Back rent

I am to pay my old landlord $3,000 in back rent. There is no proof that I owe them that. I was also responsible for the light bill which was not in my name. There is no lease. There never was a lease with them. I signed one when I moved in but those people sold the house and I was permitted to stay. The place was a dump and got worse with the new owners. I have 30 days to appeal. Any thoughts?

[sunlover]

The lease is valid it transfered to new owners. How is it you were ordered to pay this if (as you suggest) there is no proof?

They sued me and the judge ordered me to yesterday. Is it worth it to appeal?

Originally Posted by sunlover The lease is valid it transfered to new owners. How is it you were ordered to pay this if (as you suggest) there is no proof?

Not worth your time. You would lose again. As sunlover said, you HAD a lease. Legally, a lease transfers to the new owner. Your lease with the old owner merely transferred to the new owner when he bought the property. You still had to meet all the obligations under that lease. That lease gave the judge all the evidence needed to show that you owed the listed rent for each month you lived there. If there were clauses that said you would owe late fees and would pay for the light bill, the lease proved you owed these too. You owe $3000 and need to pay him. You now have a judgment on your credit report (listed as a bad debt) and have taken quite a hit with your credit score. (Don't plan on buying anything on credit for some time to come since you will be denied credit or given much higher rates than other people.) Expect your wages garnished, bank accounts attached (frozen), personal property attached (liened), and possibly even future tax refunds attached (taken). Expect future LLs to deny you housing since you failed to pay another LL. This judgment will remain for many years -most states 7-10 years - and then can be renewed for another period. Your only way to remove this is to pay it.

The time to complain about the place needing repairs or other issue was when you were living there, not afterward. Why didn't you take this up with the new owner? Send him written requests to repair the items?

good advice, i am in the same situation