Miami City Guide

Can Landlord Evict Me When I Payed Rent?he Is Acting In Retaliation-he Doesn’t Want To Fix Maintenance Issues!?

We moved into a condo in October. We payed first, last, and security. Our rent has been payed on time every month (even after our landlord would misplace the check-we would pay a 33.00 cancelation fee and re-issue another one plus postage!) We noticed a couple of days after moving in that we were missing screens in some of the windows. It is hot in Miami so we were concerned of not being able to open the windows. Roaches, lizards, and ants all can come in with no screen. We contacted him right away. He answered by stating “keep your windows shut”. This is in a saved voicemail. Then we decided to turn on the 2 AC units that we have. To our horror the units didn’t work! He then came over and stated he would buy new ones. That never happened. We started noticing that we were not being given very much hot water when taking showers or doing the dishes. We opened up the cabinet to the water heater, and again, to our horror we discovered that it was leaking…alot. We contacted our landlord right away however, he never sent a plumber over. He said that he didn’t have the funds. We told him we would pay and deduct from our rent but he refused. In January we were startled at 3am by a loud “pop” in our bedroom. Our ceiling fan that our landlord had installed caught on fire! The fire department had to even come out. They turned off the breaker and told us that we couldn’t turn on our electricity because it was a fire hazard. Code compliance gave him 48 hours to get a certified electrician out to the place. That never happened. Five days later he sent out an electrician. He refused service which is proven on the work order stating he didn’t have the funds. As months passed, the water heater leaked more and more into the kitchen causing us to fall in the kitchen many times. We would slush in the kitchen as if the floor had become one big outdoor puddle. The smell was ridiculous and was getting worse. We finally sent a certified letter to the landlord telling him that the living conditions were not o.k. and that we couldn’t take it. We were getting bloody noses and sinus issues from such a strong smell of mold. We sent the letter letting him know our move out date and when we could conduct the walk through. He refused to sign for the package. We then start receiving death threats and horrible text messages at all hours of the night. He told us he would poison our dogs. That we would come home one day and be locked out. That he had spent our security and so on. Yesterday, he comes to our condo we leased in a contract for one year and served us eviction papers with 7 police officers. This made it seem as though to neighbors that I had not been paying rent or that I was a horrible person. Thank goodness the president of the condo association was there to be an advocate on my side. He owes the condo association thousands. The people below my condo are pissed because the leak has gone into their condo which they own! And the lady is 8months pregnant. The leak is now being taken care of the association because the landlorn failed to. Now we half our wall missing in the bedroom which we can’t use, drywall all over our bed and floor, black toxic mold covering the walls, and now we are getting illegally evicted. On the eviction notice he stated he was evicting me because of threatening his dog as well as himself?? Yet, admitted to the officers that he just lost his job and couldn’t afford the repairs and furthermore, had no documentation of threats ever made by myself. We want our security back, this months rent back, and other monies owed to us for living in such filth. We tried to break the lease and yet we get evicted. This all seems unfair. We have contacted an attorney however, what are our chances of winning? We live in Miami Florida! Please help! Help from attorneys or lawyers is greatly appreciated as well!!!

Comments

3 Comments on "Can Landlord Evict Me When I Payed Rent?he Is Acting In Retaliation-he Doesn’t Want To Fix Maintenance Issues!?"

  1. xoxo Dogs xoxo on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 7:55 pm 

    He actually cannot lock you out without going through a formal eviction process. When the landlord changes the locks it is called a constructive eviction and entirely illegal.
    If the first time you had received the papers was after the locks were changed sue him, sue him for all the time money and inconveiance he has caused.
    You have worked with code compliance, sent registered letters and have the condo association to verify the state of the unit. You also have the police officer hearing that the landlord “could not afford” the repairs. Hopefully you have saved some of those threatening texts.
    This should be an easy win.
    You should be able to get your security back, the month where you were “evicted”. Also look try to get the cost of temporary accomidation and relocation as well as damage to your belongings caused by negligence. Those are all very reasonable damages.

  2. smedrik on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 8:24 pm 

    Take your losses and move. You can’t get blood from a stone.

  3. J. Jinx on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 9:04 pm 

    Given the documentation you have, a lawsuit in this case is perfectly appropriate, especially with the condo association alongside. The risk is that he won’t have money to pay any judgments but at the very least you might be able to get a lien against the condo, assuming he is not headed for foreclosure (which I suspect to be the case given the housing market there).
    Given your description, a reasonable case can be made for you to claim ALL rent back to the initial issues (the screens) any monies in escrow, any actual expenses incurred (medical and repair), plus legal fees.
    If you want to get really creative, sue him for possession of the condo, take over the mortgage payments and make the repairs yourself (assuming your finances allow it). He might be amenable just to get out from under it…

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