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Conference quark::human_relations

Title:What's all this fuss about "sax and violins"?
Notice:Please read all replies to note 1
Moderator:QUARK::LIONEL
Created:Thu Jan 21 1993
Last Modified:Thu May 08 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:133
Total number of notes:1901

102.0. "Legal Advice Needed" by FABSIX::J_ROUSSEAU () Mon Aug 21 1995 09:38

          Ok all you legal minds out there. I am in need of some advice. 
  I received a notice to quit from my landlord on Saturday. I thought these
  papers had to be delivered in person and not just slipped under the door?
  It also did not have my name on it but the address was mine. The paper
  stated that 1) non-payment of rent as of 8/1/95 of which i am guilty of
  but only for this month and only have of it is behind. 2) lapse of time
  (lease is up) I never signed a lease. Does anyone know what my rights are
  around this??
    
                                                 Thanks in advance,
                                                       Jill
  
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102.1SOLVIT::KRAWIECKIBeen complimented by a toady lately?Mon Aug 21 1995 09:5710
    
    
    What state do you live in? (May be important..)
    
    To save you mucho time and cash, your best bet is to head for your
    local library and determine what your (and his/her) rights are...
    
    Most libraries will have the info you need, and the people there are
    very helpful...
    
102.2QUARK::LIONELFree advice is worth every centMon Aug 21 1995 10:165
If you are a tenant-at-will (which it would seem you are, since you have no
lease), then the landlord is within his rights to evict you for nonpayment
of rent.   .1 has good advice.

					STeve
102.3ASDG::CALLMon Aug 21 1995 10:5719
    There are certain things of which the notice to quit should contain.
    If the wording is not there then it is not a legal notice.
    
    Does the notice contain that you have 14 days to pay?
    
    A notice to quit for nonpayment of rent is 2 weeks.
    
    If you are a tenant-at-will then the landlord can give you a thirty
    day notice.
    
    One way to avoid eviction is to pay the money you owe within 14 days.
    
    If you want legal advice then call the worcester housing authority.
    
    If you need the number contact me off line and I'll look it up for you.
    
    I can look up the legalities a little later when I have more time today
    and get back to you.
    
102.4Find out you rights...SUBPAC::KAYSTue Aug 22 1995 17:0918
    
    Jill,
    
    Definitely take .1's advice. As a tenant you probably have more rights
    than you realize. And as a landlord the other person probably has a lot
    fewer rights than he thinks he does. I have heard tons of horror
    stories from both landlords and tenants and it always seems that the
    tenant can make it much harder on the landlord. (Legally that is)
    Lots of landlords think that because they own it they can do what they
    want. Many tenants think that same way (he owns it so I have to do what
    he wants) But fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on which side
    you are on) that is not the way it is. There are many laws out there to
    protect the tenant from the unscrupuious landlord but fewer to protect
    the landlord from the  unsavory tenant.   
    Basically this was just a long winded answer saying "Check out you
    rights you probably have more than you know"
    
    	Jim  
102.5Know your rights, first!MAL009::RAGUCCITue Aug 22 1995 17:2923
    
    Hi:
    	All of the replies are right, you have so many rights and
    	options here.
    
    	1. you can owe up to 3 months rent before he can even start the
    	     eviction process.
    
    	2. you didn't have to accept that notice it's not legal.
    
    	3. Call the housing court for your area, they can advise.
    
    	4. I know I have been through this last year because I was
    	   2 weeks late with my rent. It cost him almost 4 months rent
    	    because he broke the law, violated my tennents rights,
    		as well as civil. 
    	Some landlords can be jerks, and $ hungry! 
    	Also, call MASSPIRG, they have a booklet on all of this stuff.
    	let me know how you make out?   Good luck!
    
    
    	BR...
    
102.6ASDG::CALLWed Aug 23 1995 11:3639
    That's why they have housing courts. They deal with this stuff every
    day. They can usually tell who's doing what to who. Yes tenants have
    rights. Yes there are laws. I evicted a tenant from hell last March.
    She moved in May. The housing court in my case was on my side. There
    usually are two sides to every case. Sometimes the landlord is in the
    wrong. Sometimes the tenant is in the wrong. Sometimes people don't
    handle things the way they're supposed to. That's why they have laws
    and that's why they have courts.
    
    I have studied the laws and I also have the books on tenants rights.
    
    In my case my tenants were trying to take advantage of me and then
    tried to intimidate me when I wouldn't bend over. Both the housing
    courts and the criminal courts got involved. Basically if they do
    anything within the next year they can go to jail. Just because I'm on the
    landlord side of the fence doesn't mean that I'm a bad person. I was
    trying to give them a decent place to live. That doesn't mean that a
    tenant can live rent free.
    
    Yes you can be evicted for non payment of rent. I've only had to do it
    a few times in my life. Both times it was upsetting. One was a single
    mother. She paid one months rent and then didn't pay. She broke windows
    made my house into a wild party place and then ran up $2,000 dollars
    worth of damage. I'm a single mother too. That doesn't mean that I have
    to carry another person.
    
    In this last case the people ran up the electric, used my phone, ran up
    the oil and then didn't want to pay the rent. Why should I carry two
    full grown adults? The MA courts didn't think so either.
    
    I wrote to the basenoter because I was trying to let her know that the
    notice is legally supposed to contain specfic wording.
    
    I don't think that 2 weeks and her only oweing half  is reason for
    eviction. 
    
    The best thing you can do for yourself is gain knowledge. Find out what
    the laws are.
    
102.7MAL009::RAGUCCIThu Aug 24 1995 22:4812
    
    
    
    
    
    Hey, how did you make out with this landlord?
    
    
    
    
    
    B
102.8FABSIX::J_ROUSSEAUFri Aug 25 1995 09:204
    It's still ongoing. I'll probably hear more after Sept. 14th when the
    notice expires. I'm hoping since it wasn't my name on it that they
    will have to re-issue another one in my name before they can start
    eviction proceedings.
102.9outcome/l.lordMAL009::RAGUCCITue Oct 03 1995 23:1211
    
    	how did things go?
    
    Just curious.....
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Bob
102.10No News Is Good News???FABSIX::J_ROUSSEAUSun Oct 29 1995 15:497
    Still haven't heard anything from them. I'm assuming that it wasn't me
    or that they have changed their minds. I did talk to a lawyer and he
    told me that as long as it wasn't my "correct" name that it wouldn't
    hold up in court anyway. I guess i'll just have to sit back and see if
    they try delivering an eviction notice or not. 
    
     Jill
102.11MAL009::RAGUCCIMon Oct 30 1995 19:122
    
    that's a relief.
102.12Landlord strikes again!!FABSIX::J_ROUSSEAUTue Nov 21 1995 11:367
    Well I have received another letter from my landlord stating that I
    owe them $450.00 now. All I owe is $100.00 for this month. I have
    been hearing rumors from the neighbors that they want all of us out
    of there before the winter. Do they legally have a right to try to
    do this??? The apartment is not in the best of shape. If I call
    them to come fix something I get treated like it really isn't
    important to them and I should try to live with it the way it is...
102.13ASDG::CALLTue Nov 21 1995 11:454
    No that's not the way it works. There are a number of steps you can
    take to counter them. If you need a lawyer I know of a good one that
    can help you. I also have a abook of laws if you want to take a look at
    it.
102.14FABSIX::J_ROUSSEAUTue Nov 21 1995 14:5013
         I called the landlord and talked to her at lunchtime. She told
    me that her "computer records" say that as of last May i owed the
    $450.00. I sent a check for $100.00 last week and that was deducted
    from the $450.00 leaving a balance of $350.00. Last December I recieved
    a letter from them stating that my rent would be increased in March of
    '95 from $325.00 to $350.00, but for the last 10 years that I have been
    living here I was paying $375.00 a month. When I ask them what happened
    to the $50 a month that I over-payed they tell me I never over-paid or
    I must have owed money so that over payment was applied to the 
    balance of what I owed. Well $50 a month for the last 8 years equals
    out to about $4,200.00. I really can't see anyone getting that far
    behind in their rent and still be allowed to live there. I need to
    know what I can do about getting this money that is rightfully mine.
102.15$ $ $MAL009::RAGUCCITue Nov 21 1995 18:3011
    
    this landlord sounds bizzare, make sure you keep a journal of
    everything you paid & say, as well as what they said in writing
    and do talk to a lawyer. If they have accepted your rent in the
    amount of $375.00 then they can't say you owe them anything.
    please keep us updated &  Good Luck!
    
    
    a fellow renter... BR
    
    
102.16FABSIX::J_ROUSSEAUMon Nov 27 1995 08:297
         I am going to call her today and set up a meeting to get this
    all straightened out(hopefully). She tells me she got all her info
    from their computer. I told her the computer is only as reliable
    as the person putting in the information. If they only entered in a
    payment of $325.00 then the other $50.00 would not show up. I'd just
    like to know what happened to that extra $50 a month they received?
    I have a feeling it went into someones pocket.
102.17MAL009::RAGUCCIMon Nov 27 1995 17:268
    
    I'm real curious on their answer. What do they think you are? A fool?
    
    let us know what they do.
    
    
    BR
    
102.18FABSIX::J_ROUSSEAUTue Nov 28 1995 08:3715
    When I called her she told me their computer info only went back as
    far as May of '95. Anything before that time she would not be able to 
    help me with. She told me she would do some more research and get back
    to me with what she finds out. I also received a statement for her in
    the mail showing me all the transaction since Nov. of '94. They had
    a list of all the checks that they had recieved. There were also some
    entries listed as MO (money order). I have never paid my rent with
    anything but checks so I do not know where this so-called money order
    info came from. When I questioned her about it she told me that that
    didn't necessarily mean a money order was received it was just entered
    that way. I find this really strange and hard to believe. I would
    really love to have an auditor look at their books. One thing I don't
    think I mentioned before is that I do not have a lease. I'm not sure
    if legally I have a case against them or if I have to just write off
    all these over-payments as my stupidity.
102.19GOOD!MAL009::RAGUCCITue Nov 28 1995 15:518
     you're a tenant at will, don't worry!
    Just deduct the amt. you overpayed in next months rent.
    And send a copy of all your cancelled rent checks to her.
    Remember have everything in writing/journal for your protection!
    let me know & good luck, again!
    
    
    BR
102.20FABSIX::J_ROUSSEAUTue Nov 28 1995 19:193
    I called a lawyer today and he told me to get my canceled checks and
    set up a meeting with her to prove that I have over paid. I'm looking
    at an amount of about $3000.00 in over payments. 
102.21Wow 3kMAL009::RAGUCCIWed Nov 29 1995 21:527
    
    WOW! $3000.00 what crooks! 
    Glad to hear you got a lawyer, I hope it works out ok for you.
    and they can't evict you for this.
    
    
    Bob
102.22FABSIX::J_ROUSSEAUSun Feb 04 1996 11:5121
    Can you believe I still have not gotten this problem squared away!!
    I went in last week and talked to the Property Manager about the
    money that I have over-payed. I explained to her how the other tenants
    in the building had their rent lowered to $325.00/month way back in
    1990 when they purchased the house but that I did not/don't remember
    receiving anything saying that my rent was lowered. She then told me
    that perhaps my rent wasn't lowered and that I should have been paying
    $375.00 all along. I asked her why then did I receive a letter stating
    a $25.00/month increase starting in March of 1995? Shouldn't it have 
    said decrease? The ino. I got from their computer stated that my
    monthly rent was indeed $325.00 up until last March when it was
    increased by $25.00. I now have an appointment with an attorney this
    Friday to try and clear up this mess. He told me that I do have a 
    good case against them. Wish me luck.
    
    
                                                    Jill
    
    
    rent charge was indeed $325.00 up until last March
    
102.23MAL009::RAGUCCISun Feb 04 1996 19:026
    Jill
    		real Good luck!
    
    
    
    BR