|
Hi, some of you may know about the flood that hit Minot, ND lately. My house was affected by it.
Myself and two roommates rented a 3 bedroom 2 bath house. We had maybe 3-4 days to evacuate, we got a lot of our vital important things out and moved the rest to our second floor.
When the flood hit, it was maybe 10-14 feet high, halfway up the living room. The bottom half of the house is completely ruined, covered in river water, sewage, and god knows what else. The basement was still a swimming pool when were allowed to return.
When we were allowed to return the stuff on the second floor was unscathed, we took pictures of the stuff that was damaged and luckily with our renters insurance we were able to get reimbursed for our personal property.
This all happened June-Julyish time frame.
Mid-August we got a letter saying to remove all of our stuff from the house and turn in our keys, and we would be terminated from the lease because the house will not be livable for quite some time, which is completely understandable.
Then the kicker comes, they said if we don't completely empty the house, we will be charged against our security deposit. They said the laborers charge by the hour for anything they have to remove of ours.
Keep in mind this house has condemned letters all over the front window, stating it "unsafe", "diseased, rodent infested" etc. It's a complete muddy mess in the basement, it stinks of shit and whatever else is all over that place.
So we clean about 95% of the house, except for the basement which is damn near pitch black and covered in slippery mud.
It's been 2 weeks since we turned in, and no deposit yet. They seemed very shady and indirect when I kept asking if the work we put in was enough. Then I got to thinking, this was a natural disaster, that wasn't our fault. We have no home anymore, we spent a few days in that diseased unstructurally safe house cleaning it out, and they are possibly not going to return our $800?
I checked state law, they have to give us our deposit back within 30 days of us returning our keys or a letter stating why they kept it. If the bad news does come I want to be ready to fire back, what should I do in that event?
Pics:
http://tinypic.com/r/211ju52/7
http://tinypic.com/r/2qs56yf/7
http://tinypic.com/r/i6j8mh/7
http://tinypic.com/r/9k2rsj/7
http://tinypic.com/r/2pqqjb5/7
|
Go contact a local paralegal or lawyer who does this stuff. I don't think anyone on TL can give you better advice than a auctual lawyer who will be correct.
If someone tells you something here and it ends up wrong. You could end up losing that chance at getting that deposit at all.
|
call up your local lawyer, hes probably getting similar cases recently so the law that applies will be on the top of his head
|
I'm with masterbreti. Don't chance advice from any forum.
|
Although TL may be able to give good advice, it's safer to go to a professional.
I'm probably saying this because I'm too dumb to help you otherwise.
|
Calling your State board on housing may help http://www.ag.nd.gov/Brochures/TenantRights-2003.pdf
You should write a letter along with the photo prints to your landlord. Having paper copy of your conversations will come in handy, and mailing a letter will show him/her your seriousness (make sure you make a copy/photograph etc). Make sure you properly document all your letters/emails/phone calls as much as possible. Your deposit is yours, as long as you are serious about chasing after it, your landlord will stop screwing around with you.
|
This is all good advice. Contact a lawyer who's familiar with local property laws. It sounds like you should get your deposit back.
As a side note, a lot of landlords keep part or all of almost every security deposit they have. It's easy to come up with a list of charges, and most people can't be bothered to file an actual lawsuit to get a couple hundred bucks back. Sometimes, just the threat of legal action is enough to get a landlord to cave. Stick with it and you've got a decent chance of getting your deposit back.
|
Check your area for legal aid clinics (legal services, etc., they go by several names). Most of them have a pretty brisk housing dispute business, and they'll probably be able to give you some solid advice over the phone immediately. I'm sure that they're VERY familiar with the laws that surround the whole situation. After all, the entire area was underwater for a bit. You will certainly not be the first with a situation like yours. If they can't help you over the phone, and you don't meet their income requirements (most legal aid clinics can only represent you if you meet some measure of poverty) for representation, they will at minimum be able to direct you to a reputable attorney who handles these matters.
|
I have been in similar sitution before. My advise do not bother contacting a lawyer ( frankly its a really dumb thing to do with only 800$ at stake and he cannot be in the court with u ), u will have to file a claim in the small claims court, ( chances are u 'll get ur money back after the other party will get served the court's notice ), in the case u do go to court from what u said u should be completely fine, small courts generally rule in favor of tennants, and btw if i remember right u are entitled to a small interest % on ur securit deposit so it should be slightly more than 800$.
|
Really appreciate it guys. It's quite ridiculous here. All the leasing companies in Minot have jacked up their rents to insane prices. I'm talking 1 bedrooms that would be no more then $600/month normally are now up to $1200-$1400. They are leeching off peoples desparation. They lost 4,000 homes here and all of the hotels are taken by oil field workers (there's been a huge boom here). So there is almost no where to live.
These leasing companies are straight up crooked, it makes me sick. As if my roommates and I should pay a dime for that ruined house as if it was our fault. The sad part is, the military population is huge here. I'm in the Air Force and we employ about 5,000 military personnel at this base, and there are a lot of fellow Airman in much shittier conditions then myself, military needs to step in and put a stop to this crooked business happening in Minot.
|
gotta take the good with bad oil field workers dump a lot of money into the local economy generally buisinesses boom, unfortunetly renting and housing pricing skyrocket been that way forever
|
they have to provide you a list of charges (and estimates have to be in good faith) within a certain amount of time (21 days in california, check your own state for info).
if you feel you've been taken advantage of in some way, a simple trick is to threaten a lawsuit using some letterhead from any law office. most small businesses will cave under a legitimate threat of legal action. i just did this for a place which took all of my 1600$ deposit with bogus charges, and recovered all of my deposit within the week.
if you do in fact have to sue, you can sue the landlord for keeping your deposit in bad faith. which means you can sue for more than the amount of the actual deposit (varies state by state, in california for example it is 3x the amount).
small claims courts tend to favor tenants in disputes, so that will work to your favor as well. the burden of proof is also substantially lower.
|
On September 16 2011 12:30 kukarachaa wrote:
...small courts generally rule in favor of tennants...
Where the hell did you pull this from? O_0
|
I am so sad to hear this........Minot is my hometown, I was born on Minot AFB and lived there 15 out of my 22 years of being alive. My father and I have been talking about this recently; he is a retired SMSGT. We have been talking to some friends back home about this BS. I will get ahold of you if we hear anything or can help in some way.
Godspeed man, I don't want Minot to change from this ;__;
|
As far as rent going up that high on remaining apartments, ask the housing board if this is legal. In NJ after Irene, price gouging was specifically prohibited and many businesses were fined by consumer affairs. Making an abnormally high profit off peoples misfortune in a natural disaster is a scumbag move, screw supply and demand we do have an intervening government for this reason.
|
Really simple answer - you need to contact a local attorney:
ND State Bar Association's Lawyer Referral Service
*I am really surprised they charge a $30 fee. I am pretty confident that PA does not.
Another possible option would be to contact a local law school to find out if there is a clinic that might be able to assist you for free:
UND Law School - Clinic Contact Info
*I noticed there was a brochure that might have additional information (possibly about the type of clinics they run), but I was unable to open the PDF at work.
**Obviously trust them at your own risk - not sure if I'd go to a clinic where they spell "Goals" as "Goasl" (see, e.g., "Home > School of Law > Clinics > Goasl and Pedagogy").
Good luck.
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPT
