Landlord violated my tenant rights - Landlord Forum thread

Landlord violated my tenant rights by Gerry (Phoenix Arizona) on June 16, 2012 @15:47

I've recently ran into a problem with our landlord where he turned off our electric, served us with 30 days notice, removed the internet and and collected the last 30 day's rent in full, electric is paid up too. Since I can have the landlord charged with violating my rights to quiet enjoyment by having the electric shut off. Can this apply to the internet connection as well if I can explicitly prove that the internet connection was a condition of renting since the internet is 100% of my income. We also found out that the electric service was scheduled to come on in another persons name even though we weren't served with the eviction yet. What should I do?

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Re: Landlord violated my tenant rights by A.T.SF (CA) on June 16, 2012 @16:12	[ Reply ]

What has been the problem? Most landlords do not take these kind of measures, unless a rift with the tenant exist. Can you explain a little more of the actual event that led up to this?

Re: Landlord violated my tenant rights

Re: Landlord violated my tenant rights by Anonymous on June 16, 2012 @16:15	[ Reply ]

If your landlord shut the electricity off, then you would need to call the police as he can be arrested or very heavily fined for that violation. You could also pursue him in small claims court or eviction court if you are being evicted by him through the court system for the internet and a portion of rent back since you are paid in full for the month. You may also be awarded punitive damages however, you would have to research that to see if that applies to this kind of case. If you are on a month to month or your lease is expiring, your landlord is not evicting you, he is simply exercising his right not to renew the rental agreement and asking you to vacate at the end of the rental term. That is not an eviction. However, he is not allowed to shut off services to your home especially if you are paid in full.

Re: Landlord violated my tenant rights

Re: Landlord violated my tenant rights by Anonymous on June 16, 2012 @17:03	[ Reply ]

Um, wouldn't you be unable to use the Internet without electricity?

Re: Landlord violated my tenant rights by Jake on June 16, 2012 @17:14	[ Reply ]

What should you do? You should stop being such a deadbeat and get as far down the road as fast as possible.

Re: Landlord violated my tenant rights by Anonymous on June 16, 2012 @22:22	[ Reply ]

In whose name was the electric in? Yours or the landlord's?

Re: Landlord violated my tenant rights

Re: Landlord violated my tenant rights by OK-Ll on June 17, 2012 @10:17	[ Reply ]

Some vital info is missing here. When did your rental begin, is it a lease or M2M, what does the rental agreement say about electric, etc. For instance, if you moved in yesterday and the lease says you will have electric turned on today, the LL is correct in placing a turnoff order last week to take effect today, and if your agreement is M2M, the LL is correct to provide you with a 30-day notice to terminate tenancy and use the LMR for its purpose. Eviction is only necessary when a deadbeat tenant doesn't leave after his rental agreement is properly terminated with appropriate notice, or for non-payment of his obligations under the lease, or for violations of the lease agreement. I bet there's more here than just the bit OP revealed.

Re: Landlord violated my tenant rights

Re: Landlord violated my tenant rights by The Dude (MN) on June 18, 2012 @16:34	[ Reply ]

I agree with the guy who said it doesn't matter what the tenant has done to the landlord. The landlord needs to serve a cure/quit notice to turn off electricity. Period. End of story. He can't just do it, especially if it's paid up in full. Again, this is a power hungry landlord. It's HIS place and he'll do whatever the hell HE wants to. Even if this is a holdover tenant, you can't just turn off the electricity on him. You have to evict him. It sounds like the only notice was the notice to non-renew his lease with the 30 days notice. For those thinking the tenant was in the wrong because he paid partial electric bills? I agree, ideally he should've paid in full, but again, you have to post a cure/quit notice. You can't just act without explaining to the tenant what you're doing and why you're doing it.