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

By: J. Jinx

J. Jinx — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:04:01 +0000

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…

By: smedrik

smedrik — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 20:24:11 +0000

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

By: xoxo Dogs xoxo

xoxo Dogs xoxo — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 19:55:01 +0000

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.