Are there any good lawyers you guys would recommend ?



long story short: Im on a period to period tenancy since i didnt renew my lease ( i have this on paper ) so I pay my landlord for the month of August. I find a guy on the 1st and he signs and pays the landlord the rent and deposit on August 1st. The guy moves in August 4th and before he moves in I call the landlord and make sure he's ok to move in. The landlord says its ok and I hand over my key to the new tenant. I receive a call today from the landlord saying that she is going to kick this guy out and that im still liable for the year rent. I tell her this is not true and mention the paper her son signed ( the co-owner of the apartment )... she hesitates and agrees. I ask her when I will receive my money for that months rent and my deposit and she basically told me that she wasnt going to give it to me because of the hassle I caused her with acquiring a bad tenant.. the guy that moved in to my apartment got a noise violation and therefore she no longer wants him to live there.



[Edited on August 9, 2008 at 5:01 PM. Reason : x]

8/9/2008 4:58:07 PM

If you're still a student, go to Student Legal Services (in Talley, I think). They will advise and refer you to someone.

8/9/2008 5:04:51 PM

You can always just go to small claims, in which case you wouldn't need a lawyer. You just file the court papers and have them served, costs $70 I believe (which you can include in the amount you're seeking). Say you're seeking your rental refund for August 4th-31st and the return of your damage deposit . . . . the other guy paid rent and deposit on the 4th, she can't make you pay rent for a period in which you were clearly no longer living there. You have a signed paper to prove you met your obligation in finding a new tenant, so any issues between him and her is not your problem. Just making it clear that you'll be filing in court against her if she doesn't pay up might be anough to get your money back.

Did this new guy sign a lease? If so she can't just decide she doesn't want him there, there's a legal process she has to follow if she wants to evict him without proper notice, even if he didn't sign anything.

8/9/2008 5:13:01 PM

Send her a letter threatening to sue first and see if you get a refund. That should be your first course of action.

I think it is called a demand letter. You can bring your copy of that demand letter to court to prove you tried to resolve it without resorting to litigation.

8/9/2008 5:43:49 PM

^make sure you send it as certified mail

8/9/2008 8:08:10 PM

you could just cut your losses and set the building on fire

just a thought

8/10/2008 10:27:37 AM

sending her a letter will be MUUUUUCH more effective if it comes from a lawyer. shit, most lawyers will do it for free . if you were in Greensboro I would refer you to my lawyer, but I don't know any out in Raleigh

8/10/2008 3:58:19 PM

heck, campus legal services might give you their own lawyer's name (I forget her name now) to put on it. And this doesn't sound like a big deal - btw, why did you ever pay the August rent to begin with???

1. Write your letter
2. Go to campus legal services, include their advice in step 3
3. Send the letter super-certified ready to use in court

8/10/2008 5:26:18 PM

4. Report results back here

8/10/2008 5:26:54 PM

thx for all the information guys. It's just a headache to go through all of this.

8/10/2008 10:40:54 PM

dude I sent you a message about trying to get into your apartment but what kind of landlord are we talking about here? PM and message me back asap!

8/11/2008 12:22:15 AM

i stopped at "I have a period"

8/11/2008 9:44:51 AM

you have no written evidence so you have nothing. A phone call will get you no where.

8/11/2008 6:22:11 PM

Quote :

"you have no written evidence so you have nothing"

...

Quote :

"i have this on paper"

Quote :

"mention the paper her son signed ( the co-owner of the apartment )"

8/11/2008 6:41:01 PM

sorry, my laziness prevented me from reading everything!

8/11/2008 7:31:30 PM