Eviction Notice

[Sue Schmitt]

I live in Germantown, Montgomery County, Maryland. We have a landlord-tenant issue. Due to severe financial difficulties in February our rent checks bounced. The landlord is not being sympathetic to our situation. In addition, we used to own the property we're leasing back from him. In order to avoid foreclosure we allowed this investor to "buy" this condo. However, I am not really sure if he legally owns it. We never sat down with an attorney nor real estate agent in this deal we did sign some papers tho. We got no money out of this "sale". I think all he did was take over our loan. We need someone to mediate with this landlord for us so we don't get evicted. Trial date is set for April 2 at 8 so I assume that is the actual eviction date. The landlord also is harassing us to. He calls us after 9 pm and he'll come over and beat on the door. I'm scared and angry at the same time. Since we had to let our condo go in that manner, I am not on the best of terms with this guy either so I don't think I can get him to agree to some more reasonable terms. If the eviction goes thru we will not be able to rent anything. He's also set the rent so high for us that we're caught. We are not able to save money to move to another place either. I need help badly and I don't have a lot of money to pay for it.

[OHlandlord]

Sue, I'm not sure anyone can help you. Without seeing what type of papers you signed, we can't tell you who owns the condo or what type of rental agreement you signed. Go online or call the county auditor and ask who owns your condo. If you signed some type of sales agreement, and it was recorded, his name should be on the property. An attorney is not necessary if you sell it yourself but it is recommended. (If recorded recently, it may not have made it to the web yet, so you may want to call.)

If you couldn't afford the place yourself, why ever did you agree to continue to rent it at a high rate? You would have been better off to just move to something cheaper. The new owner could have rented it to someone else who could have afforded it. I understand that you wanted to stay there, but you simply cannot afford it anymore. You need to move.

If you bounced the rent check, you have not paid the rent. Make good on the rent before court. Is he also charging you NSF fees (for the bounced check of about $35 and late fees - no more than 10% of the rent is acceptable in most places)? If so, you will also owe these. Paying this before court can buy you some time. He would have to start the entire process over again next month when you don't pay the rent. If the rent is paid before the hearing, simply show up and let the judge know you have paid the rent. It will void the hearing and you will be allowed to stay in the house.

You need to see what rental agreement you signed. Is it a term lease or a month to month agreement? If it is a month to month, give 30 days notice to move now. Then move out in April, even if it means you must move in with family temporarily. Save money and rent someplace smaller and cheaper. If it is a lease, you are going to have to break the lease. You cannot aford to live there anymore. I'm sorry. Good luck to you.