landlord's illegal entry now wants to evict me
Member since 2008 · 15 posts · 0 votes
My landlord entered my apartment illegally (did not give me 24 hour notice) and found out that I had broken the lease by having a pet, which is forbidden int he lease. He has now geven me 30 days to move out and I don't feel I have to because he got the infromation illegally. Can he do this? Our court date is set for next week. Help.
Remember, Law and Order is a tv show, not a pre-law course.
Landlord-Tenant laws vary from municipality to municipality. Most laws say 24hr written notice in advance, or within 48 hrs of entry if there is a matter of urgency or emergency.
You may have recourse through the law to collect punitive damages, but in most cases the matter is contractual and handled in civil court.
Where I landlord, a tenant should receive a 10-day notice to correct a lease violation or vacate. After that, the eviction process starts.
If you are month-to-month, the landlord need not give you any reason to ask you to move after your lease term expires (30 day notice)
If your landlord really came in illegally, you might have some negotiating leverage, but you should be prepared to get rid of the dog (and pay for any damages the dog may have caused).
In a practical sense, you're better off finding another place to live than insisting that you stay somewhere where you and the landlord have an adversarial relationship. You don't need the smudge on your credit report and landlord history, and if you were my tenant and caused me court/eviction costs, I would do everything within the bounds of the law to make sure another landlord doesn't have to deal with a problem tenant.
We have a month to month lease and I was given notice to move in January. This thing started because the neighbor upstairs complained about my dog barking. I stopped payment on the rent check but made good on the check after I got a 7 day vacate notice. As soon as the LL got the money I was served with an official state form giving me 30 day notice. I don't want to move and the LL refused to take my check for this month's rent. Will the court let me keep living here because the LL entered illegally?
what state are you in? Check your local laws. Also, don't forget that you broke the lease by having a dog.
Thanks
-Rich
You are acting like a victim here. However, the real victim would be your upstairs neighbor who has to put up with a barking dog in a building where there shouldn’t be one. If you were one of my tenants I would have given you the choice of getting rid of the pet or leaving and, if necessary I would have you evicted. Why should a tenant who abides by the terms of the lease have to put up with your dog?
You are trying to make the landlord the bully here for coming into the apartment. The real problem here is you. So why not stop trying to blame someone else?
8)
Actually, I am the landlord who illegally entered my tenant's apartment because I suspected that multiple animals were living there. I saw no signs of animals but many food bowls and multiple litter boxes. But then I didn't go into the bedroom and there were no working lightbulbs in the basement so I could not see if an cats were down there.
The reason I entered was because when I went to pick up the rent check the community enclosed front porch reeked of animal urine. When I entered the unit the place was trashed, the carpeting looked like dandelion puffs from cats tearing at it and the place was utterly filty with a huge plate of meat sitting on the kitchen floor.
The odor from the porch was so strong that the upstairs tenant, who has only lived there for less than two months, had to burn incense in her apartment because of the odor. And yes, she says the lower tenant had a dog there that barked for two weeks straight.
I have an eviction court date next week because I gave my tenant 30 days notice and she refuses to move. She says what I did was illegal and that she has rights. I am worried sick that the judge is going rule in her favor because I did enter her apartment without giving notice. Not that it is any excuse, but I am a first time LL. She is my first tenant and it has been hell.
I didn't want to deceive anyone, but wanted to get a feel for what others thought of my bizarre situation. And yes, my tenant sees herself as the victim. My main objective is getting her out of there ASAP before I have a roach or rodent problem.
You may wish to read your own lease. It should contain a clause stating when entry is allowed. Did the odor have you suspecting an unsafe or dangerous condition? If so, the lease would probably allow entry. Tenants are very good at making threats but rarely follow through. Your tenant would have to retain an attorney to seek damages and it is doubtful that any lawyer would take such a case on a contingency basis. You probably have nothing to worry about.
8)
and the neighbor across the street saw me enter the unit. I am not going to deny it to the judge and will tell the truth and hope for the best.
I just hope the penalty isn't too severe.
We have a month to month lease and I have been trying to get her out of there since early January. She stopped payment on her rent check but piad when she received the 7day quit notice. I immediately filed the state form for 30 day notice and she should have moved on the 1st but hasn't. She says she'll see me in court.
I'm not sure what she has to gain. Surely the judge wouldn't allow her to live there if she refuses to move per the lease. Would he/she?
And I don't understand why she wants to live there if she thinks I'm such a bad landlord.
My lease doesn't say anything about notice just that I may enter the premises during reasonable hours for the following purposes: to inspect to see if the tenant is complying with this agreement, to make repairs, and to exhibit the unit to prospective purchasers, mortagees and tenants.
What she has to gain is free rent. If she is evicted at the hearing, she will probably be given at least a little time to vacate. In all of this time she is living there for free. There is a good chance she won’t even show up at court. Be sure to let us know the results.
8)
actually she was caught up on rent until the 1st of march and tried to give me a check for march but i didn't take it. i just want her out. i was afraid if i accepted her check that it would signal that she was ok to stay another month. wrong!
Anna,
You have put yourself in a very bad position. I don't know what the laws in your state are, and apparently neither do you. If you are serious about being a landlord, then you MUST learn your state/local laws and follow them. It is just pointless to enter your tenant's apartment without giving notice. All you have done is hand your opponent ammunition with which to shoot you. This is a self-inflicted wound and you have good reason to be worried. I would strongly suggest that you get a good real estate attorney TOMORROW to help you with the eviction and advise you what to expect. You should also join your local REIA and make friends with the SUCCESSFUL landlords in your area. Make friends with these successful investors and spend a lot of time LISTENING!
A tenant having a dog is a very small issue in the rental property business. It is nothing compared to the occassional insane tenant or the occassional drug dealer from hell. It takes a little time to get accustomed to dealing with the scum of the earth that occassionally will end up in your rentals. However, if you learn the ropes and know the law, it does get easier over time. The problems don't go away, but you will get numb to the nonsense.
Good luck,
Mike
At this point all I want to do is get this filthy tenant out of my house before I have a cockroach or rodent problem. Yes, I made a mistake. A big one. I will pay whatever fine the judge imposes, but this woman has to go. I live in a rural area and theser are no landlord associations. I am pretty much on my own at this point and I hope for a sympathetic judge.
I'm curious as to what you people on this forum would do. Would you capitulate to the tenant and let her live there indefinately, knowing that your investment is dwindling and the possibiilty of major problems down the road (pest infestation, etc.) or would you cut your losses now and fess up.
What I would do is hire a good real estate attorney TOMORROW! Explain the situation to her and find out what is likely to happen in court. Pets do not mean a pest infestation. I have dozens of tenants with pets and don't find any correlation between pets and pest infestations. While you are talking to the attorney, get answers to any other questions you have, such as tenant-landlord law, eviction proceedings, etc.
The more important issue here is that the tenant is breaking the lease. That is NOT good. The tenant is testing you. You need to step up to the plate and be the one in charge of your property.
If you do decide to compromise with the tenant, maybe you could charge her extra (rent and/or deposit) for having the dogs and agree to monthly inspections of the property. That way, you would both win. You would have extra money and security and the tenant would get to keep the dogs that are probably part of the family.
Good Luck,
Mike
I will second rehab702 and MikeOH on this. Likely the tenant will never sue. They threaten that when they're not getting their way. However, you do need to have a good reason to enter without proper notice of intent...(ALWAYS give proper notice). Entering without notice requires some type of "emergency" reason. This will likely never go in front of a judges eyes...but be prepared for the "emergency"...and stick to your guns with the tenant....and read up on state specific ll/tenant law.
So I should have an 'emergency' scenario in my back pocket?
Does anyone know of a landlord who has been penalized and what happened?
Did you call an attorney today?
Yes, I called two local attorneys and they both told me they didn't think I had anything to worry about. They told me that I was within my rights. I live in a rural area and only a couple of attorneys even handle eviction cases and I called the two that were referred to me. I don't know what to do now.
Yeah - responding to an emergency call involving an animal is not just "going into an apartment" for no apparent reason. A lawyer would know how to present it. That being said, since you're hiring the attorneys - get your advice on entering/evictions from them and add this to your operating manual.
Tim
I would not start making things up (an emergency scenario) and commit perjury. Although you will probably not be prosecuted criminally for doing so, you could certainly lose credibility in the magistrate's/judge's eyes and that could affect you for years to come.
I would strongly suggest that you hire a real estate attorney and have them help you with the eviction.
Good Luck,
Mike
I am still waiting to hear from one other attorney and also get the opinion of a person who owns many rentals and does all of his own evictions. What I am hearing on this board and what I heard from the two attorneys I spoke with is not consistent. Possibly neither of these lawyers regularly handles eviction cases....most of the law offices I contacted do not and I was given these lawyer's names as people who do. Neither seemed overly concerned and the last one I spoke with said the illegal entry wasn't relevant to the lease violations or that she had defied the 30-day notice to quit. I'll keep you posted when I know more.
Sure. You entered. Don't deny that. Do not lie. Do not commit perjury.
Buy WHY? WHY did you enter? Check your lease (as stated by other posters). Our lease has an emergency provision which allows us to enter with zero notice in certain situations. If yours does not, make sure you add that clause after all this.
When the upstairs tenant complained, did you go to the property to inspect from the outside? Did you smell odors? Odors of defacation and urine? Of dead meat? Did you knock? Was their no answer? Could it be that you feared the worst? Maybe someone was injured or trapped or expired?
I was not there. I can not answer these questions for you. Why did you feel the urgency to get your LL key out of your pocket and enter? What is your story?
Can your story persuade the judge that the situation was dire enough that it kept you from giving notice?
BTW, putting all of this on the PUBLIC Interent was probably not a good idea. Think about that one.
I suspect that many people here register under a fictitious name and don't identify their real location (state). The might even fudge dates and times.
I highly doubt that the FBI is monitoring a site related to eviction cases.
I highly doubt that the FBI is monitoring a site related to eviction cases.
I disagree. I think most people on here are honest. I also think that most people on here don't make strange posts about being a tenant, and then change their story and admit they are the landlord. Something is weird about that whole approach. Not sure what to believe.
:roll:
I agree with Rich that pretending to be the tenant instead of the landlord was a little strange. However, I also agree with Anna that many people are registered under a fictitious or incomplete name - like Rich23. My point is that a tenant is not going to search every instance of Anna or Rich on the internet to find some evidence on an eviction case. It's just not that big of a deal.
In addition, the FBI or even local police certainly isn't looking for evidence that someone is committing perjury in an eviction case. I have done dozens of evictions and I can tell you for a fact that tenants commit perjury in almost EVERY COURT CASE. There is absolutely no penalty for committing perjury in court, at least in my experience. The law in our country is a BIG JOKE! You only get the justice that you can afford.
Mike
Yes, posting as a tenant was strange but it was an effective way to 'feel out' posters' general opinion of my tenant's argument. I do not post on forums using my real name. I happen to think that is more dangerous than posting a story that could possibly be ficticious, but in this case isn't. I have changed names and dates and location but the details of the story are accurate. That said, an eviction is fairly insignificant as far as legal proceedings go and how much weight would a judge give it even if a defendent printed out an anonymous scenario that matched there own? Anyway, I really don't have anything to hide because I am not going to go into court and fabricate a bunch of lies.