Well if it makes you feel better. I worked with a lawyer to draw up some papers. She billed me at $150/hr for her paralegal to type and photocopy a document. And after about $2000 later, I noticed the stupid paralegal had misspelled my name all over the document, and I asked her to fix it. She then billed me an extra $500 to fix the typos her paralegal made. And then the paralegal screwed up some other part of the document, so instead of dealing with her continue fvck ups , I just asked her to send me the word document so I could make fixes that were simple …She did… And I was billed $75 for sending one email.
There’s a reason why lawyers and the legal profession earn the reputation they have. That said, you can’t really hate them, especially when you need them.
Assuming you broke a signed valid lease, the landlord can in theory charge for things to acquire a new tenant. Technically, with the exception of certain conditions, I believe you are responsible for the cost of acquiring a new tenant, and even any shortfalls in rent up to the remaining amount of your lease. There are exceptions and certain rules, but considering the landlord is a lawyer, I’m sure he probably knows exactly what he can get away with. I guess his rational will be , “because you broke your lease, I had to spend extra time to get a new tenant. Extra time = time I had to spend talking to you, to the housekeeping, to maintenance, etc. And since that’s extra time is less time I can spend as a lawyer, my loss includes my bill out hours…”
If you have proof that the new tenant is paying much more than you were, then that difference could in theory be used to offset what he claims you owe him for breaking the lease. Also, charging for cleaning and normal wear and tear is a gray area.
It’s water over the bridge, but all the times that he didn’t take care of maintenance items doesn’t matter at this point. I learned early on when it comes to professional arrangements (including tenant-landlord relationships), don’t go out of your way to try to be the nice guy…No one appreciates it. And while you definitely shouldn’t be an ahole, going out of your way to being understanding does no one any favors. As the saying goes, it’s business, not personal.
Yes, I understand it’s a shitty thing.
On the bright side, you’re no longer a tenant, so you no longer have to deal with this bullshit. So in the long run, it won’t matter.Also, that extra $$$ your ex landlord charged you is probably less than how much your 401k went up yesterday…
Congrats on your new home purchase! You no longer have to deal with a stupid landlord…
