Three day notice to pay rent! Please help!

We rented this house in november of 2007. There was many things wrong with the house but mainly the pool was pond like. It even had frogs and tadpoles. Even the neighbors would complain about mosquitos coming from the pool. We bought it to the landlords attention many, many times. We also contacted the agency we rented the house from. The agreement we had was that the pool would be cleaned ASAP and everything would be fixed. Nothing was fixed. In may 2008 we drained and cleaned the pool at our own expense and the owner came to see it after attempting to call her many times to have her do it. She said that all the pool guys were busy. For JULY 2008 we gave her only half the rent for the 8 months the pool was dirty and for our work and monetary loss. She is now giving us 3day notice to pay rent or quit. What can we do?

Was the agreement you had at the beginning to have the LL clean the pool in writing, or was it verbal? (You can't prove verbal agreements in court.) Was it in the lease that the LL would take care of pool maintenance or did it state that you would? Was it silent on the matter?

I must ask, HOW did you bring it to the LL's attention? By phone, in conversation, or by written repair request? If you didn't send a written repair request to the LL and kept proof that it was given to her (usually certified mail works best for this) how can you prove you ever told the LL about the pool problem? If you can't prove you informed her of the problem, then you can't show that she had a reasonable amount of time from the date she was informed to repair. (Most state laws allow a LL up to 30 days to crrect a problem such as this.) If she didn't have a reasonable amount of time to repair, you have no right to rent withhold by law. See the problem here?

The other issue is HOW you rent withheld. Did you just give her half the money for the rent and keep the rest? WRONG WAY! This will get you evicted every time! For rent withholding you contact the clerk of court with the problem (it must usually be a habitability problem - which a pool isn't - for a court to allow this). The clerk tells you the correct procedure to rent withhold and documents it. (Normally this means you deposit all the rent, on time, to the clerk of court or to their special account. They send the LL a letter saying they have her rent and she can claim it if she repairs. This way she can't evict for non-payment of rent.) You didn't do this did you?

Perhaps you are calling it repair and deduct instead of rent withholding? Fine, did you give the LL the same written notice and correct time to make repairs? Then did you give her the receipts for all of your pool supplies (you can't deduct for your time) and take that amount off your rent? If not, you did not do repair and deduct correctly.

Did you also check your state law to see if either of these remedies are allowed by your state law? Please post your state and I can tell you if they are and what the statute number is. Not all states allow these remedies and there are no statutes to allow you to do either of these in some states. For instance, 7 states don't allow either of these remedies (your only choice there is to go to court), 15 others only allow one of these two remedies (but not the other one). So please post your state.

It sounds like you didn't follow the state law on fixing this problem. If you didn't follow the steps above, her 3 day is correct. If you failed to follow the law on this, you should pay her the rest of the rent you withheld immediatley, or you will be evicted for non-payment. You cannot just keep the money yourself when you rent withhold.

Were in California. . The pool was not directly mentioned at the time of the signing. We called the agency they e-mailed the owner about the repairs. The owner had two "handy" guys that came to see all the things that were supposed to be fixed (including the pool ) , they promised they would back back the same day and never came. A month after that the LL came to look at the house because we kept calling the agency to let them know we had a leaking bathroom sink, the pool was a mess, the sprinklers had a broken pipe and the blinds were horrible ect. He again said he would fix everything. This was at the beginning of this year. finally we were frustrated with both parties and drained and cleaned the pool ourself. the mother in law of the owner and her husband came to see the pool because she was the only one the agency could get a hold of. She said that all the pool cleaners she called were busy. She gave me her number because she didnt want us to call the agency because they were charging her money or something. I called her the next day and she said that she would give us a discount. This was all on our cell phones. So in reality the owner had over 8 months to do at least clean the pool. would the e-mails count as written?

Sorry but e-mails are not admissible in court as evidence. (Easily faked) Neither are phone calls (cell or otherwise). All you can prove with the cell is that you called the someone, but not why or for what was discussed. You needed proper written documentation of the needed repairs. Try getting a written statement from the agency as to when you have called them for repairs. It is not a good solution (you should have sent a letter) and may not be admittable as evidence since it is from a 3rd party. But a very lenient judge *MAY* allow it. But normally, you would have to bring someone from the agency to testify to this at a hearing.

There is also the question of *IF* the LL is even liable for these repairs. No mention of the pool was made at lease signing so there was no guarantee of the pool maintenance being the LL's responsibility. Nothing was placed in writing about pool maintenance being his responsibility. (Were you responsible for mowing or other yardwork? It may be concluded that you were also responsible for the pool.) Is there anything in state law that says he must maintain a pool if it is on the property? Most states don't have this. Without a written notation that he would maintain the pool, it may fall on you to do this. Often, a tenant maintains his own pool.

Additionally, your only contact wasn't with the owner, it was with his mother in law. She has no interest in the property at all and is not an owner. Unless she has a signed manager form or a power of attorney, she cannot legally represent the owner. (Doubtful) Sounds as if she was acting as his agent, but will the owner agree to that in court? (Also doubtful) Even if he agrees that she was acting as his agent, her offer of a discount was a phone conversation again. No written record at all. NO agreement in writing that you would get anything off your rent.

Gee, I'd like to give you some good news, but I just can't find any here. You have no documentation that you requested repairs unless you can bring someone from the agency to court. You have no signed agreement that he would even do the pool maintenance, so I don't know if bringing an agency rep would help you at all. A judge may well say that since he never signed an agreement to do them, it is your responsibility if you wanted to use the pool.

You didn't do rent withholding correctly. If you claim it was repair & deduct, you didn;t do that correctly either. Repair & deduct statutes for your state say:
1. The defects must be serious and directly related to the tenant's health and safety.
2. The repairs cannot cost more than one month's rent.
3. The tenant cannot use the repair and deduct remedy more than twice in any 12-month period.
4. The tenant or the tenant's family, guests, or pets must not have caused the defects that require repair.
5. The tenant must inform the landlord, either orally or in writing, of the repairs that are needed. (See "Giving the landlord notice".)
6. The tenant must give the landlord a reasonable period of time to make the needed repairs.
So you used this for 8 months instead of the two months that are allowed. You took off 4 months of rent (1/2 rent for 8 months) when the statute says you can deduct no more than one month's rent. You can't prove you informed him of the problem or that it was even his responsibility to repair. Even though you are in a tenant friendly state, you have made so many mistakes here that I can't see you winning this. At most you could only take off one month of rent for this IF you could prove it was his responsiblity and IF you could prove you contacted him to make those repairs and IF you can prove that 1/2 month's rent was needed to do those repairs (Pool chemicals for a month aren't that costly). I suggest you call the LL and arrange to pay him all the rest of the rent. Perhaps he would compromise by allowing you to repair & deduct one month off? Wish I had better news.

I just recvd a 3-day notice I always pay my rent but this time I was out of work due to Medical. I get a ck next week will me and my kids be kicked out by then?

Can I assume this last poster is a new person, and not the same poster as before? Or is this the same poster coming back to his/her thread after several months?

The answer to your question depends on your state. Some states require that the LL accept rent and court costs up to the day of the court hearing for an eviction (some allow payment even after the hearing, but before the execution of the eviction). The LL can file for an eviction once the Pay or Quit expires. But in those states, you can pay and stay, and the eviction is cancelled. States like Maryland and NJ allow you to pay and stay.

In other states, the LL can file for eviction and refuse rent payment as soon as the 3 day Pay or Quit expires. The three days usually do not include the day it is served, weekends, or holidays. If you were served November 5th, the three days are the 6th, 7th, and the 10th OR 11th (depends on which your state uses for Veteran's Day- some states close everything Monday for Veteran's day, but not Tuesday), so an eviction could not be filed until after that date. If you live in these states and pay before the eviction is filed, you can stay.

Yet other states allow a LL to serve an Unconditional Quit notice, and can file for eviction as soon as it expires, and never accept the late rent. These states don't give you a chance to pay the rent at all. Alabama and Louisiana are examples.

What state is this that you live in?

I have just been served an Unlawful Detainer and stapled to it is a 3 day notice THAT I WAS NEVER SERVED but it has been dated Jan 5 and the papers claim it was posted on my door on Jan 11. Neither claim is true...how can I defend myself in this matter?

[sandyclaus]

Originally Posted by Unregistered I have just been served an Unlawful Detainer and stapled to it is a 3 day notice THAT I WAS NEVER SERVED but it has been dated Jan 5 and the papers claim it was posted on my door on Jan 11. Neither claim is true...how can I defend myself in this matter?

Please start your own thread instead of necroposting on a dead one.