Jefburk
Registered: 10/30/09
Posts: 1
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Reply with quote | #1 |
I am not or ever was a Landlord per say. Never advertised to rent for making money. I own a duplex in Maine, I've lived in my Duplex since 1999. I rented my side of the Duplex for one year and then bought my side in 2000. In 2005 the other side of the Duplex became available for purchase and I bought that side so my now ex-wife could run a daycare out of it. In 2006 I went through a divorce, but she still ran the daycare after until June 2007 when she left. Some people I knew through my ex-wife and who knew the situation with my ex, called me asking if they could rent the other side when my ex-wife left. I said no the first few times they called because I wanted to make the whole building into one house. Anyway the woman of this family called again saying that they really wanted to rent the other side because the house they were in had been "Sold" and she didn't want her and her family (Husband and 4 kids) out in the street and that they had no place to go. Stupid me fell for her story and I let them rent the other side while I lived in my side. I made an oral agreement with them as to rents,elec,oil,etc...They came June 2007 right after my ex left. The first month there her and her husband got into a fight and he ripped out the bathroom sink (broke it right in half), she put a restraining order on him and she begged me not to kick her and her kids out for what her husband had done. I was more worried about her and her kids so I of course didn't kick them out. A month later (July) he was back, I thought it was odd he was back, but wasn't about to butt into their business. Over a period of 6 months, I wasn't getting rent on time and when I did get any money it was only partial payments. I Was always kept awake from loud noises, would call them asking to please quiet down. Things didn't get any better so In Jan 2008 I gave them a notice to quit and went to the court house to get a Forcible Entry and Detainer Judgment, that I later found out I did wrong. A week after I gave them the notice the woman calls me and said she had just gotten her taxes back asked if I give you $1600.00 and work on paying for Jan rent can we stay until March, because they had a place but it wasn't available until March. (Rent was $800.00 a month) I refused at first and told her to use the money towards the new place. But once again she made me feel bad and I accepted the 1600.00. This is where the 1st eviction went wrong because I took the money and I had to Dismiss the case without prejudice. Sooo here we go into Feb 2008. I had been getting extremely high electric bills and would call them asking if they were doing anything that would cause the bills to get so high, was told No just the normal things, cooking,laundry,etc.... I ended up hiring an electrician to check my wiring Feb 11th, 2008. The people knew he was coming and left in their car, so I had to call them on their cell phone to have them come back and unlock the door so the electrician could do his checks, which they did. The electrician did his checks on my side and then we went to their side and did the same checks, while we were down in the basement I noticed a wall had been built on the backside of the basement and it had extension cords going through the side of the wall. AT THE TIME I didn't think much of it. The electrician couldn't find what would be causing the high bills and left. Feb 13th, 2008 4:03pm I got a call from the woman of the family saying there was water leaking in in one of the upstairs bedrooms and dripping down from the living room ceiling. I went to check on the leak, looking everywhere as to where the water might be coming from I then looked out the bedroom window and seen ice cycles hanging off the roof. I took a guess that the water was coming from the roof down the inside of the wall into the bedroom and going down into the living room ceiling. I came back to my side and called around to find someone to come and knock the ice off and did find a guy, but because it was dark out by that time I got a hold of him and because it was 16 feet up, he couldn't get to it until the next morning, the 14th. He said it sounded like an Ice Dam. The leak had appeared to have stopped and he suggested I pull the carpet back and rip out the foam cushion underneath, which I did. With the leak looking like it was under control I left and called the renters later that night to see how it looked, they said it wasn't leaking. Guy came the next day as he said and chopped the ice off.
OK still in Feb, Feb 16th, that night I was laying in bed thinking of all the things I'd gone through with the renters when it hit me like a ton of bricks. With the high elect bills, the room in the basement and the extension cords, I thought they were growing Marijuana in the basement. So the 17th morning I called the police, but didn't tell them what I thought was going on over the phone. I went down to the station and filled out a report. Feb 18th the police called just to make sure what side was theirs and raided the place and found over 130 pot plants, heaters,grow lights,timers,etc.. in the basement. The first observation of the police was it was EXTREMELY hot when they entered the house.
I hired a lawyer this time to do the eviction right. Other things happened also while getting them out of the house, but here we are a year and a half later. I got a letter in the mail Sept 25th 2009 from a lawyer and they want to sue me for $5500.00 for damages to their property. The list they had was unbelievable. The leak (5'x6') compared to the list,2 beds,TV,computer,clothes for 4 kids,2 Dressers,2 nightstands, couch,recliner,wall hangings and much more doesn't add up. There's no way all these things fit in that small area. My insurance company will hire me a lawyer if they proceed with the suit. I have all the police pictures and in a couple of them it has the temp gages, one reads 85 degrees and my insurance company will argue that it was their fault to begin with as to why an Ice dam was formed. Like I said I've been here since 1999 and there's never been an Ice Dam on this building.
Any comments, suggestions,etc?? Any input would be appreciated. Just a bit nervous, because I know how the laws can be.
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OHlandlord
Registered: 01/20/07
Posts: 1,845
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Reply with quote | #2 |
I suggest you work with your insurance companies attorney. Give him copies of everything - timelines with all contacts, dates of entries, notarized statement from the man who fixed the ice dam, your list of what objects/furniture you saw in that area when you inspected for the ice dam (note that the leak was confined to a x feet section of the exterior wall in one upstairs bedroom and the living room and what items were in that area). computers, ect. were on another wall, note that. If you can, draw up a floorplan with what furnishings were located where in the unit. If the TV, computers are wired in on another wall, note that. Any information like this that you can give him will be useful. If needed, consult your own attorney to coordinate with the insurance companies attorney. Protect yourself. These people were pros. They conned you into renting to them, to letting them stay over and over, to hiding a grow house, etc. If you have no already, you should countersue for the damages caused to the house by the family (removing the wall, the mold caused by excessive moisture from the grow house, the extra utilities you had to pay for, etc.)
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