Legal Reference Blog by Renee C. Walsh, Attorney

Dear Rose:

No. You are not required to pay automatically. Sounds like there is an argument here. A landlord who claims damages to the unit, must provide the inventory checklist both before and after the occupancy at issue. The landlord cannot prove his case otherwise.

Furthermore, according to MCL 554.613, the landlord may within 45 days after termination of the occupancy, and not thereafter, commence an action for a money judgment for damages which he has claimed. I have a question as to whether this applies in a situation in which there is no security deposit.

In writing, you should deny that the claim is valid as indicated in my article about how to deal with debt collectors under the consumer law section of the blog.

On the other hand, if you would like me to write a letter for you, please email me at renee@walshlawpllc.com and we can open a line of more direct communication.

The landlord sent my daughter a list of damages three months after she had moved out. My daughter and her roommates were never required to pay a deposit. I cosigned for my daughter and a collection agency called me this morning to tell me I needed to pay. Is my daughter obligated to pay when the landlor sent the list of damages three months after my daughter move out? My daughter provided a forwarding address.

In Michigan I understand that you can't sue for damages in a Landlord Tenant case. So if you were charged an illegal security deposit what can you sue for?

Hello me and my wife signed a one year lease in Michigan on 09/13/09. My wife moved out and file for divorce on 02/02/10. And with me being laid off and now having to pay the full lease payment with my unemployment check I was evicted on 03/31/10. I recieved the Landlords list of Damages letter on 05/05/10, indicating that they want me to pay for the late rent, the remaining rent do on the lease contract, late fees and eviction fees. The letter is post dated 04/30/10 but through mail forwarding the forwarding date is 05/05/10 to my P.O. Box. I don't have a perminent address yet. But what I need to know is how to write a response letter to these charges because there is no way I can afford a lawyer now.

Dear Todd:

The law provides that in the event that there is no written lease, the default tenancy is in most cases a month-to-month. However, this does not prevent the parties from agreeing to different terms. You and your landlord agreed to a 60 day notice period and you are obligated to that agreed upon provision. If you gave your landlord notice on 8/12/09 then it was arguably effective to terminate on 10/12/09.

Hello, this site is full of information and I am hoping that you can answer my question. I signed a one year lease that ended on 7/31/09. The lease indictes that if I stay past that the lease becomes a "month to month" lease. The lease also requires that I give the landlord 60 days notice before I move out. I moved out on 8/30/09 while under the "month to month" provision and gave the landlord notice on 8/12/09 of my intent to move out. The landlord is now holding my deposit for failure to give 60 days notice. I think under the month to month periodic tenancy I only need to give 30 days. Correct? Landlord is saying that it the alternative since I gave him notice in the middle of the month that my notice is not effective until September1 and that I am liable for september rent. Is this true?

Dear Jen:

There is no timeline. Your landlord has to do what a reasonable person in similar circumstances would do. She cannot be too picky, however, choosing the right tenant is important and the court will understand if she is turning down prospective tenants who do not have good credit or who have a poor employment history, or a criminal history for example.

hello
I signed a lease and have notified my Landlord that I need to break it and move (at the time) in about 2 and half months. She's agreed to this and I've agreed to pay for any and all ads associated with renting the property to a new person. I understand my obligation to pay the rent until she finds another renter-however she is being very picky, turning prospective renters away left and right. What are my rights here? I'm getting nervous that she'll try and drag this out endlessly looking for the "perfect" person. My sister-in law has about 8 homes in the area that she rents with comprehible $$ amounts that aren't as nice as this property and she rents them out sometimes as soon as she places the ad--never has vacancies. Is there a reasonable time table for expecting the landlord to fill my shoes?

Dear Stressed Law Student:

Your friend is breaking a lease provision and therefore, under the law, unless she has not paid her rent on time, a 30 day notice is required. Furthermore, the landlord cannot eject your friend by locking her out or removing her or her possessions without a court order.

Hi. I'm a student in Ann Arbor with a friend that has lease problems. Our lawschool is moving out of state, so she had to give notice of breaking her lease early. She paid through the end of the month, and they told her that'd be fine. However, her landlord just sent her an eviction notice claiming she has to be out in 7 days, that he won't refund any of the money, etc. How can they evict her when she's paid for the time to be there?

She only needs to stay until Friday, then we're leaving the state. This seems like fraud to me. Wednesday is the 7th day from notice. She is moving out Friday. What do you suggest?

Really appreciate it. I'm sure you can imagine what dealing with this during 1L finals is like.

Your argument is that the noise is interfering with your quiet enjoyment of the premises, one of the covenants (or promises) implicit in your lease. You could write a letter outlining the problems with the noise and demanding that if the noise problem is not corrected you will be forced to move out due to the landlord's constructive eviction. If you are forced to move out (because the problem is not corrected) and the landlord sues you, you will have a great defense.

Im in a bit of a situation here, and Im not sure what we should do. I currently rent a 2b 2b apartment with my fiance in Midland. Since we haved moved in we have had numerous problems including, a broken toilet, holes in the carpet, the stove was not clean, leaking fridge, leaking kitchen sink, and furnace trouble. They have slowly come around to fix a few of these (have yet to fix the bad carpet). When I spoke with the property manager she about the furnace they told me that it couldn't be fixed until she got paid. She said the property owner remburses her for the maintnance costs. Needless to say it was finally fixed.

However, my biggest issue here is the noise. When we were looking at the apartment we specifically asked if there was any kind of noise problems, as I work days and need the sleep at night, and my fiance works nights and needs the sleep during the day. She told us there wasn't any kind of noise trouble and that she hasn't had any problems. I have kept records of each time I have called the manager because of the noise. I have called the police twice in the last 2 months-the manager isn't doing anything about it, just telling me to call the police. The apartments are home to mostly college aged party kids, yet she swore there was not a noise issue. I am a nanny and my finace is a corrections officer; we need our sleep! I have looked in the lease and it does state that there are quiet hours, and any noise of stereos, talking, or animals is against the lease rules. Yet nothing is being done about the situation. We need to move, it is effecting the way we sleep. Is there some way to break this lease so that we can move? I am in desperate need to get out of this apartment. Any advice would be great. (The sheriffs dept told me I can come in to get my previous complaints).