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Re: Abandoned rental - Landlord Forum thread 359007

Re: Abandoned rental by Garry on February 5, 2019 @14:30

                              
I'm in Iowa and have rentals here. You now have til Feb 24 to send a certified letter to her about her deposit. You can at least charge her for Feb rent, as she gave you no minimum 30 day notice of moving, and no notice of mice problems since Thanksgiving. If there were any ongoing problems, she should have notified you in writing about them when she paid Dec. and Jan. rent. If she left you any cleaning to do, or damages to repair, take pics of them, and charge her for those, also. You cannot charge her for the $200 extermination fee in Nov. as you have no proof she brought the mice in.

I'm sure you will total up more charges than what her deposit is. If she owes you money, request that she send it to you by March 31, 2019. Send it to her by certified mail, to her new address, if she left you one. If she didn't, send it to her last known address, which is your rental property that she lived in. Then the ball is in her court, to decide if she has a case to take you to court over her deposit. Meanwhile, get your property ready for your next tenant.
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Re: Abandoned rental by Ellie on February 5, 2019 @15:12 [ Reply ]
I just need to send her the letter before Feb 24?
So she can go to court if she wants.
She also sent me a text message on January 24 asking when her lease is over (wich is July 30) because she is buying a house.
Gary, one more question all her text messages in spanish. Do I need a translator for this messages in case we go to court?
    Re: Abandoned rental by Garry on February 5, 2019 @17:07 [ Reply ]
    In Iowa, you have 30 days from the date someone leaves your property, to send out your deposit statement to the former tenant. Her letter to you was dated Jan. 25. So get the letter sent out by Feb. 24 to be within the 30 days. (if possible, have it sent by Feb 20, since Ia law says you must allot 4 days mailing time frame for a certified letter to reach the T.)

    Yes, in this day and age,any body, can sue any one, at any time, for any amount. From the info you gave us, it's highly unlikely she will ever sue you. Just be sure YOU have done everything right. If I were you, I would try to find a translator asap this week. Check with high schools, police depts, or colleges to see if anyone has a Spanish speaking person you can contact to help you translate the texts. Do it asap, as there may be info in those texts that indicates there was still a mouse problem, but you could not know that because you don't read or speak Spanish. That could shed a whole new light on your situation because of a language barrier.
      Re: Abandoned rental by Ellie on February 7, 2019 @23:24 [ Reply ]
      She sent me a letter by mail to my PO BOX on the 25, do I count 4 days too?
      I know some spanish but I went to a non profit organization to translate. I rhink I will win. Thank you Garry!!

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