The state or country I am talking about is: Bloomington, Indiana, USA
Hello. I've been reading on here for a while and you guys are giving some great advice. My wife and I are currently going through a landlord-tenant ordeal (warning: its a bit long). Basically, last July, when I moved down to Dallas, my wife remained in Indiana and got a new apartment. In December, she was able to move down here with me. A verbal agreement was made with management that my wife would attempt to find a sublease on her own, but that they would point possible new tenants to their board for her sublease. I called about a month ago and pretended to be an individual looking for a sublease. The individual did not give my wife's apartment number out as a valid sublease option during this discussion and management is now claiming that they have never stated they would assist. During check-out, she received full marks for her apartment, and during a later discussion between myself and management, the individual told me that she would receive her full deposit back and that she left her apartment "immaculate." Now, within the last week, management left a somewhat antagonistic message stating that my wife had full responsibility for maintaining her utilities and she owed the apartment complex 119.50 for back payment on her gas bill. They immediately threatened legal action, and when my wife called back, management told her that "it only takes common sense to understand" and "you should be smart enought to figure it out." However, when my wife checked out, she informed management that she was shutting off her utilities and she received consent from that individual. My wife then shut all utilities off, including gas. However, management is claiming that it was never shut off, but switched to their name (apparently the gas company did this themselves and switched it over to the apartment complex) and that my wife is responsible for payment. I looked at the lease myself and the only thing I can see that addresses this situation is a section that says,
"1. Utilities: Lessee will be responsible for payment of utilities until lease agreement ends. Lessor is not liable for failure to provide utilities. Tenant agrees to advise Lessor in writing at least five (5) days before turning off any utilities in his or her name. Failure to do so will make Lessee liable for any damages due to failure to give written notice....The only exception to this clause is: Tenant is liable for all utilities until lease agreement ends."
I attempted to call and resolve the manner myself with management, but they were not there. I told the secretary to call me back with their emergency contact number within an hour. She did not do this, and when I called her back, she hung up on me. I repeatedly called back, got the answering machine, and then finally she warned me that she was going to call the police. While this was occurring, the owner of the complex called my wife and told her we were not allowed to call the complex anymore and, once again, threatened legal action regarding the utilities. The only thing we had ever been seeking for this matter was clarification from them, but it is my belief that they had established an antagonistic relationship. Finally, the police called and I spoke with the office who took the call that I was harrassing them. She informed me of specific uses of profanity/harrassment that was a complete lie (Not once did I use profanity during the conversation). Her advice at this point was to submit everything to the complex in writing from now on. Okay, that's a lot of information, but I wanted to be as thorough as possible. Here are my questions, given this situation:
1. Legally, could what I did be construed as harrassment? It appears to be hearsay at this point, and the only thing that I can take responsibility for is repeatedly calling the complex to gain some information on the matter.
2. In my opinion, there has been several instances of misinformation and verbal agreements that have been violated by management. Is there anything, legally, we can do about this?
3. I would like to send a letter to management stating that, if they continue oral communications, it will be construed as harrassment. Do I have a case for this, given everything that has happened AND if they continue to call us?
4. We will be sending a check along with the letter for the gas bill and switching that utility over to my wife's name again. Given the content of the lease and legal applicability, can they require us to maintain all utilities until the lease ends? What utilities are we required by law to maintain?
5. I would also like to include in the letter the written documentation/verbal consent that my wife will get all her deposit back. Should we worry about getting the full amount back and, if we don't, is there something we can do?
6. If management attempts legal action here (despite the fact that the check for the gas utility is in the mail and that we have never directly disputed their claim), is there a possibility of a suit against them for defamation, etc?
Thanks for all the help!
Hello. I've been reading on here for a while and you guys are giving some great advice. My wife and I are currently going through a landlord-tenant ordeal (warning: its a bit long). Basically, last July, when I moved down to Dallas, my wife remained in Indiana and got a new apartment. In December, she was able to move down here with me. A verbal agreement was made with management that my wife would attempt to find a sublease on her own, but that they would point possible new tenants to their board for her sublease. I called about a month ago and pretended to be an individual looking for a sublease. The individual did not give my wife's apartment number out as a valid sublease option during this discussion and management is now claiming that they have never stated they would assist. During check-out, she received full marks for her apartment, and during a later discussion between myself and management, the individual told me that she would receive her full deposit back and that she left her apartment "immaculate." Now, within the last week, management left a somewhat antagonistic message stating that my wife had full responsibility for maintaining her utilities and she owed the apartment complex 119.50 for back payment on her gas bill. They immediately threatened legal action, and when my wife called back, management told her that "it only takes common sense to understand" and "you should be smart enought to figure it out." However, when my wife checked out, she informed management that she was shutting off her utilities and she received consent from that individual. My wife then shut all utilities off, including gas. However, management is claiming that it was never shut off, but switched to their name (apparently the gas company did this themselves and switched it over to the apartment complex) and that my wife is responsible for payment. I looked at the lease myself and the only thing I can see that addresses this situation is a section that says,
"1. Utilities: Lessee will be responsible for payment of utilities until lease agreement ends. Lessor is not liable for failure to provide utilities. Tenant agrees to advise Lessor in writing at least five (5) days before turning off any utilities in his or her name. Failure to do so will make Lessee liable for any damages due to failure to give written notice....The only exception to this clause is: Tenant is liable for all utilities until lease agreement ends."
I attempted to call and resolve the manner myself with management, but they were not there. I told the secretary to call me back with their emergency contact number within an hour. She did not do this, and when I called her back, she hung up on me. I repeatedly called back, got the answering machine, and then finally she warned me that she was going to call the police. While this was occurring, the owner of the complex called my wife and told her we were not allowed to call the complex anymore and, once again, threatened legal action regarding the utilities. The only thing we had ever been seeking for this matter was clarification from them, but it is my belief that they had established an antagonistic relationship. Finally, the police called and I spoke with the office who took the call that I was harrassing them. She informed me of specific uses of profanity/harrassment that was a complete lie (Not once did I use profanity during the conversation). Her advice at this point was to submit everything to the complex in writing from now on. Okay, that's a lot of information, but I wanted to be as thorough as possible. Here are my questions, given this situation:
1. Legally, could what I did be construed as harrassment? It appears to be hearsay at this point, and the only thing that I can take responsibility for is repeatedly calling the complex to gain some information on the matter.
2. In my opinion, there has been several instances of misinformation and verbal agreements that have been violated by management. Is there anything, legally, we can do about this?
3. I would like to send a letter to management stating that, if they continue oral communications, it will be construed as harrassment. Do I have a case for this, given everything that has happened AND if they continue to call us?
4. We will be sending a check along with the letter for the gas bill and switching that utility over to my wife's name again. Given the content of the lease and legal applicability, can they require us to maintain all utilities until the lease ends? What utilities are we required by law to maintain?
5. I would also like to include in the letter the written documentation/verbal consent that my wife will get all her deposit back. Should we worry about getting the full amount back and, if we don't, is there something we can do?
6. If management attempts legal action here (despite the fact that the check for the gas utility is in the mail and that we have never directly disputed their claim), is there a possibility of a suit against them for defamation, etc?
Thanks for all the help!
