If you find anything with the light, try Nature's Miracle to get it out. You can get it at most pet stores. Everyone I know (with pets) swears by it. -ingenue
UPDATE!!! well folks this is going to court !!. picked up the paperwork for my neice today and over the weekend we both are going to work on it together and file monday. each and everytime they responded, there information was in conflict with what they would state previously. she's got a good against them. they just keep hanging themselves. I'm glad that I'm helping her with this case, because this is a good primer for me in the long run when I personally have to do battle in court. I have taken a breather for right now, but I'm pumping up for CHOD. Oh she is going for double damages as well. will keep everyone posted on this one. might be a good learning lesson for any future apartment renters. kathy
I was just thinking about you, Kathy! Glad to get the update. Fingers crossed for you of your day in court! Go get 'em
Charlie, I don't really think that we can. It looks like the statute is pretty clear. In the state of PA it states you can only go for double damages. kathy valgal: Thanks for the words of encouragement. I do try to update any threads that I leave hanging when I get decent enough information to share. I will definately keep everyone posted to this situation. I feel like this is my ordeal and not my niece's, in away It kinda of is my situation. I've done so much research and leg work on it. When I was younger I got burnt by a landlord holding my escrow funds and never did anything about it, becuase I did'nt now or understand my rights. Looking back, I know what he did was illegal. but live and learn.
I just sued my landlord in small claims court yesterday. They are real particular about landlord tenant laws. I myself would not ask for anything that would seem over the top. I asked for the following 750 Security deposit 900 Rent return 190.00 airfare 100 (airfare change-landlord got a continuance) interest on security deposit court costs I was awarded 1650.00 (rent and security deposit and court costs) The magistrates reasoning... Not my landlords fault I had to fly there (bull but whatever, no it isn't his fault that I live here BUT it is HIS fault that I had to fly there to get what HE OWED ME...and it is not MY fault he needed a continuance. No interest..he said I was not a bank...lol Overall, I was very happy. I would have been happy if I would have gotten court costs, the 290 for airfare and 1.00 for my trouble!
OHNO, what was your case about? unless you don't want to state that. I would really be interested to know. we don't have to fly. it is very local. about court cost. I asked the small claims court about them, if I should include it in the over all cost of what she is asking for and they said no, just to put in what exactly she is looking for. which they held 744.67 so the total would be 1489.00. I don't think that she can add anymore cost into this total. she is filing under civial. is this what you filed under? kathy
I do not mind you asking. That is what this board is all about - sharing. We moved for a job that was offered to hubby. Things did not work out and we had to break our lease. The landlord seemed really cool about it and just told us that we had to find someone else to rent the place and we could go. We put an ad in the paper and screen several possible tenants. We then gave him a list of who we thought that he may like. He agreed on a tenant and we moved out. He refused to give us our deposit and last months rent back (we paid first, last and security) Because the law clearly stated that security deposits are only to be used for damages and he did not lose any income on the property I sued him. The property was left in far better condition than it was when we arrived and it wasn't like we just picked up and left, we did everything that we were required to do and more. The Judge saw that and ruled in our favor. And yes, this was a small claims civil suit.
ohno I'm sorry it took me so long to respond back to you on this. Thanks for telling me your story. It really helps to get a clear picture of someone else's deal. I think my niece is really afraid that this judge is going to be moving real fast. She is afraid that she is not going to be able to keep up and she'll get nervous. I told her not to worry that we will get her super organized so that everything will be right there at her finger tips. thanks again kathy
I think that I was TO ready to tell my story. Tell her that it really is not as bad as she thinks that it is going to be...Tell her to take her time and tell her side of the story, sticking to only things relevant to the case. I can assure you he is not going to beat her with the gavel. Just stick to the facts and don't argue with the other party and she will be just fine.
Well, My neice and I went down to the court house today to file the suit against this landlord. We get there with everything filled and ready and the clerk tells us that we could not file in PA, we would have to file in NJ. The apt building is in PA but the Corporate ofc is in NJ. They said even if we did file in PA against the apt building and we won that they could not enforce the judgement getting paid. She then went on to say that if we filed in NJ against the Corporate ofc and won we still would not be garunteed that the judgement would get paid??? I'm confused. Any suggestions, advice, opinions? Needless to say were not happy. kathy
I think that a corporation doing business in PA can be sued in PA, no matter where business' home office is. In other words, they need to come to PA and defend themselves for their conduct in PA. I think it is time to hire a lawyer and tack on legal fees.
cable, I totally agree with you. My niece called Trenton NJ court house today and they basically told her the same thing. She would have to file in the county were the company dicatates out of. All the disputes had to be done through the Jersey ofc as well. Jersey is the one holding the money, not the apartment complex itself. so I can see their point there,Now the only question is does she utilize Pa's statues or NJ statue's. The problem is, if she sue's in PA which she can, but she would have to sue the apt complex itself, which she would never recover the money. because NJ is the one holding it. In my opinon I think that is what they bank on. making it complicated so the person just gives up because they don't want to go through the hassle. Well, she's not giving up. She is furious that she is being taken advantage of by these people.
You are not without recourse. If she sues and wins in PA, she can put a lien on the apartment in PA until they pay up. They will not be able to do anything with that building until they pay off her lien. In the meantime, her judgement can accure interest. That lien will get more and more expensive over time for the owners.
Cable & KHM I'm going to check this out tommorow for her. I never thought about the lien process. I will keep all updated as to what they say. Thanks all for your help and advice I really appreciated it kellie how's the site going I check it out once in awhile. It's pretty cool kathy
Kathy- Eh the site could be better. I['ve been getting a lot of "interviews" lately but also a lot of "thanks for interviewing but we've chosen someone else" postcards too. BTW- You don't HAVE to sue the headquarters do you? I'm pretty sure the company HAS to be registered in PA if they do business there. Just thinkin outloud.
KHM, yes, we do have to sue the corporate office, which are located in NJ, The apt building which is located in PA is registered as a DBA in my state. I also called the corpoartions dept just to make sure that their licensing was up to speck and they are. I called NJ county clerk today to get some information, since the owners are residents of NJ (I should say, their bussiness is in NJ) and they are the direct owners of the property in PA we have to sue in their county in order to get the money, and we have to use NJ statute not PA. The clerk told me after we go to court and if we win we could go to the sheriff dept and get a writ of excecution against them in order to try to get the money back faster. Regarding the Lein. She can do it in PA after winning in PA, but she feels that she will never get compensated for a long time. She really is trying to recover her monies now or at least in the next month or two. so she is going through with the NJ suit. She filed the papers today. kathy
UPDATE!!!! Well, we finally got a court date January 8. My niece got the response from the court house today in the mail. The reason it took so long was she had to file in NJ, and the county is pretty far away, at least 2 1/2 hrs. So the court house sent her the paperwork and she did it by mail. When she sent it in the first time the court house sent it back saying she over paid the required amount, so she had to resubmit the apaperwork again in November. Any way. Would anyone have an information about mediation. My question is do they require you to go to mediation before the court date ? or do they do it the day of the court hearing before you stand before the judge? Can you turn down mediation if you want to and take your chances in front of the judge. any and all input would be welcomed on this topic. any suggestions, or anything that we should'nt forget to do before court? kathy
