Advice

[CliffMongoloid]

Need advice on something other than beer...

Graduated college about a year ago and have settled into a decent job, saved up enough money and started looking for apartments so i can move outta my parents house and start livin... found a nice place. close to work. off street parking and no thru traffic. 600 everything included except heat. The land lord is super nice and has been accommodating. My girlfriend and I were going to move into the apartment and signed a lease for april 1st. Well so we thought. Last friday the landlord informed us that the man who is living in the apartment has decided to stay but since the landlord has another open unit we have the choice of the 2 apartments.(the one the man is living with and another one in the same building) This meeting was on friday and the man who is living in the apartment we have signed a lease for was there. He signed a paper stating that he will stay in his apartment if we like the other one or will move to the other one if we would like to take the original one. All seemed perfect. We looked at the open apartment on sat and decided that we would rather have the one we originally wanted. The one we signed a lease for. The landlord informed the man and we were told we could move in our stuff on sunday the first. We packed up our stuff on sunday morning and headed to the new place only to find that the man hasnt moved a single thing and has boarded and locked himself into the apartment. The landlord has a garage on the property so we were able to move the big things in there. I have no idea what to do with this situation. Do i get a lawyer? do i break the door down? do i say screw it and get my money back from the landlord? which he said he is more than happy to do so... the other unit is still open but it is more of a point now... i dont know i want to live on the same site as such a sketchy character

thanks
cliff

 

[Qhrumphf]

Don't know your local laws, but at least around here once someone's in a unit, they can't just be thrown out at will. Even if they're not paying rent, refusing to leave after a lease is over, anything like that. Has to go through the court process for eviction. Or at least so I've been told by the local courts and police department.

From what I understand, the landlord will probably have to go through the courts to get him out, and that'd probably take a while no matter what. And if you've signed a lease for the property, I'd think the landlord is in breach of contract if you can't move in, and he'd be required to give you your money back whether he wants to or not. But I'm not a lawyer.

 

[cfonnes]

Get your money back, move your stuff back to you parents, and find a new place.

 

[CliffMongoloid]

Don't know your local laws, but at least around here once someone's in a unit, they can't just be thrown out at will. Even if they're not paying rent, refusing to leave after a lease is over, anything like that. Has to go through the court process for eviction. Or at least so I've been told by the local courts and police department.

From what I understand, the landlord will probably have to go through the courts to get him out, and that'd probably take a while no matter what. And if you've signed a lease for the property, I'd think the landlord is in breach of contract if you can't move in, and he'd be required to give you your money back whether he wants to or not. But I'm not a lawyer.

Yea from what i understand its like that here.... tenants have more rights than one would think... it just sucks cause i can tell the landlord is not a slumlord and to find a nice apartment in my budget with a good landlord is hard to come by

 

[Qhrumphf]

There's a couple options I can think of:

-Swallow your pride, take the another unit. Again, depending on your local laws the landlord may be required to give you an equivalent unit, or a better unit for the same price since you've signed a lease.
-Convince the landlord to rent you the other unit at a cheaper price until he's able to kick the resident out of the unit you want
-Get your money back and go elsewhere.

 

[CliffMongoloid]

My gf was set on that apartment and to change her mind would be tricky...

I just called the land lord and we are meeting at the unit to knock on the door tomorrow morning to see if we can talk some sense into him

I pride myself on being a respectable member of society, i pay my bills, am nice and help out people when i can, and overall i enjoy life... to think a person can put other people in such a bind and cause unneeded stress on them is beyond me... there are decent people out there i know there is... im not hating on the world but it blows my mind that people can be like this... maybe im just naive

thanks for your help tho ohrumphf and listening to my ramblings

this would have been a perfect apartment for brewing also... a nice size garage the landlord would give me access to and let me brew in there... the use of the fridge in the garage he would allow me to hook up my temp control to for fermenting in exchange for some homebrew... he seemed interested in the hobby and wanted to brew with me also also would let me mow the lawn and do yard work for the unit/ snow plow(with his tractor, also including all the gas) for the exchange of 100 bucks off a month in rent..... oh well

 

[kapbrew13]

don't live anymore near that idiot. Run far away. Once a d-bag always a d-bag.

 

[CliffMongoloid]

don't live anymore near that idiot. Run far away. Once a d-bag always a d-bag.

this is prolly the only option the more i think about it

 

[kapbrew13]

this is prolly the only option the more i think about it

Sorry that idiot is ruining what sounded like a good place to live. Or just do the American thing and get a lawyer and sue him for emotional hardship. : ) well good luck.

 

[CliffMongoloid]

Sorry that idiot is ruining what sounded like a good place to live. Or just do the American thing and get a lawyer and sue him for emotional hardship. : ) well good luck.

haha i should get a lawyer but it would prolly end up costing me money i dont have budgeted right now

 

[Dan]

The guy that is living there now... maybe he thought he'd move and realized due to either monetary or sentimental reasons couldn't bring himself to do it.

There are always two sides of a story. Is it really worth kicking this guy out and moving in?

Maybe there are better places to live than one which will initially begin with controversy.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

It usually takes some time to evict somebody from an apartment. The landlord should not have signed you into that apartment right after the prior/current renter's lease expired. He needed to be able to get in the apartment and clean, make repairs, inspect, etc. before you moved in. This would have also created a gap in time to take care of problems like this.

Either work out an arrangement to get a deal on the other apartment or tell the landlord he owes you all your money back plus the cost of finding somewhere else similar to live and any additional rent you have to pay at the next place for the term of the lease you signed with him.

 

[passedpawn]

The guy that is living there now... maybe he thought he'd move and realized due to either monetary or sentimental reasons couldn't bring himself to do it.

There are always two sides of a story. Is it really worth kicking this guy out and moving in?

Maybe there are better places to live than one which will initially begin with controversy.

I agree with this.

 

[Dan]

I agree with this.

Hey Pappy.

 

[CliffMongoloid]

I dont want to kick someone to the street... i am not a horrible person... but when i person (the guy in the apartment now) tells you to your face he is going to work with you and then stops answering the door and phone and creates problems its hard to look the other way... Hes lived there for 3 months so theres no sentimental value to the place.... (month to month leases')

My situation isnt as bad as my gfs... she lived close to this place and we decided to move in together... she was having issues with her landlord and it was a small apartment... since this issue she has had to move home with her parents which is over an hour for her work and school... causing her more stress.

yes i could find another place but to find a place with a decent landlord and decent rent is hard to come by... natural gas drilling has been going in my area for the last year or so and has caused rent to skyrocket due to all the employees being shipped in and need housing

 

[jgln]

I dont want to kick someone to the street... i am not a horrible person... but when i person (the guy in the apartment now) tells you to your face he is going to work with you and then stops answering the door and phone and creates problems its hard to look the other way... Hes lived there for 3 months so theres no sentimental value to the place.... (month to month leases')

My situation isnt as bad as my gfs... she lived close to this place and we decided to move in together... she was having issues with her landlord and it was a small apartment... since this issue she has had to move home with her parents which is over an hour for her work and school... causing her more stress.

yes i could find another place but to find a place with a decent landlord and decent rent is hard to come by... natural gas drilling has been going in my area for the last year or so and has caused rent to skyrocket due to all the employees being shipped in and need housing

I would say just look for another place. But if it is really difficult to find places where you live then maybe not. I would keep looking for another place while you sort out your options. I know how dissapointing it can be to find the perfect place only to have obstacles in the way and not get it. Been through that looking to buy a house but in the end I am so glad I didn't buy some of the houses we really liked "at the time". Keep looking.

This guy seems weird to me though. What if you do force him out? Will he retaliate? You don't want that problem and he will know where you live.

 

[oakbarn]

If you get a lawyer, you would only get back what you paid, which should only cost you a grand or so, unless you have to go to court, where you will need to come up with another grand. If the deposit was $500, you should be able to get back about $50 for only a lawyer fee of $2450 or so.
Advice:
1. No Lawyer
2. Take the good brewing apartment
if your girl baulks, get another girl, Great Brew Apartments are hard to come by.
3. Do not share any of your homebrew with the dirt bag but promise him some once a week.

 

[SharonaZamboni]

You could still take the less desirable, open apartment if housing is hard to find. But even though it sounds like a good price and the LL seems willing to let you work off some of the rent, it can be a red flag.
Either he's really flexible, or he doesn't have a great handle on business end of renting. If you do take the place, make sure your contract includes any work you'd do and the rent reduction for said work.
It's very disappointing to feel that a great thing has slipped through your hands, but many times it ends up being a blessing. So if you decide not to take the place, it's not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[CliffMongoloid]

Met with landlord yesterday and we decided to part way... it didnt seem like a good situation and we civilly came to terms on the agreement. He gave me back my money in full and he is letting me use his locked garage to store my things for now....

I filed an application for a gated community town house... which is smaller but everything is included except electric... its a lil more money but it seems more legit cause you pay a business the rent instead of a landlord...

thanks for all the help.... i appreciate it