Is it worth taking a tenant to court for $2000 worth of damages to the apartment?
485758
Yes.  That amount should be within the limits for small claims, which is designed for people to do their own case without a lawyer.  The trick is that you have to know where the tenant is now, because the sheriff has to put the summons and complaint in the tenant's hands.\n\nThe clerk of the court usually has an information sheet for people wanting to file a small claims case.\n\nThe only costs are the filing fee and the process serving fee.  The county sheriff will serve the summons, but they are lazy.  You are better off hiring a "process server"  which is like a private detective.  The process server will usually even pick up your complaint at your house and file the papers in court for you.  They will then serve the papers on the tenant, and return the served summons to court.
500556
Very good suggestions above.  One thing I'll add from experience.  If the apartment/house still needs the carpet replaced or walls painted, etc, the landlord is going to say yeah, they'll replace that sometime after you move in.  Before you sign anything, get a firm date that they will be there to do the rest of the repairs after you move in, or it will never happen!  Don't be a jerk about it, but be serious about setting up a good time for them to take care of it.  Get it all worked out in advance.  Otherwise you'll be looking at the same pet stains or peeling paint for 5 years.
1183307
Yes, but this is an up hill battle. The laws are not really in your favor. \n\nHave your attorney file a "stay judgment order" which should give you time to mount an appeal. There are nonprofit organizations out there to help you, do some searching for pro bono housing council.
1111522
You might do all those things but the other people in the building might not be so clean. Tell your manager in writing  give him a copy and let him know if the problem isnt fixed in a timely manner you will put your rent in an escro account with the local courts.
812558
You have an enforceable contract that has been breached. However, your contract is for a month-to-month rental, since he did not sign the lease. You passed up other tenants as consideration for the agreement and that should be enough to bind him to month-to-month status which makes him responsible for giving 30 days notice to end to agreement.  It may be argued that that you have a lease agreement by estoppel because you passed on the other prospective tenants, and that he should be held liable for rent and all expenses until you find a replacement or the lease is up. You have a duty to mitigate damages. You will need to seek another roommate ASAP. Any additional costs in finding a new roommate may also be added to your claim. \n\nPhoenix has a very good small claims court. (I lost to someone there because I could not attend the hearing in person).  Depending on the amount of your claim, you may be able to handle it yourself as a small claim, but if the amount of damages exceeds the limits, you would be forced to file in regular court. Good luck.
915304
Unless you are an expert on and have extensive experience in the landlord/tenant laws of your state and town/county, I would not recommend that you do this.\n\nWeek after week, our office sees people who did this in order to save a few bucks, and are now emeshed in a freaking legal or financial nightmare.\n\nFor example, in my county if you rent a condo out, you must inform your tenant in writing in the lease that they are renting a condo and as such their tenancy can be terminated with 60 days notice if the unit is sold.  This is a law that is unique to the county I am in and is not statewide.   Every week or so we get someone in our office who either gave their condo tenant no lease or used a lease from Staples or some free form online when they rented the place and they now want to sell their condo.  The look of disbelief on their faces when they find out that  the earliest they can get their tenant out is  2 & 1/2 YEARS from the day they come into our office and that it is going to cost them big bucks in legal fees because this all-important clause was not included in the lease is priceless. But hey, they saved $75.00!  \n\nDon't cost yourself hundreds or even thousands of dollars tomorrow because you want to save a few bucks today.  Go to a lawyer who specializes (not just does it sometimes) in landlord/tenant and real estate law in your area.  Pay them to draw up a lease that fits your exact situation and does not have any unenforceable clauses in it, and that it conforms to all applicable state and local laws.
431545
Yep. Small claims. They will have to show up and they probably do not have the time so usually just the threat of court will be enough.  If they don't show, you win automatically.  I took my landlord to court and it was very satisfying to see him squirm in front of the judge.  That was worth more than the money he had to pay me!
510870
They can keep all of it simply by stating that there were repairs to the apartment that needed to be complete b4 renting. They usually wont give a list of damages that were repaired. Take pics of all rooms when moving in and b4 moving out. It works to your advantage.Good Luck.
807710
People can ask anything.  Whether you have to oblige them or not is another story.\nConsider whether or not it was a mistake.  Pay what you genuinely owe.  Do not take advantage of an honest mistake.  Do not let them use a mistake to take advantage of you.  Supposing that they made a mistake and that you do not legally owe because of the signed lease, it would be appropriate to go ahead and pay the difference.  That is courteousy and respect.  You expect them to be courteous and respectful.  Give them what what you owe and expect them to do like-wise.
688916
Fighting for $52 is not worth it to take someone to court. Consider it a loss and learn from this lesson.
551811
The only person you need to convince on the calculation is the tenant.  your are on the right track for your math calculations.  i would think about it as if i was in the tenants shoes and figure out what he would make at that spot (your exact calculations).  Dont forget to add his costs to move, plus a little something for his time and headache.  This is how governments calculate compensation for condemnation cases ie widening of roads ect.  \n\nAnother way to calculate the value of the lease is to determine the market rent of the unit and compare it to contractual lease rent.  For ex. if market is $20,000 per month and Actual rent is $15,000 per month and you have 5 years 60 pmts left you can run a present value calcuation on that income stream.  For that example the present value of the $5K month stream at 6% rate of return is $258K.  this is how an appraiser would value the lease.\n\nagain please keep in mind what it is worth and what the tenant wants are often two different things.  wish you luck in you endeavor, when in doubt hire a local professional.
839345
The landlord can ask a tenant to pay for whatever they want.  It's up to YOU if you want to or not.  If you don't, I would suggest looking else where, where it's not included in the lease.
726908
Personally, I'd just forget about it as far as this client is concerned. (I'm not a lawyer by the way).  There are small claims court systems in most parts of the country, which sounds like a practical approach to your situation, if you feel you want to persue the matter. These systems are specifically tailored for people who have a relatively minor disagreement and need a third party to decide who is right (damaged), and makes a judgement one way or the other.. Costs vary and here anyway, attorneys are not needed.\n\nA business person to a business person, I might encourage you to rethink your admission policy so that your new clients pay you a two week deposit so that you could avoid this situation in the future.  Good Luck
534413
Small Claims! Tell your landlord you need to move, may let you out of the lease. If not, leave anyway. There are still tenants there. (no damages). Evidence obviously needed. Take MANY pictures of the condition when you leave.
233258
If the landlord didn't agree, then you'd probably have to get an attorney and prove that it is not a safe enviornment, and that you want to move for safety reasons.  I don't know how easy that would be to prove, not to mention the attorney fees and court costs you'd be out.  Cheaper to invest in mace, stun gun, or self defense classes?
273570
No, you still have to pay your rent,but here is a few things you can do:\n\nIf the landlord does not make the repair the tenant can do any of the following:\n\nTake the rent when it is due to the local clerk of courts. A tenant must be current in their rent with the clerk of courts (called rent deposit). The tenant does not need an attorney for rent depositing. \nApply to the court to order the landlord to make the repairs. The court can also lower the rent until the repairs are made or give the tenant some of the rent money so the tenant can have the repairs made. \nEnd the lease. \nCancel the rental agreement and move. This can be done only after the tenant has given appropriate notice, and the landlord has failed to correct the condition.
892059
Once the case is dismissed, they cannot sue you again.  You should have a copy of your dismissal of the first case and then contact  your local agency that work with landlords and tenants.    They are very helpful and will support you in dealing with this matter.   Unless the former landlord is trying to sue you for something else.   No matter you need to appeal to your Landlord and Tenants Organization, they are in all the large cities.