My son lives in New Jersey. The lease on his apartment was due to close in Sept 2005. He was in the process of buying a home and needed to stay one month past his lease. He spoke with property management about the situation on more than one occasion. He was requesting a month-to-month agreement. He thought all was fine. A little while later he received a notice that rent was overdue. He was advised by the mortgage company he was working with that nothing would come of it as he was pruchasing a home. Three months ago his bank account was cleaned out of $4500.00 by court levy! The management company is seeking an additional $4000. His rent was $1000 per month and he was a tenant in good standing. Please advise if he has any recourse to get this money back and repair the damage to his credit. Thank you.

You need to provide more information before we can give you an answer. Did the original lease provide that it would renew automatically? Did your son ever give any kind of written notice? Did he ever receive any notices of a lawsuit? His bank account could not have been levied unless the landlord sued him and obtained a judgment. He may have a good case but he needs to see an attorney as soon as possible.

Hello mom:

The bank levy on his account isn't his first notice that he has a problem. It's just the first one that got his attention. It's a little late. Once the barn door is open and the horses (money) are gone, there isn't a whole lot he can do.

"Get the money back"? You got to be kidding. They're going to get the other $4 grand too.

The issue he brings up about his rent could have brought up in court, if he had bothered to go to court. But he didn't - even when summoned. Did he think it was an invitation?

That said, the amount they won does sound exorbitant. I would hire a lawyer to see if the case can be reopened - but I'll bet not.

excon

excon, they may be able to file a motion to vacate the default judgment and then defend against the suit. But whether there is a valid defense depends on a lot of info that wasn't provided. Since it is a substantial amount I think it would definitely be worth seeing an attorney and exploring the options.