Ex landlord suing for damages after almost 1 year

By Karen

My ex landlord has been a nightmare and the worst decision I ever made in my life was to move into his rental home. I lived there for 5 1/2 years & everyone knows I took care of it as if it was my home. It all started last year when I got a letter from his attorney claiming I had a nephew, his fiance, and daughter living with me on a full time permanent basis and that they were never approved by him. They NEVER lived with me. They stayed with me for 4 days when my Dad who lived with me suddenly passed away. He knew they didn’t live with me-he is at his rental house next door with his girlfriend every day! I responded to his lawyer stating that the accusation was false and that my tenant rights were violated since I am entitled to have friends/family stay with me for reasonable periods of time. 3 days after his lawyer got my response, I was given an eviction notice in retaliation. Then all his nasty harassment started. Too much to list here. Then last week I was served from the county sherriff’s office stating he was suing me for alleged damage to his house to the tune of $6300. I will be out of his house a year next month and he will not stop trying to make my life miserable. If anything, his house looks better than when I moved in. I have a list of all the improvements and things I had done in the house while I lived there. He is so low that he has listed as damaged the replacement of 2 bedroom windows. The wood frames of these windows were rotted when I moved into the home and he just had them painted. Now he thinks he’s going to have me pay for something like this??? Another thing he has listed is $300.00 for the removal of dog waste, tall grass, and tree removal. My boyfriend made sure the entire yard was clean and as far as the grass & trees, the city ordinance states that they’re his responsability as the owner-not mine. There were not even any trees in the yard to begin with!!! Thankfully I took pictures of the house (every room) as well as the yard the day I moved out.

Any advice on what he’s trying to do? Does he have any chance at all since he waited almost a year to fabricate his damage allegations?

 

 

Edited on: Tuesday, September 11th, 2012 1:09 pm

One Response to “Ex landlord suing for damages after almost 1 year”

My response: (We welcome stories, examples, explanations, answers and a touch of your personality)
 

Been there, done that

October 25th, 2013 12:44 pm

I see this is from a year ago & you never received a response. By now you probably know from personal experience, but I want to put the answer out there just in case. It depends on where you live, but I can tell you from firsthand experience in the state of Louisiana 2 things. 1) The landlord has 30 days from the time you vacate to either return your deposit or give you a detailed list of damages & receipts. If they don’t, you have grounds to sue. 2) In Louisiana the landlord has 1 year from the date you vacate & they notice damages to sue you. It’s pretty much the same in other states as well, but it can vary. This is for a suit regarding DAMAGES. However, they can try to get you on contract issues for up to 10 years. 10 years in the statute of limitations here.


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