Landlord Harassment and “Changing her mind”

By Amber Webb

Hey, there. I’ll try to shorten this to something as manageable as possible. 

My landlady and I have been on uneasy ground for awhile, but since April of this year she has become extremely irrational and uncooperative. In April, I sent our rent out to her on March 30. The latest it could get in was April 3, which (since we live in the same, decent-sized town) should’ve been fine. However, she claimed it took FIVE days and harassed me via text for three days. She then demanded a $59 late fee.

Fast forward. This month, we paid our rent around the same time, but I got tracking on the mail to see if it got in as late as she said. It got in right on time. However, my landlady sent me a letter claiming I violated a clause in our contract but not paying the $59 late fee ASAP super speedy quick and therefore had defaulted on all our payments — including our on-time May rent. 

I emailed her about it, trying to figure out what to do, and she told me that if I paid the default ($59) ASAP, "We can still work with you if the default is fixed now." So I let her know I’d get it to her the day of, quickly got the money (I had been paid, woo) drove straight up to her house and knocked on her door to give it to her. No one answered, so I left it under the door, called and emailed her to confirm. She told me she got it, but then exploded at me for coming to her house uninvited and yaddayaddayadda she changed her mind and we STILL had to be out of the house by May 31st because "Just because we CAN work with you doesn’t mean we will." 

I have records of her texts to me (she refuses to answer calls or deal with me face to face) and a witness who was with me the day of the late-fee fiasco. 

I’m really tired of being harassed by this woman when I have been on-time for my rent except for the month of April, and I am tired of her trying to hold this over my head when she clearly stated that she would work with me if I paid this fee. I feel like she’s making up rules and trying to bully me, and I’m not sure what I can do to protect my rights and keep this house for one more month. Trying to deal with her face-to-face and talk it out is impossible (as she pretends she isn’t home), and she will not speak with me over the phone. I don’t like texting her because I find it unprofessional and she harasses me constantly if I don’t respond immediately to her. 

Advice?

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