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Landlord Wants Additional Money and Claiming Punitive Damages

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  • 03-30-2012, 06:52 PM
    ChickenAndRice
    Landlord Wants Additional Money and Claiming Punitive Damages
    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: California

    Hi, first off I would like to thank everyone for their insight on other topics, I have read through quite a few threads and learned alot from other's situations. My situation is unique in the sense that I believe my previous Landlord is being ridiculous and harassing me ever since I expressed my desire to have a pre-move out inspection done so that I can make any reasonable and necessary repairs myself first or higher outside help if it cannot be done myself (which I did not anticipate at all since the condo was in very good condition and the same if not better condition than when I first moved in). Long story short, she would not grant me this request for her own belief that she did not feel it needed to be done. After some back and forth, she somewhat agreed that a pre-move out inspection could be done, but only under the condition that I pay for her handyman to come out (~$100) AND I could NOT be present for the inspection for her belief that I would somehow be manipulating the handyman. Of course I did not agree to this because that would kind of defeat the purpose of having one done if I could not be present. From here on, it just goes down hill with me trying to be civil, but her being unreasonable and claiming for damages that aren't even there (mind you that she has not seen the condo for herself because she lives out of State) mainly holes in the walls (more on this a little later).

    I had given her a 30 day notice prior to my departure and she agreed to that which would happen on the 15th of the month. However, she was able to find another tenant and they would move in on the 12th. Again, everything had been fine with her with me paying rent on time and no complaints or requested repairs for anything during my year long stay of month to month rent. For some reason, my request for a pre-move out inspection seems to have triggered something with the LL and not sure why LL would react this way. At the start of the month, it was already clear from discussions with her that she would be keeping my deposit no matter what I tried, and I would have to take her to small claims court to try and get it back. Knowing this, I was very hesitant to pay for the prorated rent as it would only be additional money out of my pocket. I fully understand that this is not the correct way to go about it, but the deposit was more than enough to cover the prorated rent and did not want to incur any additional costs without having to take her to court myself.

    I was served with a 3 day notice to Pay or Quit on the 2nd of the month by the LL's handyman (1 day after rent was legally due) which I understand she has the right to do per the law, but seemed unwarranted given that I had never been late rent given the 5 day grace period per lease agreement (in which she refuses to provide to me a copy by the way after numerous requests made by me because she was quoting from it time to time). Deciding that it would better to just leave the premises, I left the condo in great condition (repairing even the pin sized holes in the walls not even caused by me to show good gesture and cover my basis because she was saying that I had damaged the walls without even seeing for herself). I can only assume that she is making these claims because I did send her some pictures of some holes in the wall (not very big at all, and a few not any bigger than maybe the diameter of a AAA battery) which were not caused by me just to try and cover my basis and make her aware of what was already there. Of course she says that I caused those holes and I would need to pay to have it professionally repaired. She also said that I had to pay to have the condo professionally repainted. I did not agree to this (and isn't in the lease agreement). I did paint two walls myself for an accent color during my stay (after her approval) and was more than willing to restore them to original color condition, but again she advised me not to and that I had to have it professionally done instead. By the way, the paint of the condo is in near perfect condition and the only minor imperfections are from the original painters workmanship where you can see drip paint spots and screws/bolts painted over (which in my opinion could not have been professionally painted in the first place). Figuring that even if I painted the two accent walls myself, I would only be incurring additional costs out of pocket because she would ultimately say something like the paint job was unsatisfactory and try to charge me anyways, so I was willing to have her deduct it out of my security deposit also which should have been enough to cover it. In the end, I left the condo in the same or better condition than when I received it.

    Sorry for the length, that was a little background information. Fast forward to current day, I receive and invoice by email stating the charges and repairs that needed to be made and she wants an additional $1500 for claimed repairs. Here is the exact list of items she sent to me word for word.

    "If you would like to discuss or dispute any item, please let me know. We can arrange a payment schedule that fits your budget. I doubt it is, but if it is any consolation to you, I have never (in the two decades I have been doing this) had to spend anywhere near this much out of pocket to restore the condo and I have always returned every penny of the deposit.

    Here is the itemized invoice broken down:

    1. Replace damaged caulk: $105

    2. Clean plugged drain: $17.50

    4.- 6. Clean fans, stove, fridge, door: $87.50

    7. Paint: $383.33 (restore walls you painted) + $255.56 (1/3 remainder as provided by the link below) = $638.89

    8. - 9. Clean tile and damaged grout: $650

    10. Repair phone jack: $70

    11. Clean mirrors: $17.50

    12. Serve notice and inspect: $70

    Materials: $8

    Discounted rent: $366.67.

    $366.67 (rent) + $70 (requested inspection/notice) + $305.50 (cleaning, repairs, materials) + $638.89 (your part of the paint) + $650 (clean tile and fix damaged grout) = $2013.56 - $500 (deposit) = $1513.56

    http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/l...-deposit.shtml
    "
    I have not agreed to any of the repairs as they are unwarranted and seem outrageous given that it's a 400 square feet condo. Even if it were to be deemed necessary, $1150 paint job total charge for a 400 sqft place seems quite excessive. To no surprise, LL of course says that the holes were not properly repaired (there is no way you can even tell, it was blended in so well except for the ones that were pre-existing by her 'professional' workers ie. painted over bolts/screws), but she will do me a favor and not include that in the repairs claim. Another bit of information is that the LL and Handyman's relationship transcends beyond a strictly professional one, so I hope I am correct to reasonably assume that they are working in collaboration with one another to hike up the claims and prices. Another example of how she is being unreasonable and going to try to make it as hard as possible for me if I don't play by her rules is that she brought up the topic of how I was late to pay the previous months rent and was going to charge me an additional $75 late fee (which by the way I did not pay late and have the confirmation to prove it and provided it to her, and LL never mentioned anything about it prior to this whole thing happening, but now persists to say that she didn't receive the money until the day after). Anyways, now LL is threatening to take me to court and even request for punitive damages on the grounds that I showed 'bad faith' in not paying the prorated rent of 12 days. Also, LL mentions that "Regardless, I will be asking for my expenses to come down there if you cannot come up with a reasonable figure to settle this matter." Am I right to think that if LL feels I owe her an additional $1500, that she should be trying to collect $1500 instead of trying to come up with some arbitrary amount that she can try to additional get from me? At this point (actually starting from when she was accusing me of damage from smalls holes in the walls without actually accessing the situation herself and only going by the pictures that I sent her), I realized that it was futile to try and reason with her and come to an understanding between one another.

    Sorry to go on. I am fairly confident that I would be able to defend myself in court if LL really decides to pursue this any further, but I would just like to ask some of you experts if I'm totally out of line to not submit to her claims and if there is any area I should focus more on in defending myself? Even though some of the messages she sent me are uncalled for, I realize that it's just a he said she said thing, so I should try and focus on more concrete topics. I really appreciate all of your help and advice in advance, and please let me know if you need any additional detail. Thank you.
  • 03-31-2012, 11:32 AM
    LawResearcherMissy
    Re: Landlord Wants Additional Money and Claiming Punitive Damages
    Quote:

    Anyways, now LL is threatening to take me to court and even request for punitive damages on the grounds that I showed 'bad faith' in not paying the prorated rent of 12 days.
    She can threaten all she wants. She can even sue. Sue is not the same as prevail, however, and if you have photos of the unit at the time you vacated, she may find herself incurring expenses she does not want to incur. "Punitive damages" are not even an option in small claims court, she can only sue for actual monetary damages that she can prove.

    Let her bluster. If she sues, show up for court with all of your rent receipts, all of the photos you took prior to vacating the unit, and any other documentation you have.
  • 04-02-2012, 02:37 PM
    ChickenAndRice
    Re: Landlord Wants Additional Money and Claiming Punitive Damages
    Great, thanks for the advice. I thought punitive damages was possible usually in tenants case where LL withholds security deposit in 'bad faith', but never read about LL requesting punitive damages because of rent.
  • 04-26-2012, 06:51 PM
    ChickenAndRice
    Re: Landlord Wants Additional Money and Claiming Punitive Damages
    Update now is that LL filed a court order and is trying to sue me for additional money. The total claim is $5,216 which includes her Travel expenses to appear in court, compensation for her witness's testimony, and punitive damages of $2000...
  • 04-26-2012, 07:11 PM
    LawResearcherMissy
    Re: Landlord Wants Additional Money and Claiming Punitive Damages
    Landlords don't file court orders, they file lawsuits. Court orders are issued by the courts.

    Have you actually been served with papers, or is she just telling you this?
  • 04-26-2012, 07:15 PM
    ChickenAndRice
    Re: Landlord Wants Additional Money and Claiming Punitive Damages
    Sorry, what I really mean a a Plaintiff Claim and Order to go to Small Claims Court. I received a filled out SC-100 form in the mail at my workplace. Thank you.
  • 04-26-2012, 07:23 PM
    LawResearcherMissy
    Re: Landlord Wants Additional Money and Claiming Punitive Damages
    OK, gather your documentation up and speak with your county's Small Claims Advisor. You might also consider a consultation with an attorney.

    Make sure everything is order, show up for court a few minutes early so you can watch what's going on, and present your side of the story in as calm and dispassionate a manner as possible. Good luck!
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