I am having a legal issue with the property management company that owned my previous apartment and I'm not sure what my next move should be. This is a long one, I apologize. My location is Atlanta, GA.
I lived in this apartment for a year (with some pretty poor service by the company, I must say). My lease says that I must give 60 days written notice to vacate or else I give up my security deposit. It also says "If notice is not given [at all], then this lease will automatically be extended on a month-to-month basis under the same terms and conditions as provided herein until this lease is terminated by either party upon 60 days written notice."
Now, I foolishly forgot about the whole 60-day notice entirely and gave the two weeks notice because two weeks was all that my previous apartment required (not a valid excuse, I know). When I called them to inform them of my leaving, they were none too happy. The manager said "So if you read your lease agreement, you note that this means you forfeit your security deposit and you must move out by the end of the lease term." Which I understood and was okay with. So the big day comes: I go to their office to turn in my keys, they do a move-out inspection and have me sign a paper acknowledging that I forfeit the security deposit. I leave and all is well, so I think.
Fast forward two weeks and I get a letter in the mail at my new apartment. It is a bill for $2175, broken down as follows: A $2600 "Improper Notice" charge (mentioned nowhere in the lease agreement) which is exactly two months' rent, some legitimate cleaning and repair charges, and a $650 "credit" for my security deposit. These charges are due a few days before I even received the letter. Here are my grievances:
*The manager made it clear multiple times that the cost of my inaction on giving 60 days notice was that I forfeited my security deposit AND I had to have my things moved out by the original date of the lease ending. A huge "Improper Notice" charge was not mentioned any time beforehand. I didn't even receive a call or an email about this huge charge, just the letter.
*I signed a document saying that I forfeited the security deposit completely. I have a copy of this document. Now they are claiming my deposit is a 'credit' against all of these other charges, which is incoherent.
*If they wanted to charge 60 days rent (accounting for a new month-to-month lease agreement), they could have said so upfront. Furthermore, their taking my keys and performing a move-out inspection violates the assumption of a lease extension "under the same terms and conditions..."
*This is generally a shady company all around. They took over two weeks to replace a refrigerator and were never able to officially add two new roommates to the lease, which they had said they would do. They have some pretty egregious complaints on Better Business Bureau, and they have contacted me back about this issue despite multiple calls.
They claim that the charge will go into collections after 30 days of non-payment. I think I am justified in claiming that the charges (except, perhaps, the damage charges) are completely unfounded. Should I hire legal help? Should I march into their offices and demand answers? Or do they have a legitimate claim to the charges?
Submitted September 21, 2016 at 07:10AM by StarWarriors http://ift.tt/2cBHPM9 legaladvice
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