Hi,
I need advice about suing my ex-landlord, the basics are: he returned
half of my deposit. He leased a unit out to me that had illegal
construction and many other violations (city report on file with
violations). Manager harassed my family members, vandalized my car
(police report on file), leaking drainpipes damaged my other car,
neighbor upstairs loud, and let's the water run all night and damaged
sealing. We moved out due to these circumstances.
I am pretty sure I have a good case in small claims, but want to know
your opinion too.
Please advise,
K
I assume you are suing for return of your entire deposit. The other issues
have virtually no bearing on your deposit return, so you need to have a
strong case that there is no justification for not returning it. This
depends on the terms of the lease agreement with regard to issues such as
carpet shampooing, etc, which you did not provide to us. It also depends on
whether you have a documentation on the condition of the property at move-in
and at move-out.
The key to winning in court is to have proper documentation and witnesses,
and make your case based on the terms of the lease agreement.
If you want to sue your landlord for the other grievances (such as damaging
your car) that would be a different issue. Don't confuse the two.
