Posted by TenantNet on December 13, 1996 at 18:38:12:
In Reply to: Landlord agreed to break lease-then locked us out. posted by Kendall Callahan on December 12, 1996 at 23:17:54:
: I'm in Arizona and I lived in this duplex for 4 years.Never late on rent.
: My orginal landlord had to sell due to divorce, and the new owner immeditiatly
: tried to raise the rent inspite of the lease I had with the last landlord that was still in effect.
: I won that battle, then this landlord rented the apartment to three different
: individuals that stole me blind, the next tenants pulled a gun on me in my kitchen.
: And the next ones were caught storing stolen property in a shed next to my
: apartment. Then the people wouldn't turn the music down.
I assume you mean he rented a nearby unit; not the one you were living in.
: I called the landlady at all hours to tell her to tell them to turn it down.
: Finally, I had to start calling the police all the time, and they finally told me
: that if they got one more call they would site both of us and let a judge figure it out.
Well the police were wrong (but police often have problems with reality).
Even so it is the owner's responsibility to keep objectionable tenants in line.
: And that it was probably in my best interest to move because the landlady wasn't going
: to anything about the problem. So I notified the landlady that we were moving because
: of her unwillingness to do anything about the problem of the noise. She agreed and we
In essence, she "breached" the lease by her failure to keep the premises
habitable -- allowing a nuisance condition (noisey tenants) falls into
this area -- as long as you can prove your point if they deny it. Many
landlords try to conjure up reasons why the complaining tenant is a problem
and sometimes going so far as to claim the victim is the perpetrator.
: moved.Our rent was payed up till December 1st. She changed the locks on November 25th.
This is illegal as it's an illegal eviction. You had not released the unit yet. In New
York City, this is a criminal offence, but in most other places, it's a
civil matter.
: Then she said that she was going to charge me for Decembers rent and keep my security
: deposit. I informed her that she had 14 days to give me a written explanation of how
: she was going to spend that money and refund me the rest or I was going to sue her for
: twice the amount. So now she has sent me 52.00 back and the things she charged me for
: were funny. So now I'm going to sue her for locking me out of the apartment before she
: had legal possesion and she says that I didn't clean the place, well how could I when she
: changed the locks. This is far from over, and I don't know if we'll win, but I will not take
: this lying down. I hope that this will help someone that is having the same problems. There
: is another fact that she didn't do a walk through inspection when she bought the place and
: she didn't give me any written notice about one when we moved. Then there is also something
: about quiet and reasonable enjoyment while living there. She failed to do that by not doing
: something about the noise from next door. I hope that this helps and I'll make sure I let
: you know how it turns out. This page has been very helpful to me. I would have never known
: how to get a copy of The Arizona Tenant Landlord Act, even though now I know that the landlord
: is supposed to supply you with a copy. Thanks for all the help guys!!! And Merry Christmas
Thanks for the comments, and go for it. Let that person know that
landlord-tenant is not the same thing as landlord-serf. If you are
persistent, do your homework and keep your eye on the ball, you have
a good chance -- just don't let your anger (which is justifiable)
get in your way. Don't get mad, get even.
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