My Mother has been in a wheelchair for 4 years. We signed a contract to rent a house starting October 15th of 2006. We negotiated an addendum to the lease contract where the landlord agreed to install entry & exit ramps for my Mother's motorized wheelchair. We were not in the same town as the landlord so, this was done over a fax. We have our copy of the addendum sent from their fax with our signatures. We have several witnesses to their verbal promises to install the ramps prior to our moving in. The ramps were not installed, my mother ended up falling & breaking her shoulder inside the home a few days after moving in because she was trying to walk because her chair is too heavy to lift & get into the residence. We have spoken with the landlord several times about the ramps & he continues to say he has the materials but is trying to schedule a contractor & he also states that there was no date on the addendum as to time of completion. My Mom is now scheduled to have her leg amputated on June 14th. We decided to enter into a new lease as of June 1st with a Landlord who has already installed ramps & changed the flooring to meet my mother's needs. I've decided to pay Junes rent to the landlord failing to install the ramps & provide him a months notice that we will be out prior to July 1st. What else should we do to keep this Landlord from attempting to sue us or report us to credit agencies? Can we get our security deposit back? Is their failure to install ramps a breach of contract even though there is no date? It's been 7 months on a 12 month lease & we will pay the 8th month?

If there was nothing in the contract about the ramp. Than I don't believe he has to give back the deposit. The best thing for you to do is talk to a lawyer about this. They should be able answer all you questions

Hello DC:

You've got two strikes against you. 1) The contract makes no mention of the addendum. 2) She moved in. Number #2 is the most damaging, of course. IF it was so important, the court will presume she wouldn't have moved in.

He is required, however, to rent it as soon as possible to mitigate your damages. In other words, he can't just sit there and collect rent. Yes, if you didn't damage the house, you'll get all the secutiry deposit back.

The above, of course, happens in a perfect world. We don't live in one of those. Assuming you gave him notice and he knows she's gone, when you send the next check, ask him to supply you with proof that he's attempting to rent it again, or you won't send any more rent, and you'll sue him in small claims court. Send the letter certified, return receipt requested.

excon