Problem with landlord...any ideas?

Macdaddy4738

Macdaddy4738

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2005
In the process of leaving our place in Boone. There were only two of us left after April, and both of us have been living elsewhere (Ive been in Granite Falls for the summer working an Internship, and room mate lost his job due to foreclosure and simply ran out of money, moved back home).

The house in Boone has been essentially vacant for the last two weeks (however, we are paid up on rent). Anyways, landlord calls me yesterday and tells me the new tenants want to move in FRIDAY (the 29th) because they have to be out of their current place that day. Our lease does NOT end till the 31st. Landlord has already told them that it is fine. :shaking:
Honestly at that point I didnt particularly care, as long as they leave my remaining stuff alone, etc.

Few hours later, my room mate calls. Turns out he is missing a fair amount of stuff from the house (he basically had a separate basement apartment). Stuff probably totals close to 500 dollars, not much BUT the only one who has been up there the last two weeks, surprise, the landlord. Doors were definitely locked when I left last. Asked our only neighbor about it and he said he's seen several cars (not ours) going back and forth to the place. He thinks that the landlords kids found out it was vacant and snagged a key and stole the stuff.

SO now naturally I am PISSED. I do NOT want these new tenants there till August 1st, when their lease begins. What legal recourse do I have if I get up there tomorrow and see a bunch of people in MY house? Can I call the sheriff and have them escorted off the property for trespassing?
 
you have a signed legal document stating that the place is yours until the 31st. the landlord can't legally allow them into the property until your lease is up unless there have been issues and an official eviction notice. Since there hasn't, then you can take legal action against the landlord and I highly recommend filing a police report and get them to talk to the landlord and the neighbors since they've seen a bunch of cars. Ask the neighbors to tag license plates if they see anyone else.
best of luck
 
First, just chill. What's a day or two matter? Also the landlord probably assumed it was left behind because you didn't want it. It doesn't matter if you left behind a pile of cash, because people leave stuff nice stuff all the time. The one thing that does matter it that he must put it in storage for 90 days or longer before he can get rid of it. Just be nice and call him politely and go pick it up. If stolen, then file a police report after talking to him.
 
Get up there ASAP and file a police report. Basically this is breaking and entering regardless of who is in the house, aside from the landlord himself, and he has to give notice to you directly before going in.

Did you already tell him this "early move in" scenario was OK?
 
Here's an idea:





ai277.photobucket.com_albums_kk59_bubbiesdad_securedownload_1.jpg
 
LOL!!!!!! @ Kaiser


Mac...didnt you have trouble with this guy before? something about renting to unwanted tennants or something?
 
Reid said:
LOL!!!!!! @ Kaiser
Mac...didnt you have trouble with this guy before? something about renting to unwanted tennants or something?
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No, but I HAVE had trouble with room mates.

Basically the couple in the basement left in November and never paid rent, the other couple left like two months ago and stopped paying bills (even though he was still going to pay what he owed, basically 3-400 dollars on power)

So the power bill has not been paid, the landlord is paying it now. However, NO eviction notice, and all we will be losing are deposits to pay the bills so there is no reason for these people to be coming in early.

GubNi, I let this woman know full well I will NOT have my stuff out till probably Saturday, even though I have till Sunday at the latest. She knows we did not abandon anything. Plus I have already confronted her about the missing stuff, and she claimed she does NOT know where it is...

kaiser715, the living room to the house looks almost exactly like that, without the motorcycle of course.

Im not going to damage the house or anything, Im just very suspicious of her now, and do not want ANYONE in the house till I am out. I never agreed to the early move in, she just basically said, they are moving in. Thats it. I had no real say so.

Im just making sure if I call the sheriff, that nothing will backfire on me.
 
Macdaddy4738 said:
Im just making sure if I call the sheriff, that nothing will backfire on me.
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As far as you are concerned, you were away from your home, came back, and some things were gone. E.g. reporting a theft. If you come back and there are people there, same thing - people tresspassing in your home. The whole lease thing is irrelevant for that until the 31st.
 
Landlords cannont come to the property without notice nor can they enter the property without your blessing. It doesn't matter that he owns it or not, the landlord CANNOT enter the property without your permission while you are renting.

sounds like you are renting until midnight on the 31st, which means if property is missing and the tennants do not know where it is, a police report needs to be filed. It is breaking and entering regardless of who came in and took it (landlord, landlord kids, theives, etc.).

The landlord cannot OK someone else to come into the property while it is still under contract with you without prior approval by you. He would then be in breach of contract. However, often times there are areas where the tennant has breached and the landlord overlooked it, so sometimes its better to just work it out to make everyone happy especially if nobody is living there.

But, with stuff stolen or missing, thats def. worth a police report. Have police interview the neighbors too!
 
Its the 31st - any new news?
 
What a HUGE mess.

I got up there late Friday because I was waiting on a friend to come with me in case there was some sort of confrontation with the new folks...

Anyways, they had moved ALL their stuff in, and all mine was just tossed in a corner. Nearest I can tell Im missing around 200 dollars of cologne, a Carolina Hurricanes Poster, a clock, and some odds and ends that looked to be thrown away (ticket stubs I had set aside, etc...).

I called the sheriff, and all they could do was take a police report for the stolen stuff, nothing they could really do as far as the landlord moving people in before the lease was up. I was told to call back tomorrow and talk to their detectives in the civil division, but I can guess they will direct me to lawyer up and take her to court, which will probably cost more than its worth to fight.

However, we pretty much trashed the place. I left a tons of furniture that I never intended to take in the first place just all over the place, emptied both my grills on the floor and left the ash there, left tons of dishes that were not mine there, took ALL the cleaning supplies in the house, ALL the toilet paper, left a vacuum that belonged to my room mate that he left (but i cut the plug off :fuck-you: ), and we left all the lights on, as well as all the baseboard heaters, both fridges on and left open, and I we close and locked all the windows and doors because I believe the new people didnt have keys. Im sure the landlord got a call about it, but I never heard from her so whatever.

In the end I probably ruined any chance I had of getting what Im owed back, but like I said, a civil case would cost so much that it wouldnt be worth it in the end.
 
Macdaddy4738 said:
What a HUGE mess.
I got up there late Friday because I was waiting on a friend to come with me in case there was some sort of confrontation with the new folks...
Anyways, they had moved ALL their stuff in, and all mine was just tossed in a corner. Nearest I can tell Im missing around 200 dollars of cologne, a Carolina Hurricanes Poster, a clock, and some odds and ends that looked to be thrown away (ticket stubs I had set aside, etc...).
I called the sheriff, and all they could do was take a police report for the stolen stuff, nothing they could really do as far as the landlord moving people in before the lease was up. I was told to call back tomorrow and talk to their detectives in the civil division, but I can guess they will direct me to lawyer up and take her to court, which will probably cost more than its worth to fight.
However, we pretty much trashed the place. I left a tons of furniture that I never intended to take in the first place just all over the place, emptied both my grills on the floor and left the ash there, left tons of dishes that were not mine there, took ALL the cleaning supplies in the house, ALL the toilet paper, left a vacuum that belonged to my room mate that he left (but i cut the plug off :fuck-you: ), and we left all the lights on, as well as all the baseboard heaters, both fridges on and left open, and I we close and locked all the windows and doors because I believe the new people didnt have keys. Im sure the landlord got a call about it, but I never heard from her so whatever.
In the end I probably ruined any chance I had of getting what Im owed back, but like I said, a civil case would cost so much that it wouldnt be worth it in the end.
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You sir are a JACKASS!! Two wrongs don't make a right. Especially if you don't know who did it.
 
lockedup5 said:
You sir are a JACKASS!! Two wrongs don't make a right. Especially if you don't know who did it.
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To be fair, the only thing I really did that was rude was the grill deal, that was a little too far and I did regret it.

The rest though, that was going to be left anyways. And the cleaning supplies/TP and all that belonged to me and my room mate anyways, so its fair game to take.

Leaving all the power stuff on was a little far too I suppose.
 
People coming into the house while you are under contract is both civil and criminal. It is YOUR domain until midnight on the 31st. They are trespassing and should have been removed by the police (if you wanted to take it that far)...
 
rockcity said:
People coming into the house while you are under contract is both civil and criminal. It is YOUR domain until midnight on the 31st. They are trespassing and should have been removed by the police (if you wanted to take it that far)...
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yep.

But unfortunately by doing all that shit to the house, rather than just respectfully packing yer shit and leaving, pretty much screwed any chance you had of getting help from the police or anybody else, mostly b/c it just makes you look like a vindictive ass.
 
Eh, under the circumstances, it could have been much worse. Should have pulled an upper decker.
 
while what you did upon vacating is debatable from a morale standpoint, it's extremely unlikely to have any affect on you pursuing the righting of any wrongs you feel were done to you. worst case they can TRY to keep some of the security deposit for cleaning the mess, but believe it or not even that is a stretch. you might also want to look into what they are already trying to keep the deposit for, you might find you are legally due at least some or all of it back despite the circumstances and/or their reasoning. especially considering the other definitively illegal actions on their part. not to mention what you could be owed in rent for the last few days of the month.

i don't have time to go into complete details, but what i will say is you might be VERY surprised at the rights you have as a tenant. NC law heavily favors the tenant over the landlord. i have a hand in managing three rental properties in raleigh (mostly college students, too), and could share some absolutely ridiculous stories that have favored tenants. fwiw, yours comes pretty close to a few of them.

bottom line, if you choose to pursue it, assuming what's been posted thus far is the accurate truth i feel confident you more than have a case to get SOME level of action in your favor. exactly what that might be i can't/won't speculate on.
 
To be fair, I would have cleaned up my mess, and even went BACK to the house on the 30th to do so, however the new tenants had already fully moved in, so I didn't bother.

Moving out creates messes. Reason 1 why she should have hired the cleaning lady AFTER I finished.

The Sherrifs department called me today but I was at work. I called at lunch and left a message for the detective but she never called back.
 
By the way, an 80# bag of quikcrete in the toilet is always a nice parting gift for a pissy landlord. It only took me 7 flushes to get the bulk of it down.

LOL
 
billybob535 said:
By the way, an 80# bag of quikcrete in the toilet is always a nice parting gift for a pissy landlord. It only took me 7 flushes to get the bulk of it down.
LOL
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ROTFLMAO. That's got to be the funniest quote I've ever read.
 
billybob535 said:
By the way, an 80# bag of quikcrete in the toilet is always a nice parting gift for a pissy landlord. It only took me 7 flushes to get the bulk of it down.

LOL
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Bwhaha that's got to be one of the funniest land lord revenge ever. At our old house which was deep in the woods, I bought a 40 pound bag of deer corn poured a trail of it into the living room leading to a huge pile of deer corn. Needless to say the local deer herd probably had there own version of Golden Corral in the living room.:lol:
 
apparently the stolen stuff is a "civil case". I talked to what I believe to be the first 8 year old detective today (girl sounded fresh out of middle school or something)

Anyways, she recommended I call the magistrate or a lawyer :shaking:. Not sure its worth my time anymore.

However, I do still have a key to the home :bounce2:
 
stolen property is never a civil case unless its domestic/between family, etc. But, I'm no lawyer, judge, or cop, so I could be wrong...


you are prob. better off moving on unless the stolen items are worth your time and efforts. civil cases you should be able to get court costs added to any judgement you seek
 
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