Add new comment

I moved into a duplex with one of my good friends about a year and 10 months ago. When we moved in, the landlord did not inspect nor clean the place and I soon found that the old renters had broken a window upstairs, then taped it together with masking tape. After nearly two years, this has still not been fixed. My roommate and I cleaned the place and the landlord promised to till the front flowerbed and back garden for us, but never did. About four months after we renewed our year lease the second time, her parents began having some serious problems at home and she called our landlord and told him the situation. At first, he was ready to let her out of her half of the lease and be reasonable about it, but changed his tune right before she moved. I believe he makes these flaky decisions b/c his mommy and daddy bought him this duplex and when he tried to be a decent human, his dad won't let him.

I apologized to him and told him I would look for a roommate, but don't really know anyone who wants to sub-lease for like 6 months. Periodically, he would try to make me feel guilty for not just taking a random person who I didn't know as a roommate, but he couldn't force me to, because I was on a separate lease. However, I called him about two months ago and asked him if he would rather I just move out so he could get new renters. He said that would be great, no problem, and helpful to him, since he was only getting half a month's rent for my side. The conversation indicated to me that he was more than willing to break my lease, so I went apartment hunting.

He had recently rented the other side to two young women who do not give a care that they have a neighbor. There is banging in the night, guitar practice at midnight, yelling through the house, and so on. I have complained to him more than once about this and now they have a dog. Apparently this dog wants out at 8am everyday, but no one takes him, so it sounds like I'm in a kennel.

I called a few days ago to tell him I found a new place and was planning to move out Jun 1, like I had suggested before, but wanted to know that if the place was clean, I would get my deposits back. I paid half a month's rent deposit, and another half for my pets, so he had gotten a full month off of me. He sounded like he had never heard of returning a deposit and said that if the place was immaculate, then I could have most of it, but he would need to take at least $150 out for carpet cleaning (though he didn't clean the carpet when I moved in). I asked him only for my pet deposit since my cats didn't do anything to the property, and his only response was "maybe."

The conversation then changed to where he was telling me I had to pay through my lease, even though the conversation a few months before indicated to me that I would be breaking it so he could get new tenants. I said this, and he said "Oh, you can move out all you want, but I'm not breaking your lease." I believe, once again, his dad is behind this, because it's the same song and dance as before.

This landlord once rented to neighbors of ours that stiffed him for 8 months rent and he never sued them. He also never sued my roommate. He even went so far as to tell me he would never sue anyone because it would cost more in legal fees than he would make. What I want to do is clean this place so it's immaculate, steam the carpets, and everything, then leave him a note with my keys saying he can just keep my deposit to cover the last two months rent. It really ticks me off, but since he didn't sue the others for several thousand dollars, I'm pretty sure he won't sue me for a few hundred.

Basically, I live in a neighborhood where people throw trash in my yard, block my mailbox, and blare rap at all hours. I live next to a meth lab, or so my mailman tells me, and the adjoining apartment produces enough noise to keep me from getting proper sleep. I don't want to stay here any longer and I don't want to get dicked by this guy any more.