I need some help with this: reference from landlord

[debtmamma]

I applied for a rural development housing loan.

I lived in the same apt complex for over seven years. I have not had a lease since we first moved in, and that lease was not in my name. Last June new owners bought my apt complex. The beg of July I called the new owner and asked if I could pay my rent late. He agreed and offered me to pay the next months rent late also so basically my August rent would not be due until the end of August. He also asked me out to lunch, inquiried of my marital status, etc, I was polite but obviously declined. (June I was in a car accident and didn't earn as much that is why I asked to pay late. I called July 1, not after it was late.)

Later that day the manager left a note on my door with details of our arrangement.

I kept the first 2 payments as we agreed on. August 9th I had a pay rent or quit notice. It had a sticky not on it saying if my rent is not paid in 3 days they will file at the courthouse. I call the manager and tell her we had an arrangement. She says the owner is out of town and this is his wife/dd. I tell her we made arrangements. In another week and half and I served with an eviction notice, saying August rent was due Aug 1, etc.

I call owner and he says he will call his dd and call me back. he said she must no thave known about our arrangment. When I called him again he was very nice, an said if it helped me he could change my rent to have it half due in the beg of month and half due mid month. I didn't even ask for that. He never calls me back.

Right away I go to legal aid and bring them my paperwork and sign my name. The student looks at it and says I can handle it without them.

The next week I pay my August rent to the courthouse, bring my letter of our arrangment and write a reponse saying they are demanding rent before it was due.

I see the law student there and he says if I want they will represent me for the hearing. I ask the judge's sec if I can appear by phone since I have a child who is ill. Legal Aid goes to the hearing. The landlord says they want to evict me because I am late with my rent. The law student says they are a corporation and they need an attorney. The judge gives them 2 weeks to get one. Right away the go to law student and want to settle. Their offer was cr*p though forget it I am not paying their court costs, etc.

The law student wanted to get a lease for me, becuase we knew they would give me 30 days notice to leave. I wouldn't agree to any lease so then he wanted me to give them a move out date. Nope I wasn't going to do that. The landlord gets an atty and agrees to drop the case if we agree to give them the rent that the court is holding. By now and their extensions it's Aug, Sept, October rent i have paid to courthouse. After they drop it a few days later they give me 30 day notice.

October I finished the paperwork for a rural development loan (Thanks to CIC I passed the credit check and only had to pay 1 collecton!! GO CIC:)++!!!) Everything is done, except the landlord gave me a bad reference and said I was always late and owed them late fees and cost them evcition fees! THEY LIED AND THIS IS WHY RURAL DEVELOPMENT LOAN DECLINED BY LOAN BECUASE OF THE REFERENCE FROM THE LANDLORD. The director of it asked me if I kept rent receipts but I have not kept them. I will from now on though.

Anyway, I can request an administrative hearing from rural development. I had been in communication with the director thoughout the whole process. I am not sure what to do. If I had the $ I would sue the landlord for reporting something false.

Do you have any suggestions? I would be great if I could get that loan. They have houses here with aa 55K soft mortage if you live there for 10 years. It was me and my son living in a one bedroom apt which is considered unsuitable so we were bumped up on the list.

I know the director was really trying to work with me, she even emailed me 2x asking for rent receipts.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Hellard]

can you use legal aid again to sue landlord?

[debtmamma]

I doubt it. They won't even look at you unless you have been served. Even then they try to get you to do it on your own before they take the case. I could ask them if they would help me file an appeal. I know they do help people with gov't assitance like food stamps and AFDC. I can ask them if they can help me appeal the rural development decision.

[LVMortgageMom]

USUALLY lenders don't look at rental lates the same way as landlords do. Most landlords will issue a pay or quit notice after 3 or 5 days. However, most lenders are asking if you have ever been at least 30 days late on paying your rent. You see, if you had a mortgage, the mortgage company would not report you late until you were at least 30 days late, so it would be unfair to hold a renter to a different standard. So, that's my 1st question, outside of your agreement with your landlord, were you ever 30 days late with paying your rent.

If no, then you should be able to explain your situation, as you did here, to the lender. Since the owner of your apt is a large company, get a copy of your rent ledger. Also, provide proof that you paid the court and paid on time. You seem the have an ally in the director of the program, use that relationship for what it's worth. Be prepared to explain your financial hardship and how it will be prevented in the future.

[Rick9972]

If I understand this right, the landlord ended up dropping his case and then gave you 30 days to leave? You have moved in the 30 days correct?

The point I am getting at is that he had no recoverable costs, and by referancing them as such, he has committed serious defamation of charactor. May very well be able to find a consumer attorney or regular attorney that will take that case.

At least that is my opinion, hopefully some of the truly knowledgable will show up soon.

[debtmamma]

Yes, that is correct. The eviction case was dropped, he gave us 30 days notice, and we moved out at the end of that month. We were never evicted but they wrote down eviction costs.

Thank you for your help~

[debtmamma]

USUALLY lenders don't look at rental lates the same way as landlords do. Most landlords will issue a pay or quit notice after 3 or 5 days. However, most lenders are asking if you have ever been at least 30 days late on paying your rent. You see, if you had a mortgage, the mortgage company would not report you late until you were at least 30 days late, so it would be unfair to hold a renter to a different standard. So, that's my 1st question, outside of your agreement with your landlord, were you ever 30 days late with paying your rent.

If no, then you should be able to explain your situation, as you did here, to the lender. Since the owner of your apt is a large company, get a copy of your rent ledger. Also, provide proof that you paid the court and paid on time. You seem the have an ally in the director of the program, use that relationship for what it's worth. Be prepared to explain your financial hardship and how it will be prevented in the future.

What you wrote just reminded me. They also wrote that I had been over 30 days late too. I have never been over 30 days late.

I will ask her to request a fax the ledger balances. I guess I have to get a copy of the rent reference that was mailed to her too.

I did explain what I explained here, actually in more! detail. That is when she asked me for rent receipts but I have never kept any. Then I got the denial letter in the mail. I am going to the courthouse tomorrow to get them at least for Set and Oct and then will send in a written requests for an administrative hearing.

Thank you very much~

[debtmamma]

Thanks Everyone! You guys are such clear thinkers! I was so upset.

I emailed her and gave her the court case reference # and also copied and pasted from the court website my payments for Sept and October. I also explained again we were never evicted and never 30 days late. Maybe she just needs the rent receipts since that is what she asked for. I'll go by the post office early in the morning and mail the office a request for a review.

Do you think it would help if I had a notarized statement saying I believe the previous landlord was lying,that we were not evicted, and a copy of the thing from the courthouse saying they dropped it?

[stefdr]

Looking back at your first post, it looks like it all started when he hit on you by asking about your marital status and asking you out to lunch. The rejection pissed him off and he turned into a butthead. Now he wants to evict you so wifey doesn't find out he's a lecherous dork. Just my 2c.