Ask Me Help Desk - Lease Question

Okay, I have another question. My lease is not up until June 1. My landlord advised me they wanted us out by May 1st so they could put the property up for sell, I was never given a written notice she told me this over the phone around the 2nd week of April. Since then we have had words back and forth over it and now they won't accept my rent and are saying they are going to evict me for non payment. My rent was due April 10th. They live out of town and were in town on the 10th. They never came by to pick up the rent and then called me when they got back home and said they would not be accepting my rent. Today they had someone put a notice on my door saying I have 7 days to vacate the property. Not once have they given me a written notice, nor has anything been done through the courts. The notice look like something they printed up and stuck on my door. They have left me harassing voice mails as well as my husband saying they are taking us to court for the rent after they evict us, yet they will not accept our rent. As of today our rent is 9 days late but there is no late clause in my lease stating late fees. My question is this, Can they not accept my rent when we have a lease and evict me for non payment? And can they just stick something on my door saying get out in 7 days or does it need to go though some legal avenue?

Where? No, basically they have to go to Court to get you evicted. That's where you tell your story and the Judge believes one of you.

My feeling? If you can prove you had money in your checking account to cover the rent when it was due you can prove they refused to accept it.

The lease is a written Contract which your landlord is attempting to violate. I'd remind him/her of that.

They will have to take you to court, did you also mail a payment to them perhaps certified mail.

No they can not legally refuse payment, just go to any eviction hearing and tell the judge what they are doing.

Posting a notice on your door is the first step a landlord has to take in the eviction process. If you don't move out within that time then they have to file a lawsuit to evict you. If they file a lawsuit, show up in court (with the rent) and explain to the judge what has been happening.

If you have voice mails from them where they say they won't accept your rent, make sure you bring it to court with you.

I am in Kentucky. Thanks so much for your advice. I have reminded them we have a lease but they don't seem to care. The only laws they seem to care about our the ones that are in their favor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sky859

My rent was due April 10th. They live out of town and were in town on the 10th. They never came by to pick up the rent

This part bothers me. Do they normally pick up the rent or do you mail it to them?

I would either send them a check for the rent before the 7 days is up. That notice (which is legal) should say that you have pay or vacate within the seven days. So pay your rent. Make a photocopy of the check ( along with something to prove the date like today's paper) and send it return receipt requested. If they refuse to sign or don't cash the check, you go into court with proof that you sent it.

But the bottom line is the law is in your favor. You have a lease and then can't legally get you out before the end of it. On the other hand, you can use this in your favor. Tell them you are willing to move early, but they have to buy you out. Pay your moving expenses or something.

Yes I would for sure mail a check to them certified so you have proof it was sent and have that in court.

The issue in court will be that they may just lie, say you just did not pay or offer payment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottGem

This part bothers me. Do they normally pick up the rent or do you mail it to them?

I would either send them a check for the rent before the 7 days is up. That notice (which is legal) should say that you have pay or vacate within the seven days. So pay your rent. Make a photocopy of the check ( along with something to prove the date like today's paper) and send it return receipt requested. If they refuse to sign or don't cash the check, you go into court with proof that you sent it.

But the bottom line is the law is in your favor. You have a lease and then can't legally get you out before the end of it. On the other hand, you can use this in your favor. Tell them you are willing to move early, but they have to buy you out. Pay your moving expenses or something.

Scott,
We normally mail our rent to them, but this month they were in town visiting family and made arrangements three different times with me to come by the house and never showed up and then hours later would text me with a different excuse every day. The notice said nothing about paying rent it just said move in 7 days. I have written correspondence with my landlords saying they will not accept rent and are taking us to court. He also sent me a text saying if we do not move out in 7 days he was going to forceably remove me? He says he has the right to refuse rent after its 10 days late, ours will not be 10 days late until tomorrow but its only late because they didn't come pick it up and now won't accept it. At least I feel better knowing the law is on my side although my landlord keeps telling me I am wrong and the laws I am telling him exist, don't. I even called tenant housing and told him that they advised him to call and find out the proper steps from them, since they are neutral and he said he knew what he was doing. One more thing, we have 3 bathrooms and 2 of the toliets have been broken for 4 months, they once again kept making apts to come fix them and never showed up. Someone mentioned something to me about them doing this out of retaliation and that is illegal? I am so stressed over this whole thing! We are in the process of looking for another place but I am so scared that somehow I am doing something wrong and this is going to attach itself to me forever.

No one here can keep you from worrying BUT your landlord is trying to bully you.

Then the notice is not legal. I would still mail the rent as I suggested. But a 7 day notice would only be legal if there was a breach of the lease. And, even then it would have to give you a chance to repair the breach.

Thanks so much! I am going to the post office in the morning and making sure it reaches them by Monday, then if it goes to court I will know I did all I could.

I'm of a different mindset, so I'm curious to see how this plays out. My feeling? They are going to refuse to accept the letter by pretending they aren't home, simply refusing, something else.

I would do nothing, wait to be sued for eviction, prove you had the money on the date it was due (same as I mentioned before).

The fact that you are paying it now does not mean you had the funds "then" and they can still argue you didn't pay on time.

Every now and then there's a difference of opinion in these matters so please come back and let us know.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

I'm of a different mindset, so I'm curious to see how this plays out. My feeling? They are going to refuse to accept the letter by pretending they aren't home, simply refusing, something else.

I would do nothing, wait to be sued for eviction, prove you had the money on the date it was due (same as I mentioned before).

The fact that you are paying it now does not mean you had the funds "then" and they can still argue you didn't pay on time.

Every now and then there's a difference of opinion in these matters so please come back and let us know.

Judy, Last night they finally agreed that they are wrong and said they would accept rent. So this morning we mailed out the check. Then today they have sent 12 text telling my husband and I that they are adding an addendum saying we have to let the realtor show the house with no notice and have open houses whenever he wants. We are not agreeing to that because we both work full time jobs have a child and have animals that would need to be put up if someone comes in to see the house and are in the process of packing. We only asked that they tell us the day before they show it so our animals could be put up but that's not good enough with them. Its like they want to bully us down every avenue. I know we have rights but they are acting like we don't! I am so over dealing with these people! I just want to move out ASAP and never hear their voices again. I am so close to telling them where to stick it and that we will see them in court. OH, their realtor told me that if this went to court the judge would side with them even though they are in the wrong. He said judges NEVER side with the tenant even though they are not following the laws. I even talked to legal aide and tenant housing and they said we were in the right, but their realtor said legal aid was wrong! I feel like these people are going to cause me to go crazy. The unnessary stress they are adding on my family is nuts! I will post a follow up if this goes to court, and I am almost willing to call a lawyer and take it there myself.

The key here is THEIR realtor. Of course he's going to tell you that. Tell their realtor that you know the law and take his BS and stuff it. In fact, most courts are more tenant friendly then landlord friendly. Especially when the law is clear.

They can't add an addendum until the lease expires. And hopefully you will be out by then. A day's notice to show the house is sufficient. Also you don't have to agree to more than 1 open house every two weeks. That's also reasonable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottGem

The key here is THEIR realtor. Of course he's going to tell you that. Tell their realtor that you know the law and take his BS and stuff it. In fact, most courts are more tenant friendly then landlord friendly. Especially when the law is clear.

They can't add an addendum until the lease expires. And hopefully you will be out by then. A day's notice to show the house is sufficient. Also you don't have to agree to more than 1 open house every two weeks. That's also reasonable.

Thanks Scott!!

Buy a tape recorder, and when the landlord or real estate agent start to say something like that, say excuse me, I would like to record this, and I bet they either shut up or change their story.

In fact you need to report the agent first to the broker of the agency, for misrepresentation and then even report them to the license department of your state.