Landlord worst nightmare scenario- Need advise

[Donna Hempel]

I am going through the worst nightmare a landlord can have.

Backstory: I put up my house for rent in December when my last tenant had to move out due to getting a job in another state. I was getting tons of queries and showed the property to over 10 people in 2, 3 weeks period. I was contacted by this person from out of town saying they needed the property for their contractor, they recently signed a contract with one of the big companies in the area and they need a house to place their subcontractor. These people are supposed to be computer programmers.

He sent me an email about how his company will take care of the property since they do the subleasing, I'll never have to worry about anything. Additionally, he'll pay five months upfront. I declined to go with 2, 3 serious offers and started to deal with this guy. He never came down to see the property, I sent him a video walk-thru of the property which I made before the last tenant and he liked the house.

First, he wanted a contract on his company name, I discussed with my attorney and he said someone should personally sign this and not just his company. He ends up giving me a name to put on the contract, not his name but supposedly his business partner.

I did a background check on this guy and everything seems to come back ok. Once we agreed with certain terms, he emailed me the contract and I signed and emailed him back. He sent me the initial deposit and not the full amount which he needed to occupy the property, this was written on the contract.

He could not accommodate any time to come down for the keys, so to make his life easy, I left him the keys at the house so he can come to take a look at the property almost 6 days before the initial contract begins. This is where issues begin.

After he saw the property, he sent me this huge email with the issues he noticed and started to accuse me that I lied and misrepresent the house. He took pictures of every single detail behind the door, any minor issues with the walls and mentioned that the entire house needs paint, I need to resurface the bathroom tub because it is hazardous, all faucets and bathroom showers need to change. He found 6 windows with a crack in the glass. I tried to reason with the guy and said the paint was done last year, any touchup needed was done but he would not buy that, he wanted everything to be painted again along with other things.

At this point, I told him that I cannot spend that much to satisfy him, I am willing to break this lease and we can both go our ways, he threatens again saying that we have a contract and he needed to get this property.

I consented to do it because he started to threaten me that I misrepresented the property and he can sue me etc. While I had a crew working at the house, he showed up and started to tell them where they mess up and had them paint a few walls all over again.

At this point, I noticed that his demands are getting out of control and his bullying continues. I realized that he never signed the lease, I asked him for it but he ignored it. Then he called me and asking me when the house will be done, I told him it is ready to move in, I'll be getting a quote for the windows but they can be replaced in coming weeks and not stopping him to move, he got nasty with me and started to threaten me again. The next day, he dropped a few of his boxes at the house without my permission while someone was working there. he never paid me the full amount to occupy the property, he never signed the original lease which by now has expired. I went to the house and changed the locks. I discussed with my attorney that I no longer want to deal with this guy and since I never received the signed lease, do I have to out up with his BS? My attorney sent him a notice saying that he never signed a lease and we want to withdraw our offer.

This morning he sent us a long email detailing the same crap again that my video I misrepresented the house...

And if we don't let him takeover take the house, he'll sue me.

What are my options? 

• Deal on my own since I never got a signed lease from the person whose name is on the contract?
• Stick with my attorney and pay the big retainer to deal with this guy?
• Give him notice to pick up his stuff by a certain date and rent it to someone else?

Feel free to ask questions, I am sure I did not write all the details of this nightmare.

[Account Closed]

Oh, honey, just wait for this jerk to sue you.  Don't pay your attorney until you have to.  Odds are he won't sue.  But, if he does, then counter-sue.  Out bully the bully.  I'm betting he's a con artist.

Live and learn.  In the future, believe the first red flag.  In the meantime, don't feel bad for learning the hard way.  You're in good company.