2014 during my lunch break I my superviser told me I had to turn in my keys because my settlement was just approved so Jan 3 2015 I signed resignation papers. Then Jan 6 2015 I had a"notice to quit" "substantial violation" per employee addendum, posted on my front door with 3 days to vacate by Jan 9 2015, this was also the day I was to recieve my final pay check. my employer/landlord never gave me a check and said it went towards my rent owed plus refuses to pay me for vacation time owed. (I have sent him 3 demand for payment since that time.) So I didnt even have any money to move out I was never told I would have to move. I was threatned if not gone that the sherriff would come and make me leave. I called sheriff found out he could not do that so I continude to stay in apartment till recieved the settlement on Jan 29 2015 was told several times up in till I left that I could not be there and needed to leave or sheriffs coming. can I take my former employer/landlord to court and if so on what charges?

 

[army judge]

You could, but your best play is to leave.
You got your money, let it go.
If you believe otherwise, hire a lawyer and advise him or her to sue someone.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

The general rule is that the residential landlord tenant courts are supposed to protect tenants. Generally I've found that they do, at least in New York City in most instances. The courtroom will vary. If you've been threatened to leave as a result of the sheriff coming, that should probably sway a judge with regard to a retaliatory eviction. But the question we haven't answered is what was the term of your lease agreement? Was it based upon employment? We haven't seen the "employee addendum" nor the terms. I cannot advise you in any way, with no attorney-client relationship, and cannot even speculate with seeing lease terms. From my experience in my own state, the courts are usually not kind to landlords who try to find a reason to evict a tenant based upon a technicality that may either not be accurate or may have been waived (or the court will try to find that it has been waived due to prior behavior.) In such instances, I've found that landlords are hesitant to go to court. Given the situation, you may want to take Army Judge's advice and start looking since you may need to do so anyway. But if the landlord actually tries to come after you, gut feeling tells me that your story might resonate more with the judge and the landlord won't bother if you don't overstay beyond what is probably reasonable, solving both your problems.