Well earlier this month I got a piece of paper with an eviction notice on it for
overusage of water
complaints of noise
and more than 2 people living at the apartment
As far as i knew we were paying for the water anyway no where in our lease does it say that water is included. not only that but when we got the notice my hot water had only been on for about 4 days, so before that point my girlfriend and I had been taking showers over at a friends house and the only water being used was for dishes and such.
The complaints of nise we had never recived any warning, no one ever said anything to us, cops were nvere called. and we have no one living beside or below us to make such a complaint.
the last one is the real kicker. we only have me and my girlfriend living in the apartment. I have a friend who i give a ride to school everyday, he satys the night every once and awhile. again nothing in our lease stating when we can or can not have company over, or for how long they can stay.
Now i’m at a loss as for what to do, the guy comes in when ever he wants (I go to school at night don’t get to bed till around 5-6am and my girlfriend also works nights she gets off at around 6am) He knows this but still insists on coming in my aprtment (without knocking) at around 9-10am. He states he’s looking for a water leak because they have water damage in the basement from water leaking. Last friday he came in with an off duty police officer who had no badge did not state her name, they just came in as i was getting ready to walk out, and said we have been tampering with water line casuing damge to the basement. the cop then started looking around at all the fixtures to look for a leak, of course they didn’t find anything. then again yesterday morning they sent 2 differnt guy who i have never seen before up at 8:45am to go through the plumbing AGAIN!. if anyone knows or has a suggestion of what to do please help.
Realistically under most circumstances he has the right to come into the apartment to look for the leak (this is simplistic and there are issues involved but debating them here is pointless, you need a lawyer if you’re going to fight that). You do have the right to contest the eviction, but honestly if the guy is being this big of a dick i’d just tell him you want 30 days to leave or you’re gonna go to court. Alternatively, get a lawyer and you should be able to get fees awarded if you win the case.
thats the thing, the eviction papaer he gave us was just a handwritten paper. he has not gone to the majistrate to file the evition paper work yet. and since he waited untill i had already paid the rent, i could not affrod to put a deposit and firsts months rent on a new place untill the 5th of october. I have contatcetd a lawyer and they said just keep track and call them when i get the real evition paper work and they will build the case against him.
check your lease for notice to entry. The typical lease provides that the landlord needs to give you 24hr notice, regardless of whether you are home, unless an emergency and when an emergency situation, they need to provide in writing why (at least in the leases I write)
If both you and your girlfriend are both listed as tenants, then obviously not an issue, and the friend all depends on the lease and rules/regs
if you want to shoot me a copy of the lease, I’d be glad to share my 2cents as a landlord
I actually live out in blairsville, (east up 22) we have only lived here for a month. The main reason this is all happening is because our landlord is my girlfriends ex. boss.
FOZ, i will see if i can scan/copy the lease and let you look at it. it’s not very well written.
The Lease
The legal terms of a lease don’t turn on much other than the plain language (technically any interpretation is based on the intent of the parties, to the extent it can be ascertained) and the extent to which the lease complies with the Landlord Tenant Act, an issue which would have to be litigated. In addition, one term that is illegal does not invalidate the other terms in the lease, which is at heart just a contractual agreement.
Eviction
A hand-written eviction doesn’t mean anything unless you’ve violated the term of a lease. If you have (it doesn’t sound like you have done anything), hand-written notice to vacate will suffice as legal notice. All it really means is he’s given you notice that he’s ready to go to court. A solid lease (from a landlord perspective) will have a waiver of notice like this, but whether yours does or not he has satisfied any requirement that he give you notice regarding an issue and thus you have an opportunity to correct it (even though here it sounds like he’s making an issue up).
Guest(s)
Social guests are based on a “reasonable amount of time” standard, a term that has been litigated in the past - and unless your friend is for all practical purposes living with you (i.e. sleeping there most of the time, receiving mail there, having no other permanent residence, etc.) you are fine. The lease, no matter what it says, can’t change that (i.e. a lease that says you can only have a guest stay 2 nights/week or they become a tenant is not enforceable in court).
Entering Your Apt.
There is no hard and fast rule for the notice required before your landlord can enter your apartment. It again comes down to what is “reasonable,” which is going to be a subjective test by the Court. If he gives 24 hours notice, Courts generally presume that to be totally reasonable, but the issue has been litigated and he could legally enter with less notice, even without an emergency condition, because it’s wrapped up in your (as a tenant) right to “quiet enjoyment” of the apartment.
Document what he’s doing and record any conversations you have with him (for simplicity, let him know you’re recording it as there are more complex evidentiary issues associated with undisclosed recordings) or better yet, communicate with him only in writing (Courts like written documents much better than recordings, plus it keeps him from getting pissed about a recorder).
