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Re: unlawful detainer Please Help!

Posted by Desterno on October 22, 1997 at 04:11:54:

In Reply to: Re: unlawful detainer Please Help! posted by TenantNet on October 21, 1997 at 19:00:35:

: : 3 roommates, 5 years in house, never once late on rent; $1100 security dep
: : Roommates got jobs out of state, left July 1. Rent paid in full to July 15.
: : I made verbal deal made with landlord to exchange painting/yardwork
: : for 2 weeks rent, and then to pay last month in full.

: You don't say where you are, if in NYC you have a better deal.

I live in upstate NY... city of Rochester. Monroe county.

: speak of "unlawful detainer" which is a term not often used in NY (here
: it's called "holdover").

I read the term "unlawful detainer" in the attorney general's tenant's rights
guide. maybe i misunderstood the use of the term, but it states there that
under no circumstances is a landlord to attempt to force a tenant to move by
removing their possessions.

: You also don't say if you have a lease or if
: you are month-to-month -- which requires 30 days notice in most places.
: Even so, you made a deal with LL and he's taking steps to negate or
: undermine the deal.

We had a lease in 92, was renewed for 93, and have been month to month
ever since then.
The crazy thing is, we had an excellent LL-tenant relationship.
He told us that he hadn't raised the rent in all the 5 years because
of all the landscaping work done on the property (by myself, purely because
i like to garden... )
This is the same landlord who, as soon as my two (male) roommates moved out,
was asking me (female) if i wanted to go to his cottage in the southern tier
to help him plant flowers. right.

: : As of Aug 12, rent due, painting not finished, a window was broken.
: : Fri Aug 15 landlord came over to see about painting, saw above, changed locks.
: : i wanted to wait to talk to legal or housing authority before talking to LL,
: : came to the house sunday 17 aug and found that all my possessions
: : were put in the garage. and the garage lock changed.

: In NYC that's an illegal eviction and a criminal offense. Other places
: it's a civil matter, but you can probably sue the LL for damages.
: Get a good lawyer.

I wasn't aware until later that this wzs a criminal action.
My next door neighbor used to be a LL, and gave me a copy of the LL eviction
guidelines as well as the tenant's rights handbook.
Part of me thinks suing him is a waste of energy, I have no idea what is
an appropriate monetary amount for damages... but it threw my whole life into
chaos, and i don't understand why the guy from the housing council didn't
say that what LL did was wrong. how could he not know?
I am not in a position to pay a lawyer at this time, and i was told by the
legal aid society here in Rochester that since we had already attempted
mediation and "failed", that i was not eligible for their services.

any suggestions?

maybe just try the yellow pages and tell the story until someone says I'll help?

i understand from the booklet of rights that if the tenant wins, the LL pays t
the attorney fees. But with the shoddy response of the housing council here,
I dont feel they would be a helpful center for advice.

thank you for your reply.

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