Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Resolution....almost....

The saga with the Slumlord continues.
Today, my lawyer called me to update me on the current status of my case.
According to him, the Slumlord hired a lawyer to address the lawsuit. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this area of my life, basically, it can be summed up as such--the Slumlord (yes, 100%, deserves to be labled in this manner) was late returning my deposit to me, by a full week.
In Colorado, as a landlord, you have up to 60 days to return partial deposit back with explanation of charges. Anything outside of 60 days becomes a non-issue. The full deposit must be returned.
My guy, the Slumlord, ignored me for a full 60 days. Actually, on December 28, he e-mailed me to request my current mailing address.
When I received the check and saw what he had charged me for and remembered that it was late--negligent on his part--I complained to some attorney's that frequent the Bull. They cut me off and said--bring us the paperwork, check, deposit envelope and we will handle it from there.
I believe, as did they, that the Slumlord would settle instead of going to court. I had forgotten what a jackass, he is, though. I thought the threat of court would motivate him to pay me.
Nope. He thought I was threatening him.
So, my lawyer sent a lawyer explaining that we were going to court and that I was seeking 3x the original deposit amount.
He was served and I believe had until the 15th of this month, to respond.
Today, he did.
His lawyer wanted to know why we felt we could get that amount. My lawyer explained that the Slumlord was at fault, and rarely, did the court find for the owner in these circumstance.
His lawyer wanted to know what they could do to make this go away?
In exchange for the full deposit and my attorney's fees being paid, I agreed to drop it. I am not a greedy person, nor do I really want to go to court. I feel it can be avoided.
In all honesty, I wanted the Slumlord to be accountable for his actions. He should pay for negligence and his dishonesty. He is a miserable owner and his house is about to fall apart. I feel bad for future tenants because he truly does not care about the functionality of his house.
I know, for a fact, that the girls that moved into the bottom unit just broke their lease due to other invasive issues. They didn't have heat for the entire winter. The plumbling backed up, again, and he refused to fix either problem. He is the definition of Slumlord.
Ironically, he continues to get great tenants. It must be the location.
I feel validated and right to have pursued this if not only for me, but for future people. Perhaps, he will realize the timely importance of returning the deposit.

4 comments:

Jen Feeny said...

OMG it just never ends with him does it?!?!? Well thankfully it sounds like you are finally getting some resolution and hopefully he will get his just deserves in due time.

harmony said...

I know. I believe he wants to settle with me, since he knows the other tenants will have more issues to bring forth in court. According to my old neighbor, the Slumlord has been living at the old place, trying to fix it up. I think he wants to make it look more presentable for court. But, if anyone looked at the stairs, they would see what I saw---falling down, detioriation at its best.
I am thankful to be out of there!!!

Hailey said...

WOW! Good for you Harm. Your perseverance should be applauded. I agree that he should not get away with such behavior - and hopefully this will help teach him a much needed life lesson. I also respect your attitude about a fair settlement...however I do think that you should have adjusted the compensation to work in an extremely wonderful bottle of wine for yourself!

harmony said...

I celebrated with my reader, last night, and intend to celebrate on SUnday, too. I think I have dinner plans with Sara Jo.....