Worth checking your hole cards again.
We have 2 or 3 months in cash and then many more months in I-Bonds that we count as cash for allocation purposes. The I-Bonds can be accessed after holding for at least 1 year by giving up 3 months of interest payments. After 5 years they can be accessed with no penalty.
Yeah I’m wondering if I even need a lawyer on this, it seems so cut and dry.
(a) Every landlord shall within thirty days of termination of a lease or upon surrender and acceptance of the leasehold premises, whichever first occurs, provide a tenant with a written list of any damages to the leasehold premises for which the landlord claims the tenant is liable. Delivery of the list shall be accompanied by payment of the difference between any sum deposited in escrow, including any unpaid interest thereon, for the payment of damages to the leasehold premises and the actual amount of damages to the leasehold premises caused by the tenant. Nothing in this section shall preclude the landlord from refusing to return the escrow fund, including any unpaid interest thereon, for nonpayment of rent or for the breach of any other condition in the lease by the tenant.
(b) Any landlord who fails to provide a written list within thirty days as required in subsection (a), above, shall forfeit all rights to withhold any portion of sums held in escrow, including any unpaid interest thereon, or to bring suit against the tenant for damages to the leasehold premises.
(c) If the landlord fails to pay the tenant the difference between the sum deposited, including any unpaid interest thereon, and the actual damages to the leasehold premises caused by the tenant within thirty days after termination of the lease or surrender and acceptance of the leasehold premises, the landlord shall be liable in assumpsit to double the amount by which the sum deposited in escrow, including any unpaid interest thereon, exceeds the actual damages to the leasehold premises caused by the tenant as determined by any court of record or court not of record having jurisdiction in civil actions at law. The burden of proof of actual damages caused by the tenant to the leasehold premises shall be on the landlord.
Today at 12pm was 30 days from the expiration of the lease, but I surrendered the premises and they accepted my keys on the 25th so it’s actually 33 days. They’ve given me no list of damages, so they have forfeit their right to withhold any of it. They haven’t paid me, so they owe me double. Seems really cut and dry, with the exception of me being the little guy and them being the corporate entity.
Looks like a small claims court job. How exciting!
I never used an attorney, as it was always for an amount under $5k, which was the limit at the time for small claims court in CA. At least here in CA, and I’d assume PA would be similar, there isn’t much ambiguity in the law.
It was absolutely priceless seeing a landlord argue in front of a judge that their lack of knowledge of the law(concerning the business that they are in), was a point in their favor. The judge…disagreed.
1 Like
Looks like collection would be up to me, though. If I win and they tell me to go fuck myself, I’m kind of screwed? Then I have to go back for another judgment or something I guess?
Not sure on how the collection aspect works in PA. ~90% of the time I haven’t had to go to small claims court, because I did what you have been doing: document everything, and have your shit together. Usually, that’s enough to get them to do what they should have been doing the whole time. You may have to compromise and not push for the entire penalty that they would legally owe you, but that saves you the court prep, and court time, so it’s a wash.
1 Like
Yeah, good point. It’s worth some of it to avoid the hassle and covid risk. Knowing how they operate, they’re going to mail out the $3,060 right away and dare me to go for more.
If I’m understanding your situation, and you bring it to their attention and they mail you the money just days after the deadline without including the penalty. Well, I’ve never taken a LL to small claims court for that missing penalty that they owed me. It just wasn’t worth my time, in part because I felt there was more uncertainty that I would win.
When it’s gone to small claims court, it’s because the LL was extremely obstinate and not even following the law after I’d pointed it out to them.
1 Like
If you have a court ordered judgement against them and they refuse to pay can you file a lien on their apartment building? Serious question.
No idea how that would work, especially in small claims court.
Some states don’t allow you to hire an attorney for small claims, must represent yourself.
A little late to the party on this, but I did a cash out refi a bunch of years ago. Pretty simple process, but your rate will tick up a little higher for a cash out refi than just a standard refi.
I just recently did a refi and my fees weren’t much on a $270k refi. Under $1500 for the actual costs, but the escrow account required a couple of thousand to fund so the fees looked higher. Rate was 2.75% on a 30 year.
My refi folks handled the appraisal side. I chose a local title company because they were less expensive and I wanted to support local.
I have an excellent mortgage guy if you want a recommendation. I’ve used him numerous times and he’s fast and communicative. He’s licensed in CA, CO, CT, GA, KY, LA, MD, MA, MI, NJ, OH, OR, PA, SC, TX, VA, and WA.
thanks for the reply, i’m in shitter AL so that won’t work but looks like our plans are changing anyways.
Alright, good luck!
Edit: Why do people live in AL? What’s keeping you there?
The longer this pandemic goes the more safety nets have to be cast the more I think I might end up with the short stick because of my cash reserves. On onw hand its good to have liquidity for now but I begin to expect that they will have to do something big to refinance all that. And governments havent been brave enough to go with a wealth tax after the super rich so I expect to see all savers getting screwed over in the end.
I’m still unemployed after 6 months
Very little savings left, credit card balances up, gonna have to start taking from 401k if I don’t get a job soon.
Really fucking sucks
20 Likes
:( Hang in there man. I lost my job in March and just started back up 3 weeks ago. It’s a brutal, soul sucking process applying for jobs when the Economy sucks. There will be something out there, just gotta find the right fit.
2 Likes
Pm, in PA and thinking to refi
Thanks, I’m glad you found something
Hopefully I will soon also
1 Like