This month I set up for my bank to automatically send my rent check to my landlord on the first, since I knew I would be away and busy. Apparently I got the address wrong/etc, because he claims he didn't receive it.

I got home very late last night, saw missed calls but didn't bother listening to them yet. Crashed. I wake up this morning to the sound of the doorbell, figure its UPS with a package I ordered and lay back down to sleep. Then I hear a key in the lock and the door open. I'm up out of bed and into the living room in my boxers to see what the hell is going on, and there's my landlord standing there (little asian guy).

What the hell are you supposed to do in this situation? My lease says pretty clearly he has to give me notice before inspections/etc.

4/5/2007 1:10:09 PM

try to pay your rent on time and these things won't happen

4/5/2007 1:15:11 PM

What did you do?

Don't you have any sort of grace period? It sounds like he violated the terms of the lease. Legal or not he should not have just walked into your house. He really can't justify that. I would have told him to leave and wait for me to contact him to discuss.

4/5/2007 1:16:32 PM

Quote :

"My lease says pretty clearly he has to give me notice before inspections/etc. "

does it? or are you just saying that?

all the leases ive ever dealt with always say they will "try to give you advanced notice whenever possible", but when it comes down to it, they can come in whenever they want.

4/5/2007 1:16:59 PM

Shit happened to me a U Suites... I didn't really care enough to make anything of it though. Landlord thought we had a large party the night before but it was the people across the parking lot. Anyway she banged on door but I was too hungover to give a shit and she finally let herself in and threatened to call my parents OHS NOES. When I offered to call them on my cell for her she didn't seem to want to anymore... hrm.

^ I remember my lease saying unless in case of emergency they must give notice. I would hardly consider late rent or a party an emergency.

[Edited on April 5, 2007 at 1:19 PM. Reason : .]

4/5/2007 1:18:34 PM

According to my lease he has to give me three days notice before any property inspection/etc. I told him to wait outside while I put on clothes, then talked with him for a few minutes and figured out what was going on (that he didn't get rent check). I told him I'd go to the bank and figure it out, and get him a new one later today.

Oh, and to make things even better my cat of course ran to the door, and now he wants a $600 pet deposit.

4/5/2007 1:19:34 PM

ahh, so it wasnt a property inspection, so hes probably ok.

...and i wouldnt complain about him breaking the rules if you're doing it as well.

4/5/2007 1:20:56 PM

haha.. stupid cat

4/5/2007 1:22:29 PM

i have the perfect apt. cat. someone knocks on the door, there's a grey streak heading to the bedroom! ZOOOOOOM

4/5/2007 1:25:19 PM

Quote :

"try to pay your rent on time and these things won't happen"

4/5/2007 1:26:49 PM

Typically they are required to give you a warning.

But he did attempt to call you.

4/5/2007 1:41:15 PM

yeah fregac, looks like you are the one that fucked up on more than one level
why are you bitching again

4/5/2007 1:47:22 PM

if you had died, then you'd be glad that he came in to check up on you

4/5/2007 2:02:05 PM

^i'm pretty sure if he was dead, he wouldn't care about much of anything...

4/5/2007 3:20:38 PM

the landlord broke the law actually. If I own a house and rent it out, I do not possess it. Therefore, if the lease says that I must give notice before entering the house, I MUST GIVE NOTICE. Otherwise, it's trespassing or b&e depending on how it's written up.

4/5/2007 8:10:22 PM

Point is that if the missed calls are from the landlord, then that was his warning. It doesn't matter if you answer them or not.

4/5/2007 8:15:47 PM

they are allowed to enter, my sister took something like this to the police when her landlord scared her by showing up one morning

4/5/2007 8:37:29 PM

Quote :

"Otherwise, it's trespassing or b&e depending on how it's written up."

i don't think you will find a magistrate to issue a warrant for this...

4/5/2007 8:45:51 PM

According to the lease it says he has to give 72 hour notice (I edited it from 24 hours before I signed the lease, and made him initial the changes on both copies). The missed calls were all from Wed., and he let himself in Thurs morning.


What really pisses me off is that he's demanding a $600 pet fee now for the one cat, on TOP of the insane $1500 damage deposit I already had to pay.

Its too bad my old roomate doesn't still live here . . . . the girl kept a loaded 9mm with a round chambered within reach of her bed. She'd probably have shot him (she'd never met the guy).

4/5/2007 9:12:56 PM

if you own a house and you rent it out, you still retain ownership of the property. and if the lease said reasonable notice within 72 hours, you probably would still be out of luck. as far as the $1500 deposit and the $600 pet fee, you might have some legal leverage on him if other like properties don't charge anywhere close to that amount. but, again, you would probably won't get anything from that either. you could always tell him that you're getting rid of the cat, and then he'd still have to give you "reasonable notice" if he wanted to come by and see if you still had a cat there.

4/5/2007 9:48:02 PM

yeah im sure you would have been within your right to have at least bitched at him, but at the same time he could argue he tried to contact you. on a side note a girl who keeps a loaded gun (assumably unlocked) within reach of the place she sleeps/passes out/wakes up tired and halfway conscious isn't exactly the safest thing i could imagine

4/5/2007 9:51:00 PM

Quote :

"yeah fregac, looks like you are the one that fucked up on more than one level why are you bitching again"

4/5/2007 9:53:55 PM

hold that sword up at him like you did in that picture a few year back and tell him you will haXor him

4/5/2007 9:55:30 PM

You actually don't have to pay the pet fee at all. If you want to keep your cat there without paying it he can evict the cat along with you.

I think its funny how many people try to sneak animals in rental properties without getting them authorized. I'm sure your lease specifically dealt with the pets issue and probably said either pre approved pets only or no pets. Pet fees are valid charges and things to consider before getting a pet. I will admit $600 is steep but if you had gone through the correct channels it would most likely be lower. Just remember after your cat shits, pisses, and claws all over that carpet you will be long gone and he is just trying to plan for replacing it.

If your cat is mature and will not cause damage to the unit then maybe talk to him about it and see if he will cut you a break on the fee. So far it looks like he acted completely reasonably.

Your rent was late so he contacted you to collect it, when you did not respond he paid you a visit. Upon visiting he saw you had a pet in violation of your lease and rather than evicting you for that lease violation, or forcing you to get rid of the animal, he is giving you an opportunity to keep the pet that you have most likely grown attached to and stay in the property.

I do not see where he is being the least bit unfair.

4/5/2007 11:13:21 PM

so let me get this straight you didn't pay your RENT for the month and you have been fucking the landowner by sneaking a pet into a no pet place/deposit place and you're still bitching.

God i wish he would throw you on the streets

4/5/2007 11:56:06 PM

^ I did pay my rent for the month. My bank says they mailed a check to him and even showed me the record of it, but since he says he didn't receive it I gave him a money order and put a stop payment on the check. My lease says rent isn't late until the 6th (on or before the 5th). My rent was not late.

His calls on Wed. were in the afternoon, and he let himself in on Thurs morning. That's LESS than 24 hr notice. He has my cellphone number, and didn't even try calling it.


What makes this truly ridiculous is that he wants me to buy this house at the end of my lease (which is next month!). According to our agreement when I signed the lease at the end of the year I could either renew my lease for another year or purchase the house from him. He even asked me about it when I brought him the new rent payment, whether I'd made a decision or not.

4/6/2007 3:20:39 AM

people suck. It blows your landlord busted in and then saw your "unauthorized" cat. However, im sure that if the same thing had happened to some of these people they would be bitchen too.

4/6/2007 6:00:34 AM

(points at cat) this no good, I need six hurdred dolla for you keep cat in house!!!!1

4/6/2007 10:06:43 AM

Maybe he's asking such a high pet fee to try and encourage you to buy the house.

Is the pet fee/deposit refundable?

4/6/2007 10:57:05 AM

I wish my landlord would come by every now and then to check up on our place

I've put in 3 different requests for repairs and they haven't even replied back or shown up. I think the office is purposely open between 9am-5pm because that's when most people work and most likely not to bother them.

4/6/2007 11:19:47 AM

This might help. It it put out by NC State and quotes NC General Statutes and laws.

http://www.ncsu.edu/stud_affairs/legal_services/legaldocs/LandlordTenantHandout.htm

4/6/2007 11:43:12 AM