All Forum Posts by: Raghu Kota

@Jesse T.: Didn't bother to check back.. The landlady got her keys back from Property manager who I had left the keys with. The property is off market right now per Zillow..

0 Votes

Sorry, I should have posted a conclusion..

Landlord backed down after I pretty much held her to the lease.. It turns out , she was making up the stories about house being already sold etc.. She went out of contact after my final mail , in which, I said, either allow me to stay through the lease or pay ~$5000 for me to move out early and take care of move, temp accommodation , storage etc..

So I stayed through the lease and vacated after it expired..

Thanks all for your helpful advises..

0 Votes

@Trevor K. : Will do. Thx

0 Votes

@Greg H. : Sorry for the naive question - any suggestions on how to find these 3rd parties ? Thx

Originally posted by @Greg H.:
Based on your recent dealings with her, I would not agree to anything that is not in writing and the agreed compensation is not held by a third party or paid to you in advance. You are in control of the situation as the current agreement allows you to stay until June 30
@Account Closed

I have no idea where in Texas she is located but in Austin where occupancy in 95% plus locating a place at the end of May when school is ending would be very difficult and I would expect to be compensated IF I could find a suitable property

0 Votes

@Greg H. : Greg, or anyone, She already has my May rent with her.. I am wondering if I should propose that I will pay June rent after the move out (and de-risk my deposit, which is 1 months rent).. Lease doc forbids this. But hopefully, I can say I don't know who the owner is any more.. Just checking to see if you or anyone have any thoughts on that.

Originally posted by @Greg H.:
@Raghu Kota
My guess would be that she would "like" to sell the property. She has no right to terminate your lease even if the property has been sold and would not be successful in an eviction. If it was indeed sold, more than likely the new buyer would have wanted a walk through, survey stakes might have been placed on the property to define the boundary of the property. Depending on what county it is in, it might not show up in the deed records yet as there could be a lag in posting the data. IF SHE DID INDEED SELL THE PROPERTY, She is NOT the person to be paying May and June rent or the person who can give you notice to vacate as she is no longer the owner of the property ! It depends how far you want to take this but what I see are some of your options :

-If you are willing to move by May 31st , negotiate the best $ amount you can and I might even have a third party hold the funds as at the very least she is stretching the truth at this point and I would be reluctant to trust her

-If you want to stay at least until June 30, send her a certified letter requesting the "new" owner's information(According to her) so you can make the June rent payable to them and state that you intend to honor your lease. Then plan on enjoying your vacation as she could not try to evict you without your knowledge. She has to send you a 3-day Notice to Vacate and then file with the JP Court in your county and then you will be served by the Constable so there is no way you would not know about it.

All this is being said assuming you have a standard lease with no special clauses that you agreed to in writing.

FYI- If she or you do not give 30-day notice to terminate the lease on June 30, the lease will continue month to month unless either party give proper notice

0 Votes

@Rafael Floresta : Yep, covered there. These have all been electronic transfers into her account. So a good record exists..

Originally posted by @Rafael Floresta:
And it should go without saying, but it is really important:
Make sure you have a way to prove you paid her for the rent from here now. Receipt, or pay with a check.

0 Votes

@Stephen S. : Thanks. While there are no damages to be deducted, I am concerned regarding my deposit, since the house wasn't in great shape when it was handed over. if anything, I helped improve the lawn and a few other things. So yeah, she's just offering $500.. I responded to her asking for :

2 months rent, compensation for vacation plans and half of my deposit in advance. I did mention that every delay is just going to diminish my chances of vacating by June 1st. I am awaiting her response.
Originally posted by @Stephen S.:

"sold" to most people means getting it under contract to sell. But to the legal status powers "sold" means a settlement process has been concluded.

And for all we know; your landlord may mean "sold" as she has someone interested in buying the house. Presumably; empty. <g>

Is your deposit in jeopardy now? That is: are there damages to be deducted from the security deposit now? I ask because if not; she is offering you nothing but the $500.

And at this slow rate of interaction she seems to be shooting herself in the foot here. The way it's going just getting an answer from her is likely to have you out to the natural end of your lease anyway. <g>

stephen
-----------

0 Votes

@Greg H. : Thanks! A few weeks ago, she had sent visit us as an "annual inspector" to see if the house needed any big maintenance items.. That gentleman was very neatly dressed and just simply walked around the home and backyard. I now suspect he was a realtor. Aligns with your thought that she is trying to sell the property now. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.

0 Votes

This is getting very interesting. She says she sold the house. Offered me $500 and my deposit to leave by June 1st.. I see nothing anywhere (looked in the county records and a few other places ) that this house got sold. I asked who the new owners were and no response so far... Can't put much sense into this silly response from her. But she atleast mentioned the compensation discussion, which is a start to our negotiations!

0 Votes

@Mike M. : Certainly thought about that. But I have bought a house in a different city (uhnder construction) and at this time cannot 2 houses, even if I could rent out one of them. But thanks for the pointer.

@Stephen S. Thanks ! like your suggestions around alerting the cops.

0 Votes

All Forum Posts by: Raghu Kota

Raghu Kota has started 2 posts and replied 19 times.

Post: Landlord trying to terminate lease early

Post: Landlord trying to terminate lease early

Post: Landlord trying to terminate lease early

Post: Landlord trying to terminate lease early

Post: Landlord trying to terminate lease early

Post: Landlord trying to terminate lease early

Post: Landlord trying to terminate lease early

Post: Landlord trying to terminate lease early

Post: Landlord trying to terminate lease early

Post: Landlord trying to terminate lease early