Renters rights when owner wants to sell & neighbor harassment
Hi, I'm new to this list but I have a couple of questions, both having to do with real estate. I've been renting my house for 10 years, and have a verbal agreement with my landlord. She told me that she would rent to me for as long as I want to live here, and we agreed that she would keep renting to me as long as I made all repairs on the house, except major repairs, like putting in a new furnace or roof, for example. In the past ten years I've made improvements and have invested a few thousand dollars in repairs. I spent almost $1000 on the bathroom alone - I had to buy a new toilet, sink & vanity, tub surround, and floor. I've also spent hundreds on plumbing repairs in both the kitchen and bathroom, had to put in new outlets in both kitchen and bath to bring them up to code, put in a 220 electric outlet for my stove, and my window air conditioner (her stove and refrigerator didn't work, nor did her a/c units when I moved in). I've bought paint and painted the house inside, and was getting ready to put in new carpet because the old is actually threadbare and literally so worn out it's black in places. I do steam clean it every few months, as I have my own steam cleaner, but it's just too worn. It's the original carpet. Anyway, now she says she wants to sell the house and says she'll give me a deal, but financially I don't think I can get a loan until at least another year. I've recently filed for bankruptcy (medical bills) and although I'm in graduate school living on school loans, I'm not currently working. I feel betrayed, because I put all this money into the house in good faith that I would eventually buy it, as my landlady and I discussed a few years ago. Now I feel that she's going to sell it and I'll be out all that money. Is there anything I can do or am I just screwed?:(
My second question has to do with my neighbor. I like to keep the lawn neat, trim, and green. So I spend a lot of time outside working on the lawn and in the garden. My neighbor parks her car so close to my lawn that she gets out and has worn it down to the dirt in places so I threw some grass seed down and put hay over it and staked it, like most people do. She tore it all up, and called the police because she said if she tripped when stepping on my lawn, she would sue me. The police sided with her, which flabbergasted me to begin with, and so they left with me agreeing not to put the stakes, twine, or hay back up, and she agreed to try to be careful not to step on the part that had grass seed. Well, I guess she figures the police are on her side, because today I went out and she had sprayed weed killer all up and down one side of my lawn, so that now my nice thick, green lawn has a 5-inch strip down it where the grass is now dead and yellow. I'm just sick, because I like things to look nice, whereas her lawn is mostly dirt. Any suggestions? The police say it's the easement and not my lawn, she says it is her lawn, no one seems to have a survey and I can't afford to have one done, especially if I end up not buying the house. Which brings me back to my first question.
Suggestions, anyone? I'm poor, so don't have money for an attorney, and I can't seem to find any that deal in these issues in the phonebook, anyway.
