What can I do? Help!

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I’ve been in a rental house under a 12-month lease since June 1st. There are 3 tenants on the lease. However, there are 2 more people living in the house, being significant others of 2 of the actual tenants. Before we even signed the lease, we told our landlord that the other 2 people would be living with us (it was the prerequisite for a house, being able to have 5 people). He said only 3 could be on the lease, but the other 2 were fine. He said "Don’t worry about it, it’s fine. I’m a real reasonable guy to work with." One month later, the problems began. Things started falling apart with the house (plumbing, roof, electrical, etc.). Our landlord started getting angry with us, blaming us for all these problems. He then went on to tell us it was because there were 2 extra people living in the house that weren’t allowed to be there. He has no memory of ever telling us they could stay here, according to him. He then started trying to charge us late fees that we didn’t owe. This has been going on for 5 months, with him getting angrier. It is now January, and we just finished paying off our deposit and last month’s rent. As soon as he got the money, he sent us a 3-day pay or quit notice (for the late fees) and a 7-day curable (for the extra people). We went ahead and paid the fees so he couldn’t evict us for non-payment, and fixed the curable (the 2 other people are staying elsewhere until we can all live together again). He now refuses to come to the house and inspect. In addition, he told us via email that his attorney’s are filing the eviction as soon as the curable is up (Monday). He refuses to speak to us on the phone (we haven’t been able to call him since October). Can he do this? Can he evict us without inspecting the residence? Can he completely ignore us? I know if he takes us to court, he will try to get every cent we have, and more, planning on using our last month’s rent towards court costs (he said so himself). IS THIS LEGAL? He’s had at least 8 evictions in the past 2 years! HELP!

Edited on: Wednesday, February 27th, 2013 2:33 am

2 Responses to “What can I do? Help!”

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

Ellen

January 8th, 2011 8:18 pm

I posted this question, but for some reason it says I’m a former renter in Illinois. I am currently renting, and am in Florida.


Troy

February 27th, 2013 1:40 am

Was there any documentation or proof that your landlord authorized the two other tenants in the property? A verbal agreement is quite hard to prove especially if your landlord is suddenly saying he doesn’t remember. For all the problems that you’ve had in the property, did you document? Did you take pictures? Did you write letters? Was there a paper trail? If you have proof, you shouldn’t worry because then, your landlord’s case will not be very strong. You can also file a complaint with your landlord to begin a paper trail that you can use in court. The RPA should be of help.


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