My landlord was new the year I moved in, after a little over a year he was fired for multiple reasons including sexual favors for rent,and has a case against him. A few months after being fired I was told by a fill in from the office, that he had somehow lied on my paperwork and fixed my utility checks 70$ more than approved, with a total of 2900, Now I am being made to pay that back. The way they worded it was my rent went up, when it's not rent its a repayment. This is not my fault, and I have paid almost 700 $. My concern is not only having to pay for a mistake made by a criminal, but a repayment will follow me and possibly affect anywhere I may plan to move in the future. What do I do! Where do I even begin!
Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
6y
If I understand you correctly, this was a property manager working for a company? IN other words, he is not the property owner. Is that correct?
I recommend you write a letter to the company. Clearly explain what happened and provide any documentation you have. Demand they respond within one week and give them 30 days to correct the account and refund whatever is owed.
If they are a property management company and they refuse to respond, you can file a complaint with the state governing board. There should be a real estate commission or something that regulates your state. Filing a complaint is a simple step that works wonders for motivating licensed agents to do the right thing because they don't want the state investigating their business!
If filing a complaint doesn't work, or they are not licensed / regulated managers, then your next step would be to file in Small Claims court. It's very inexpensive and usually worth the effort if you are correct. Again, be sure to have everything clearly documented to prove your case to the court.
The fact is you signed a contract and you followed those terms. They can not make you pay back the extra (guessing the utilities were $70 less than they should have been). The rest (property manager being fired, etc) is not relevant. As Nathan said, send them a notice and you want to be credited for the $700 that you've already paid. Stick to the facts.
You said you moved in just over a year ago, but now they want you to pay $2900-how does that work when it was $70 a month and you've already paid $700 (10 months)?