[Queensarita]

We gave 30 days notice to our landlord (as per lease agreement) on May 1st. We had moved mostly everything out by May 14th, except for our phone and computer and a few odds and ends. We didn't have phone/computer service hooked up at the new place yet. On May 14th, I came to the house to check email and phone messages. New tenants open the front door with a key our landlord had given them, without ANY notice or discussion with us. I call her immediately and she tells me that the new tenants want to clean and paint before they move in. I agreed to leave if she refunded 1/2 month's rent ($300.00.) Now, it's July 2nd and she sends me a security deposit deducting $150.00 for cleaning (we left early at her request... and there is no itemized list of what was cleaned) and she is only giving us $40.00 for leaving early, claiming that the new tenants didn't actually pay her any rent until July 1st. Since it was a verbal agreement to leave 15 days early, is there any way I can get the $300.00 she agreed to refund us? Is there any legal recourse for her giving the keys to a new tenant while we were still renting? Is there some place to report a bad landlord? I have done research for our state (Michigan) and have not found anything specific in the law or any established Michigan bad landlord list.

[LisaB4657]

File a lawsuit against her. You can argue that by her giving keys to another tenant before the end of your tenancy, she effectively terminated your tenancy early and you are entitled to the return of the rent for that period.