Is It legally Right To Do This?
@cassandralynn (1084)
United States
April 23, 2009 8:41pm CST
Me and my husband have been living in a house for about 5 years. Our rent has been pretty stable since 2004. And we are very good at paying our rent on time each month before the 6th ( anything after the 6th is considered late).. And each time we pay our rent we chit chat nicely with our land lady and ask her sometimes to send the maintenance man out to fix things at our house & etc, a very pleasant exchange with our sweet land lady and never once does does she claim or ask that we owe her money when we go into her office . But even thought we are not behind in rent we almost each month, for the past 3-4 months receive notices from her in our mail saying we owe her MANY months of back pay of rent and she also claim's we owe her for this month's rent and I know for a fact we have paid her, infact me and my husband save all of our receipt's each time we pay. But even though we pay she sends out this " how much we owe her money" notice in the mail and we ALWAYS have to call her, usually I'm furious when I call her, and I say " Look why do you send us this letter each month claiming we owe you all of this money, we have receipt's for each month you claim we owe?" and she always say's "Oh I'm sooooo sorry, it was a mistake that letter was sent out to you, I have it right here that you paid me for those months, just ignore it" then when the next month roll's around she does the exact same thing, she sends us another letter saying we owe her all this money for many months past due ( like almost 2 thousand dollars-- which is total lie!) and the vicious little cycle continues. We are very good at paying her on time each month and it really does upset me that she does this because each month we have to call her and say " Don't you remember when I paid you this months rent, I asked you about having my window screen fixed when I was in there paying you our monthly rent?" and she's like "Oh yeah I do remember.." Today she sent us another letter saying we owe her thousands again, which is a lie, we have proof we paid and this time along with the statement saying how much we owe her she wrote a letter saying " You have owed me this money for many months now, I need you to pay it now!" I think she's losing her mind or can't manage her property management business.I'm wondering what my rights are about this situation. Is it legal to harass a renter every month for money they don't owe? I'm at my wits end with this woman's head games. What should I do?
8 people like this
31 responses
@pierone (1894)
• Italy
24 Apr 09
Hello friend.
Relax.
Why you simply don't ignore the letter the land lady send you every month?
You know what you already paid, you know what you need to pay and when.
When is time to pay, just pay what you must pay, and get the receipts.
Don't care about her requests, and don't answer her. You NEVER have to call her due she's claiming something she can't claim. So just ignore it.
Pay you rent in time, get the reveipts, and when she give you the receipt say her "thanks Mrs., I'm happy I finally paid these 10 thousands".... watch her face when you will say that ;)
You can kidding her, but you don't need to be worried or angry.
Take it easy. She just spend time and money (if the letter get the stamp) to claim something she can't claim. If she's happy in this way, what's the matter? Just don't care about it ;)
1 person likes this
@cassandralynn (1084)
• United States
24 Apr 09
Hi pierone, I usually do ignore her letters and so does my husband. But this time she wrote a note insisting that we pay her for back rent. What makes me mad about this is when she writes these types of notes I always call her and ask her about the notice she sends out and often she claims " Oh I didn't send that, ignore it, somebody in my office sent it by mistake" but if it was a mistake why did she go out of her way to include a personal note to me and my husband about all of the suppose rent we owe her (and she signs her name to it..?)I can understand if this happens once or twice a year by mistake but this has been a almost monthly on and off ordeal for about a year now.
@zigzagbuddha (4601)
• United States
25 Apr 09
I'm with you pierone! It seems like the whole world has gone mad!!! I would toss the unopened envelopes in the trash and not think a thought more about it! Why get all worked up over nothing?
But if I wanted to play the game with her I would send the unopened letters back to her with 'no such person at this address' scrawled on the outside of the envelope, hehehehe. Or I would send the amount she was demanding back in monopoly money! 
@camomom (7535)
• United States
29 Apr 09
Maybe someone else is sending you the notices. She may not even realize that the note was to you. She may have just overlooked who the notice was too and took the word of someone else that the money is owed to her. They may be ripping you both off and neither of you even realizes it. You may hand her the check for the rent and she may hand you the receipt but then it may get passed on to someone else to take care of. This person may be taking the rent and telling her that you didn't pay. who knows ??????
@zigzagbuddha (4601)
• United States
25 Apr 09
You should ask yourself what this outer situation is justifying in your mind. What belief does it resonate with? Do you have beliefs like "everybody's against me", or "somebody's out to get me"? Or do you believe that "you just can't trust people"? Are you wanting an excuse to move?
If you look deep inside yourself you will find the answer. Any time you have unwanted conditions in your life it is because the universe is delivering up to you - without judgment - people, circumstances, events, etc., that match your beliefs. It is just the way the world is set up. If you struggle with trying to change the outer circumstances without also changing the beliefs, then something else will just pop up that is similar in nature. If you change the beliefs you will never have to deal with it again. Most people, it seems, do not want to believe this. Oh well. Go ahead and continue engaging in these endless battles then if it pleases you.
1 person likes this
@cassandralynn (1084)
• United States
26 Apr 09
I just tried to see where I typed " everyone is against me" at.. Umm, nope don't see it anywhere in this discussion... I was just asking if it was legal to be harassed by a landlord over rent that has already been paid . I just found out my landlord has done this to my neighbors also, I guess everyone is against them also, huh??..LOL..Please relax, it's just a discussion dear zig zag 
You don't know enough about me as a person to assume I'm doing this to attract that & etc..(I'm more then a 11 mylot discussions can convey)Maybe you are meaning well with all of this but in case you did mean well you need to send me a private message if you honestly feel you need to help me with some spiritual insight instead of going on about it within this discussion. And to be honest, you suggesting I'm like this and that is you trying to project these types of unwanted energies towards me . You should take some of your own advice and be careful about the type of energies you are sending out into the universe. I say this with kindness zig zag. I like you a lot. You are really a unique woman!
You don't know enough about me as a person to assume I'm doing this to attract that & etc..(I'm more then a 11 mylot discussions can convey)Maybe you are meaning well with all of this but in case you did mean well you need to send me a private message if you honestly feel you need to help me with some spiritual insight instead of going on about it within this discussion. And to be honest, you suggesting I'm like this and that is you trying to project these types of unwanted energies towards me . You should take some of your own advice and be careful about the type of energies you are sending out into the universe. I say this with kindness zig zag. I like you a lot. You are really a unique woman!
@xbrendax (2662)
• United States
24 Apr 09
It sounds to me like she's getting senile or getting you guys mixed up with someone else! As long as you have all your receipts, I wouldn't worry too much about her letters. If it ever gets to court, all you have to do is show your receipts and the case will get thrown out and your landlady will be showing the world just how insane she is! Then also the court might make it so she NEVER sends you such a letter ever again and if she does, she could be fined!
@camomom (7535)
• United States
29 Apr 09
Call the Landlord/Tenants association in your area. Call a lawyer. Send her a letter back about what is actually going on and add copies of all your receipts. Don't call her anymore, only put things in writing from now on. This way you will have it documented in writing incase it does end up going to court or evictions. It could be that someone else manages her properties and they are making the mistakes. Good luck to you.
@cassandralynn (1084)
• United States
29 Apr 09
If it does go to court I really doubt any of it would be in her ruling favor. She claims " ALL OF THE SUDDEN" that me and my husband owe her money from 2 1/2 years back ..LOL.. First time we've heard about it, we have receipts even from that far back and now she said she's not sure if we owe her all of that money at all now. SO now we are waiting for a new invoice to come into the mail so we know which months receipts to bring in.. I know we don't owe her this money and I don't know what she's talking about. She doesn't know how to keep her books, she reminds me of that pet store owner in that TV Quick books commercial that's on the phone calling her customers and asking " did you pay me?" then all of the birds in the shop mimic her.
We're planing on moving within the next few months because were tired of dealing with her scattered brain way of managing her business.This isn't the first time she's done this, back in Dec of 2008 she tried to say we owed her back rent from Aug-Nov 2008 and we had to bring our recipes in to show her so she could back track them in her receipt book.I'm just tired of her doing this, it's annoying after the first 4 times it happens- Oh, it's a family business, when my landlord isn't in the office her daughter takes rent payments and sometimes her daughter don't record/write down in the books that her renters have paid for that month.I think if this went to court the judge would ask her " Why are you all of the sudden wanting money from them from 2-3 years back and why didn't try to collect it back then if it was owed to you?, they have receipts".
@camomom (7535)
• United States
29 Apr 09
And you should ALWAYS pay by check or money order or even a cashiers check to make sure that you have that back up proof from the bank. NEVER pay by cash.
@Raven1 (577)
• Australia
25 Apr 09
I own several investment properties. While most tenants try to remember that they're living in someone else's house and treat the owner with a little bit of respect for providing them with a home to live in - other selfish tenants simply think they have the right to trash a rental house because it's not theirs.
One of my good-paying tenants didn't read a letter I sent giving him 2 months notice of raising his monthly rent amount. He kept paying the same amount of rent, which meant he was suddenly not paying enough rent. I sent him a polite reminder that his rent amount had gone up a few months before and he's now overdue.
He screamed and argued and said he owed me no extra money because he always paid on time. He also got a lawyer.
The lawyer told him that he didn't read the letter he received from his landlord. He really did owe me several thousand dollars in back rent. AND he now owed lawyers fees too. He trashed my house, saying I was unfair. He smashed windows and broke walls and kicked holes in doors. Now I'm suing him for damages as well as lost rental income.
Landlords don't always get an easy time with so many tenants refusing to show any kind of respect for the people who offer them places to live. They never seem to remember that someone else paid for the home they live in and they're just renting the right to stay there for a while.
I'd ask your landlady if she's perhaps put the rent up and you've been paying the lower amount by mistake. If she doesn't give a satisfactory answer, then perhaps go find a different rental property.
If you've been paying your rent on time every time for so long, then the bank would consider this payment history in your favor if you chose to buy your own home. Mortgage repayments are often cheaper than rent payments these days, so shop carefully and you could get rid of the landlord for good.
@cassandralynn (1084)
• United States
30 Apr 09
Oh, she didn't raise the rent, we already asked her. This is what happens. Her daughter and somebody else take's rent payments when my landlord is not in the office and her daughter and the other person forgets to record it into the books that her tenants paid.My Landlady told me this is what happens. We're just going to move . I'm looking around now.I wouldn't want to be a landlord because it seems like a headache and a challenging business to manage & having the occasional tenant from hell. I tip my hat to you doing what you do.
@Anora_Eldorath (6028)
• United States
24 Apr 09
Cassandra-
I'd get an attorney. You can go speak to one generally for free, though some will charge you a $50.00 consult fee (that's about a 1/2 hour). You need to start documenting every conversation you have with her. You should also keep all copies of all of her notes to you, and copies of your checks. Your bank should be able to give you a copy of each check you wrote to her and when they were cashed, her signature or mark should be on the back. Just explain to your bank the issue you are having and get copies.
You may want to look at moving if it becomes worse, but those are the steps I'd take first.
Namaste-Anora
@tashanda (58)
• United States
24 Apr 09
Pierone obviously its not that simple to her! It actually is not legal that is why it was suggested that she contact a lawyer it may not be a biggie to you but this woman feels like she may be in jeopardy of losing her home. It is quite possible that it is more than just a lose of memory somewhere along the line a red flag is going up in the landlady's office in regards to this woman's payments.
@pierone (1894)
• Italy
24 Apr 09
My God, you americans are really impossible people!
She ask if is legal, you suggest an attorney.
Why you aren't able to do the easier thing?
Why you need to waste your time, and became nervous for nothing?
She already paid. This is a fact.
The land lady have some problems (at least memory problems), this is another fact.
Just ignoring the letters and pay at the right time (as they usually do) the rent is enough.
Your solution means lot of work, efforts, to get what? just pay the rent.
And the suggestion of move! please!
My solution means 3 seconds to put the letter in the trash can, and pay the rent. And make your life happier ;)
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
25 Apr 09
pierone....there's nothing wrong with the idea of her getting a lawyer, if anything for "protection"----what if the landlady sends copies of these letters to a housing authority, and next "letter" she gets is for a court case for eviction...with a lawyer she would have protection and ward off any eviction issues that may ensue due to the landlord despite the fact that she DID pay the rent. A housing/eviction would just see the landlord's letters that indicating she didn't pay even though she did and take that at face value---then she WOULD have to hire a lawyer
@reinydawn (11643)
• United States
25 Apr 09
That has got to be a pain! Do you know if she has any relatives you can get in touch with? Maybe let them know she's kinda losing it a bit?
I don't know if there's anything you can do as a tennant other than file a civil complaint for harrassment, but that might make your living situation worse...
@cassandralynn (1084)
• United States
30 Apr 09
Yes it's a pain, so much so we are planing on moving sometimes this summer. Her relatives work with her at the office!The reason why things are such a mess is because my land lady's daughter takes rent payments when he mom/landlady isn't in the office and her daughter or this other person does not keep records when the tenant pays, so mom goes threw the records and see's that so and so didn't pay then sends out letters saying 'You owe me money" . My landlady told me that they don't record it down sometimes when a person pays, that's why we save our receipts because she only has that to go by .Your right, it would make matters worse filing a civil complaint. I would much rather exit out gracefully .
@coolmailraj (2460)
• India
25 Apr 09
Hi.
It is quite strange that it is happening time and again. If it might have happened once or twice then we can overlook it but as it is happening again and again, I advice you to be alert about it. If it is a notice then it can turn into a legal thing any time. Keep all those receipts intact and well preserved. If you have them then there is nothing to worry about.
I don't think there is any thing legal about it till now and be calm. It will resolve.
@cassandralynn (1084)
• United States
25 Apr 09
Hi Cool,
I think it's strange also. She just can't manage her business correctly. She always say's " I couldn't find the receipts in my office, if you have proof please bring it in so I can make copies" And when she say's this I think " You're suppose to be a business professional,you should be keeping perfect records of this,this isn't my fault that somebody in your office lost or misplaced receipts!"We're planing on moving this summer. Oh by the way, what she sent wasn't a eviction notice, it was a invoice from her office computer. We have our receipts as proof of payment if needed.
@scarlet_woman (23465)
• United States
24 Apr 09
the magic words are "ok,i'm going to discuss this with the housing board.i have my reciepts".
my landlady tried that-she wanted an excuse to evict me so she could raise the rent.
she couldn't do it while i was locked in at that price.
@cassandralynn (1084)
• United States
25 Apr 09
That makes sense totally and very possible! It wouldn't surprise me if that's what she's trying to do to us. Our rent is really cheap and never once has been raised . Were paying month to month and no longer bound to a lease. We have the receipts. The woman does not know how to keep proper records and we have had to make several visits to her office in the past to show her receipts that we have paid. The same thing happened November or December of 08, she sent us a similar letter saying we owed her for 3 months of past due rent and late fee's and we went down to her office to show her our receipts to show her that we did pay for those 3 months and she was like " oh, ok!".. I'm just so tired of her doing this to us. We are so wanting to move now..
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
24 Apr 09
Yes I can understand how her head-games are getting tiresome. Here is what I would do. When you go to her office to pay your rent, Take a card with you or if there is some extra room on your receipt just explain to her that you get upset when she sends you the letter (by mistake) each month. The ask her nicely if she would write on the bottom of the receipt, that you are, "Paid in full, and will not owe her anything more until your next month's bill is due." I cannot see how she can refuse to do this and still maintain that you owe her thousands.
@cassandralynn (1084)
• United States
25 Apr 09
That's exactly what we are going to do. My best friend also suggest we should go to a office supply store and buy a book of blank receipts and have her sign the receipt when we pay and have her write " paid in full" on our copy of the receipt then give her a copy of our receipt and we keep the original.
@tamarafireheart (15384)
•
24 Apr 09
Hi cassandralynn,
This is harrassement and you must tell her that the next time you recieve another leeter, you are going to your solicistor, then she might stop, as long as you have the reciepts, you don't have to worry, sounds like she is losing it or pretending to lose it. She can sure write those letters though.
Tamara
@cassandralynn (1084)
• United States
25 Apr 09
Hi Tamara,
That's how I feel totally! This is nothing but plain old harassment!And we have done nothing wrong! We make sure our rent is paid in full each month .Since she can't manage her business right doesn't mean she has the right to harass us because people in her office are not keeping the books correctly.
@savypat (20216)
• United States
24 Apr 09
Make sure you keep good records in a safe place. Then consider the source. It sounds like she might be using a new computer program or just like you say can't manager her property management business any more. I would make sure I kept the notices also and since all in all you have a very good situation there, just ignore this.
The only legal help you could get would to involve a lawyer or small claims court in this and that will cost you additional time and money, I wouldn't think you want to do this. The main danger is that this may some how ruin your credit. If you were to move and apply for a new rental, make sure you give them copies up front of all your payments and explain the problem so that if they ask for payment info from your present Landlady they will not be surprised. If you don't tell them they may turn you down with out you ever getting to tell your side of the story. Blessings
@cassandralynn (1084)
• United States
30 Apr 09
savypat, you always have some of the best advice ever!
I think once upon a time she was managing her properties ok, but then she purchased a lot more properties and has got too much for her to handle. Don't get me wrong, she's a very sweet lady and will often apologize extensively for her mistakes.Her booking skills are messed up because her daughter and the guy in the neighboring office take rent payments for her when she's not in the office and they often do not write down & record when a renter pay's, they just take the rent payment then give a receipt and don't record it in the books, my landlady goes by the books and if so if it shows that "so and so" didn't pay then she will send out computer invoices to her renters stating they owe her money. I know this because I have seen it and 4 other people have told me they have witnessed this also and my landlady told me that her daughter and the guy in the office next door sometimes forget to record the payment in the books.We plan on moving because he honestly need more space and a big back yard . I want to have space to garden with and don't have it here.
@savak03 (6684)
• United States
24 Apr 09
Sounds to me like she is suffering from alzheimer's disease. It is good that you get a receipt each time you pay her. Don't ever change that practice. It would probably be in your best interest to keep these receipts forever as well. Does she have any family or partners that you could talk to? At any rate, even though the situation is very frustrating, getting angry with her will not help. She apparently has some problems with her memory that she can't help. At least having the receipts protects you from any misunderstanding.
@cassandralynn (1084)
• United States
25 Apr 09
We learned our lesson the first the she tried to pull this. Now we keep all of our receipts. I have to call her and see what months she's is talking about on her invoice she sent. It doesn't state which months we "supposedly" owe her for. Back in August -November she was claiming we owed her for 4 months of back rent until we showed her the August -December 2008 receipts that we did pay, then she was saying how sorry she was for the letters she sent & etc.. I'm just very tired of her doing this and she could ruin it for use if we want to move and get another place if she has us down with false claims that we our her money...You're right though, she's definitely not all there. I have other theories why she's doing this also. I'm suspecting she might be close to losing this property and is trying to milk all she can from it.. We are planing to move now because of this .
@marguicha (215441)
• Chile
24 Apr 09
I would not only save the reciepts but also those foul letters. With them, you can ask an attorney what can you do about it. There are surely laws that will protect you. It´s not a matter of ignoring them. You should write her about the letters instead of calling her so that everything is on paper.
Take care friend
@cassandralynn (1084)
• United States
25 Apr 09
Hello friend,I wished I did have the other letters she sent me last year but my husband got mad when he saw them and tore them up and tossed them in the trash! 
I told him he should of gave them to me to keep, just in case, but he said " Why, we have proof we paid, she can't do anything as long as we have proof"..But I do have the new letter she sent and I'm keeping it.
I told him he should of gave them to me to keep, just in case, but he said " Why, we have proof we paid, she can't do anything as long as we have proof"..But I do have the new letter she sent and I'm keeping it.
@KrauseHome (36448)
• United States
25 Apr 09
Personally it does sound like there is a major issue there of some sort. Does she not have better records to where you can check against to make sure that these are really being posted, and if you are paying her via a check or something from your Bank then these would serve as proof as well. All I can say is you need to find out who you can talk too about this, and get it resolved. This is not right at all. Wishing you the Best.
@stephcjh (38473)
• United States
24 Apr 09
It does sound like that poor woman is losing her dang mind or something. It would get on my last nerve also having to deal with that. I deal with things on the line of that also sometimes but not constant like you are doing. I would consult a lawyer for some free advice as to what your rights are.
@cassandralynn (1084)
• United States
25 Apr 09
This is getting on my last nerve. I'm so tried of the false claims she's making. I just want to move at this point.She is a scattered brain!
@zandi458 (28102)
• Malaysia
24 Apr 09
I am an owner of properties which I rent out to people and collect their rent every month but they are some who are hard up and doesn't honor their monthly rent and I do understand their problems and give them grace period to come up with the rental. I don't understand why your landlady threat you in such a manner knowing very well that you're a good paymaster and yet sending out reminders which doesn't make sense. It is of course not a good thing to mentally harass a tenant who is up-to-date with the house rent. You should tell her politely that should she ever send you such kind of letter you would consider moving out. That may stop her from sending you further notices. As a tenant you have your rights.
@kprofgames (3091)
• United States
25 Apr 09
This might sound out of this world but hear me out.
I'd make copies of all your rent payments for the last year. Then certify mail them to her - return receipt requested. This would show that she accepted all the copies of receipts.
I don't feel she's forgetting. I think she is playing with you; however, this is pretty simple way to acknowledge that you've proven that you've paid all rent as required.
I do like the suggestion of a lawyer. Still you need to outweigh the differences here. Will that solve the problem? or create an even bigger on where you might have to move. You never know where it will take you.
I'd do the certified copy of all receipts. When she signs for the envolope, that gets mailed back to you that she's accepted it and received it. If you continue to get these letters, then do sit down with a lawyer. The cherry on top here is that you sent the landlord a copy of all the receipts and she's still pressing you for something you don't owe. She would loose this hands down. To be honest, just doing that might be enough to shut her up and her to leave you alone.
I'd do that and if she continues, then talk to a lawyer. Best of luck to you.
@lelin1123 (15595)
• Puerto Rico
11 Jul 09
I would request a meeting with her. Take all your receipts and explain in plain english that you have paid on time and that you are up to date with all of your payments. Then proceed to tell her not to send another letter to you. If she still continues to send after the meeting then I would just ignore it. Just make sure you keep every receipt in order which will be your back up. When you pay your rent the next time bring the letter and tell her "we had a meeting about this and I still got another notice". What is the problem. Maybe she is as the beginning stages of alzheimer.
@rina308 (83)
• Philippines
8 Dec 09
I think it's about time to take legal action. You just can't put up with that anymore. If you're looking to hire an attorney to handle your case, I can suggest a site that allows you to post your case online, and let the lawyers come to you with their bids: bidsfromlawyers.com
Check them out.
