Husband and I are stressed because of our landlord. Can someone help?

Question

We have a verbal month to month agreement with our landlord. There are not late fees as long as we call him before the 30th of each month and tell him when to pick up the rent. Everything was fine until last month. I called him and told him to pick up the rent around the 17th of the month but had to call him back and tell him to come around the 24th because I had just had a baby and my husband drives trucks and would not be in town til then. I had a baby via C section and could not get out. My husband happened to come into town early . Well I did not talk to the landlord but always have to leave messages on his cell phone because he will not give us his home number or address he said he does not have to provide us with his address. Well he popped up on the 17th anyway. My husband does not get paid until the 23rd. My husband asked if he got my message and the landlord said yes. My husband asked him what was he doing here then. The landlord said to pick up the rent. He said he wanted his money. We always pay our rent. My husband said that he never fixes anything but always wants his rent money. Major repairs need to be doen to the house. The landlord said he does not have to make repairs but we have to pay rent and he wants his damn money now. To avoid going to jail my husband told him to stick the the agreement and come next Saturday and shut the door because the landlord was getting out of hand. Well, a few days later we received a notice to vacate. On the 24th I called to remind the landlord to come and get his rent or call if he refuses to get it. Well he did neither. Instead he has filed eviction stating we are two months behind which is not true. I called him to put up this months rent too but he did not call nor show up. Plus when he filed the eviction we were not two months behind. According to the date of the filing we owed him for one month of rent minus the repairs that had to be made to the main sewage line that he did not fix. The city said he had to fix it not us but he refused. Now he has filed eviction and given a false address for himself, it does not even exist and when he filed we we were not two months behind. His wife refuses to give their address and they never return our calls and just picks up rent and does not repair anything. There is a huge hole in the kitchen floor and he refuses to fix anything. What can we do about an illegal eviction. He falsified information to the courts. Please help.

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Mrs. Ellis, this seems to be vaguely familiar. I remember reading a post like this previously and I suggested this guy may not be the owner of the house (for some reasons I may have listed then.) If you are on a month to month tenancy, then he can give you notice to vacate...and you will have to comply. However, I do believe there are some issues here that are not entirely clear. If you are paying by the 30th, then you will be a month behind....so he may be correct. I want to say more, but as an attorney, I always like to ask questions before offering an opinion that may actually help. Since it is virtually impossible to do so on this board, maybe it is time to look for a new place to live.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

Thank you so much Jordan. You if you will offer more advice please email me. I really appreciate it. Thank all of you except thos who called me a fool and other rude names. Treat people how you would want to be treated. To all others thanks a lot.

Answer 2

Pay your bills.

Answer 3

Your only legal responsibility here is to take whatever money you do owe for rent (since you said he will not accept it) and put it into a separate savings account for now. When you go to court for the eviction bring bank statements and/or copies of the checks you wrote for the rent already paid. Explain this all to the judge and you should be fine. Also make sure to let the judge know you do have the rent money in an account and can pay to date on it. The judge may even find more so in your favor because the landlord is not keeping to his own end of the landlord/tenant agreement set forth by the state you live in.

Hope this Helps! Good Luck!

Answer 4

Someone has posted this same exact question before, which leads me to believe this isn't a sincere question.

If it is, pull together your receipts, and take them to court. You are a FOOL to be renting without a lease. That means the two of you have no contract, and you are at his mercy.

Answer 5

he is not reporting this [rent] as income on his federal income tax, that is a crime, tell him you are calling the IRS.
it is a crime to omit income he brings in,
meaning your rent money.
i hoped you paid by check, etc.
in any case tell him that, that you will swear on an affidavit you guys paid rent to him.