Landlord Rights Minnesota - Landlord Forum thread 346870

Landlord Rights Minnesota by Anonymous on July 29, 2016 @16:22

Here's why I'm getting out of the landlord business. Tenant had a car cover for her car parked outside, which she used religiously for a year. I find out a month before the end of her lease that she hangs this cover up to dry in the small entryway (she e-mails me this info). I see it hanging up and also stuffed under a laundry sink on two occasions. She moves and new tenant finds mold under the laundry sink 48 hours after old tenant has moved - pattern of mold shows something wet pressed against the drywall. Old tenant gets free legal representation from tax payer money and sues me saying she never saw the mold. Before she moved out she took a photo of the car cover stored in a bag and claims this is how she always stored it. Why would someone take that photo if they don't know of the mold? Despite evidence from a mold specialist, my handyman and the new tenant, I lose the case because the judge says I had to see the car cover stuffed under the sink when it was wet. Since I can't enter the unit without 24 hour notice, how exactly do you do that? Despite saying she hung the cover up to dry, in court she says the cover was never wet. It seems the MN courts believe that all landlords are criminals and the rights supposedly provided to you in your lease don't exist.

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Re: Landlord Rights Minnesota by Anonymous on July 29, 2016 @16:43	[ Reply ]

"It seems the MN courts believe that all landlords are criminals and the rights supposedly provided to you in your lease don't exist." No, it means the judge heard both sides of the case and ruled in the tenant's favor. How can you prove that the mold was caused by the tenant's car cover and not the fact that the location we're talking about is under a sink which means water is a possibility. I'm not going to speculate, but we're only hearing one side of the story here (from you). The judge heard 2 sides and ruled accordingly. Are you able to appeal?

Re: Landlord Rights Minnesota

Re: Landlord Rights Minnesota by Anonymous on July 29, 2016 @17:03	[ Reply ]

"new tenant finds mold under the laundry sink 48 hours after old tenant has moved - pattern of mold shows something wet pressed against the drywall" Did you see mold under the sink when you inspected for damages? Did you even inspect at all? Then you should have noticed the mold. Are you sure it's mold and not mildew? So did the old tenant sue you because you failed to return the security deposit or what? You hired a mold specialist for what? What was the result of the test? Did you are the handyman try cleaning the mold/mildew off before hiring a mold specialist? "seems the MN courts believe that all landlords are criminals and the rights supposedly provided to you in your lease don't exist" Maybe the truth is the MN courts think you are some basket case for going overboard with this mold/mildew thing. That you lost your case because you failed to prove it. So it looks as if you were in court because you failed to return the old tenants security deposit and were sued and lost or you filed suit against old tenant for an unfounded mold problem and lost. At least the old tenant was smart enough to have legal representation to fight such nonsense! Getting out of the landlord business is not due to a little mold or mildew problem, but do to your poor business acumen dealing with problems.

Re: Landlord Rights Minnesota

Re: Landlord Rights Minnesota by No Nonsense Landlord (MN) on July 29, 2016 @20:04	[ Reply ]

Did you attempt to take the old tenant to court? Why not just get some bleach and clean the mold? Charge the cleaning against the security deposit. You spent far more time than the 5 minute sit would take to clean the wall.

Re: Landlord Rights Minnesota