Ignorance Ain’t Bliss
James and Jessica looked at the bill in their hands. They were completely livid. How could she do this? They had done absolutely everything she asked and more.
It was unreasonable and totally illegal. She obviously thought they were pushovers but she had no idea who she was dealing with. And she was going to find out the hard way.
James And Jessica
When James’ lease ended, he and his girlfriend, Jessica decided to look for a new place they could call their own for a couple of years.
It was a long search, full of over-priced houses and apartments. Nothing looked promising until a family friend dropped by and offered the couple a small granny flat at the foot of their home.
A Great Deal
The small house was located under the landlord, Mary’s house that was resting on a hill. So, she could essentially overlook their new humble abode.
They had an incredible view, as well as shared access to the fire pit, pool, and big yard. She even offered them a $100 dollar rental fee if they were willing to help out with yard work and pool maintenance. It was simply too good to be true.
First Impression
At first, Mary seemed wonderful but soon, they would learn that she had seriously misplaced her moral compass.
A couple of months in, Mary and her partner started to have loud fights, screaming matches that would turn venomous with anger. James and Jessica could hear everything and eventually decided to send an email explaining how uncomfortable it made them - Bad decision.
Going Downhill
Mary snarkily replied that they were lucky to even have a place this nice and to mind their own business. Since then, things went from bad to worse.
She began scrutinizing their yard and pool work. She became petty telling James to mow the lawn using a weed wacker instead of a lawnmower. Her demands were becoming more and more unreasonable. They had enough.
Moving Out
They decided to cut their losses and gave Mary their 30-day notice of moving out. But this just made things even worse. She flipped out and began to do daily inspections of the flat without giving them their legally required 24-hour notice. She also began to email them a lot more chores.
She brought potential buyers over without telling them. The whole thing was a mess. But what she did next pushed them over the edge.
Last Straw
Two weeks before the move-out date, Mary called pest control to stop by while James was at work and his girlfriend was in class. Their cat was home alone.
Mary only notified them after the job was done. But what she didn’t bother to discover was that James was deathly allergic to pesticides, as was his cat. They took their stuff and left immediately. But Mary wasn’t about to let them go that easy.
Inspection Time
When move-out day arrived, the couple made sure everything was immaculate. They took pictures and videos of everything and filmed during her inspection.
They feared she’d kick up a fuss and try to take their deposit. But Mary was aiming much higher than they had even dared to think.
The Bill
She walked around and took note of the ‘damages’ that the couple had caused. Two days later, they received a bill for $1400 above their deposit. Noted like, “had to replace a screw in a cabinet, $1 for screw, $15 labor” filled the paper.
They were livid. But what Mary didn’t know was that they were also prepared.
Plan In Action
They expected her to throw a stunt like this so they kept every email, text, and letter from her and put together a small claims case of their own.
Luckily they knew their tenant's rights and knew she had violated a whole lot of legal proceedings as a landlord. Then James called the exterminator Mary had brought over and fell back in shock.
Unexpected Reply
He wanted to get his statement for the record but when he questioned him about what chemicals he used in their flat, he replied that he never did that.
“Here’s a copy of the work order, we only put out ant traps on the outside”, he said. James couldn’t believe how much pain she had given them so he countersued, asking for a Bad Faith penalty and their deposit.
To Court
A Bad Faith penalty is three times their deposit. So the couple had prepared to receive four times what they had given Mary on moving in.
Mary wasn’t going to back down, and neither was James and Jessica so when their court date came, the couple couldn’t wait to get it over and done with. And they couldn’t wait to see the look on Mary’s face when they won.
Push Comes To Shove
They ended up going to mediation instead as the court was booked solid. An arbitrator was present to settle the case. They were supposed to remain neutral and provide legal facts about the case and the likelihood of the outcome.
Mary lay out her case in 4 minutes and then it was James’ and Jessicas’ turn.
Nothing But Evidence
James brought up all the evidence of wrongdoing he had gathered over the course of their stay. He watched as the arbitrator lost her composure for a second as the look of disbelief flashed across her face.
It was a no-brainer. “Would you be okay dropping the Bad Faith penalty if you got your deposit back?", she asked.
Lesson Learned!
“Sure”, James said. He wasn’t too pushed about the money. Teaching her a lesson was all he wanted and by what the arbitrator said next, he got just that.
“If you go back into that courtroom in front of a judge, this will not likely go in your favor”. Her tone was matter-of-fact. Mary nodded. And after a long, dreary battle, the couple got their deposit back!