Hey bigger pockets,
My name is Amanda. I made a profile here years ago as I'm hoping to invest in real estate but, have yet to take it serious until now. But, my topic isn't about renting or investing. Its about what I should do being that the "landlord" aka owner of the house in no where to be found and, is unreachable. I'll explain:
My boyfriend and, I moved from Long Island, NY to Richmond, VA on a sort of emergency basis hoping to find a better living here. We ended up being able to rent a room in a home which is shared with 3 other people (total of 5 of us in the home) (3 bedroom, 1 bath, one bedroom has their own batroom) and its very nice. The young man who collects the rent is NOT the owner and, since July went well, we trusted him to be honest and ensure the true landlord whose name is Jeremy Baxter (which I had to find out via property tax info online) would receive all of our rent.
OF COURSE we know it was not the best idea do these things via word of mouth but, we do have written evidence of payment and, our roommates have bank statements. Recently, the young man has attempted to come down hard on us for August rent and wanted it August 1st. (we don't know why) We told him its not a possibility and would like to get in contact with the real owner of the home since its too bizarre to receive july then august full rent the week after. He absolutely refused to give us Jeremy's contact info. As of August 19th, we are half way through payment for August but, that was never the agreement (to pay our monthly rent the 1st of the month) Those two situations were an extreme red flag and, now we feel bummed out because we now see that this young man was never trustworthy to start with. After digging through a huge pile of old mail, i found NUMEROUS amount of letters to MULTIPLE people INCLUDING Jeremy Baxter, the owner. I read online that if the owner is neglecting his mail, its a possibility he's a scammer (along with the young man refusing to give us his information)
NOW, after my boyfriend finally approached the young man in person, the young man said that he HIMSELF is LATE TWO MONTHS! TWO MONTHS late on rent and, we believe he is taking our rent money and, is paying his portion to the real landlord. I'm extremely scared and, sad because along with our roomates, we work EXTREMELY hard to make sure rent is paid. And, having to bust my behind to pay August so soon, I'm furious that this man has been attempting to bully us KNOWING he doesnt pay his own rent.
ALSO, i went snooping on Facebook to see if I can find anything on the young man and i found that he has posted our rooms for rent as of July 31st even though we paid July and are already paying August! We are so appalled and, don't want the situation to get out of hand. Yes, I have contacted a lawyer but, since we do not have a written lease, I'm just worried nothing will work out for us.
I'm seeking help because I DO NOT want to keep paying rent until we can get in contact with the real landlord. Any advice is HIGHLY appreciated. What should we do?!
