Big mess - broke lease to buy house. LONG

[JoAnna525]

This is a huge mess, and I'm not even sure where to start.

My husband and I lived in an apartment in Suffolk County of New York (4 total units in the complex) for almost four years. We signed two two-year leases. When we signed the second one, we told the landlord that we were going to be looking for houses, and could he work with us? He said yes, just give me 60 days notice, and I'll let you out of it. We didn't get it in writing. We thought the guy was our friend. Stupid, I know.

So, a year and half into this second lease, this past April, we did find a house. We told our landlord about it, and he offered to be our closing attorney for our house (yes, he's an attorney.) So not only did he know we were leaving, he was entrenched in the process. Between the date that we told him that we were leaving and the day we closed on our house, it was 74 days notice.

The landlord listed the house with a realtor, and was asking what we were paying on for rent, which is now above market value according to a realtor friend of mine ($1,700 for a one bedroom). I believe this is why he was not able to rent the apartment, and he even admitted to the fact that the market was not what it once was.

The day we moved out (June 28th), we had two months left on the lease. When I gave him the keys, he demanded July's rent from me. I was pissed, and argued with him. Begged him to take it out of my security, since I had no more money left from buying my house. He refused. I even told him that if he had to get someone in there paying a lower rent, that I'd certainly make up the difference. He still refused. I finally cut him a check, and was so upset that I forgot to ask for the keys back (dumb, dumb, dumb. I know.) My husband went back to the apartment to get the keys (hey, we were paying for it, we might as well get the keys back so that we could get pictures and try to get a renter.) The landlord refused to give the keys to my husband and also threatened to tear up the carpets, which were in fine shape, and take it out of our deposit. He also told my husband, "you have a no-sublet clause in your lease, so don't even bother asking me for one." We had absolutely no recourse, so we put a stop-payment on the rent check.

The landlord then called my husband, and threatened to send the cancelled check to the District Attorney's office to get me arrested for bouncing a check, which would ruin my legal career (yes I'm a law student, and thus, I feel like a moron for letting all of this happen), unless we paid him the rent. Of course, I decided to do a little research and I know that cancelling the check is not bouncing a check, and not illegal. So I told the landlord to screw himself, and that I would not pay him a dime. And I also filed a report with the local police that he threatened me.

Now he's suing us for the last two months rent, $3,400, plus $20 per day in late fees, and a "bounced check" fee of $50, for a total of $4,530. He has our deposit still of at least $3,100 (don't know how much exactly it is now because it's been in escrow for the past two years.) My husband and I can't afford a lawyer, so I have to do this myself. I feel that there has to be SOMETHING I can do to get out of this. Honestly, if he had just take the stupid deposit and left us alone, we would never have pursued him for it, and we told him that. At this point, I will most certainly counter claim for my deposit, and also assert an affirmative defense of constructive eviction.

Any suggestions? The court date is in a week, and I'm freaking out.

Thank you so much for reading all of this.

[lofter1]

If there is a conflict of interest on the part of your Landlord / Attorney -- or if he has done something improper either as your Landlord or Attorney -- then (after you research the matter) you could explain to him that you are considering filing a disciplinary complaint against him regarding his actions as your Attorney. Disciplinary complaints are overseen by State Supreme Court of NY Appellate Division, Departmental Disciplinary Committee.

The website is here: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad ... line.shtml

There you will find a link to "Conduct of Attorneys" which outlines what is and isn't "OK".

Go to this Tenant Net link for info on a Landlord Attorney who was suspended following the filing of a complaint: http://tenant.net/news/index.html?x=1272

The DDC cannot rule on money issues, but they can kick an Attorney's butt if the Attorney steps out of line.

Dealing with a complaint is not something any Attorney wants to do. If you have a valid complaint against your Attorney then your very mention of your possible intention to file a complaint might make him think twice about how he is dealing with you. If there is no validity to your complaint then your Attorney will know that as well.

Good luck.

[JoAnna525]

Thank you so much for your advice and especially for the link to the Landlord/Attorney case. I spoke with my real estate professor yesterday, and he suggested the same thing, and I was going to research that issue this morning. You saved me a lot of leg work. My only question is that if I do tell him I'm considering filing a disciplinary action, isn't that exactly what he did to me when he threatened to send my "bounced" check to the D.A.? A form of extortion? My professor (also a practicing attorney) said I should be careful of that, and perhaps I should bring it up in front of the judge ("Your honor, because of the events over the past six months, I am now forced to file a grievance against Landlord.") But do you have any thoughts on that?

My professor also liked my constructive eviction theory, but thinks that this thing will get thrown out based on the inpropriety of my landlord/attorney. He said that the worst case scenario would be that the judge says, "Tenants, you don't have to pay the rent; Landlord, you get to keep the deposit." I'd be fine with that, as that was my original offer to my landlord, although now I want him to suffer! But I simply can't afford to give him any more money. Thanks again for your reply!

[lofter1]

I'm not a Professor or an Attorney, so I defer to your Professor on the possible "extortion" issue. (However my idea was to let your LL / A get the idea of what he might be in for should you file a Complaint -- not to extort anything from him, but so that he could weigh the pros / cons of continuing with you in the same manner as before).

The most important thing is to figure out if your LL / A has violated any of the Rules governing an A's behavior. Only then will you know if the Complaint is viable -- and able to give you the leverage you need to "discuss" this matter with your LL / A in a way that will get his attention.

Believe me: if he has violated the "rules" in any substantial way and you file a compalint at the DDC then your LL / A will suffer -- the time alone that will be needed to respond and deal with a Complaint is substantial.

And those are non-billable hours!!

[JoAnna525]

[quote="lofter1"]The most important thing is to figure out if your LL / A has violated any of the Rules governing an A's behavior. Only then will you know if the Complaint is viable -- and able to give you the leverage you need to "discuss" this matter with your LL / A in a way that will get his attention.
[/quote]

After a lot of research and some help from my wonderful professor, I have found that the LL/Attorney has violated DR 5-101 regarding a lawyer's conflict with his own interests. He failed to inform me and my husband about the implications of him representing us while being our landlord, and also failed to get is to sign a waiver/consent form acknowledging that conflict. Further, he committed legal malpractice by not advising us, as our closing attorney, that we might be held to the rest of our lease; any other closing attorney would have advised us of that (according to my professor). So we're counter claiming for our closing fees. The hearing is tomorrow and I'll let you know how it goes!

[lofter1]

Ain't it great what some research / knowledge will do for your confidence?

I hope you kick some LL A**.

Please keep us posted.

[JoAnna525]

CASE DISMISSED!!!!!!!!!! because they brought it in the wrong court, LOL!!!!!!!! The LL didn't even have the balls to show up - he just sent his attorney! That was AWESOME. They'll probably bring a small claims suit against us, but I am READY with my claims and counter claims. I also told his attorney to expect a greivance to be brought against him and his practice (which includes his attorney!)

[lofter1]

Congratulations on Round One ...

[JoAnna525]

We got the notice of ex-LL's small claims suit against us today. It was postmarked one day before the NY State Grievance Committee sent him our complaint, LOL. I've spent the last month researching my butt off, and I truly feel that the worst-case scerario is that he keeps our deposit and we don't pay him. But we're the winners because he WILL have disciplinary actions taken against him. Our court date is October 25th, so we've got a while until then.