Ok This is Jinxy's wife - I read his long ass post and am just going to add a couple things to his as well as ask a few questions....
Did the apt. come fully furnished? And is this an apt in the LL's private home or a complex of some type? (By private home, I mean the LL is renting out HIS basement in HIS home to you, vs it being a basement style apt in a complex/duplex/etc. or an up stairs style suite etc)
Reason for asking is the laws change slightly when it's in a private home, but most of the what jinxy stated above still apply as far as proper notice etc goes.
When jinxy stated about calling the police regarding an intruder, after the FIRST report is made, do not bother to go with the main/non emergency number when they walk in. Call 911 (You're in the states, so I"m going to assume your city/county is hooked up to the system) This does two things -
It creates a sense of urgency on the dept.s behalf and is more apt to guarantee that they catch him "in the act", the 2nd is that your conversation is recorded. Less likely of a chance that the call is just logged, because logs in some areas are purged (from the main number) after X amount of time (it varies area by area the timeframe) You CAN get copies of those calls and logs for when/if you go to court.
If you don't/can't/ hire an attorney, call the bar association for your area, Legal Aide (And you'd qualify seeing that you're un/underemployed at the moment) DOES have housing attorneys on staff. The first time around the person answering the phone will take some info about you, and usually w/i 48 hours an attorney call you back. You do not have to allow him/her to represent you, but they know the laws specific to your area.
Most leases have some type of clause regarding overnight guests/people receiving mail or number of occupants regarding the dwelling. What does your say?
There are certain things that ARE required to be put in the lease, in certain types of bold print font, even the font size is noted - these are federal rules, if your lease does NOT have them and you want to "play the game" with the landlord, you can take them to court to have the lease null/voided. If you can't afford the filing fees, most court houses have "waivers" that you fill out (It's a one sheet piece of paper" that is included w/ the docket and your fees are waived.)
Did you receive an inventory checklist upon moving in? If not, in most areas, nothing can be deducted from the security deposit other than unpaid rent/utilities.
Is it possible to have the electric turned on into your name if you're really wanting to stay at this place? If your apt does not have a separate meter, it makes me wonder if the entire place is even legal to be rented out. It's rare now for a LL to pay for utilities esp on more than one apt.
Call your local building inspector, they may have a separate inspector for rental housing. Find out if the apt (Not only yours but as a whole building) has been inspected and is licensed to rent. NOT if you're LL has a license, he could have other houses that he has that for, but if yours in particular has been inspected and passed. IF not, that's another way out of your lease if you want to move. (I took someone to court over this, and not only won my deposit back, but 6 months worth of rent that I paid him)
Be forewarned in the above though, it can get tricky if the inspector finds things that are illegal, they are forced by law to have you move from the apt. Usually w/i a VERY short period of time. BUT on the flipside, they are VERY willing to help in court. When I did this, they not only gave me his inspection notes, on the house I was renting BUT also those on the other homes he had. The inspector also talked to the judge prior to the court date on what was going on.
If you find your county records online, do not just look at the parties involved, click on the "Events" this will show you how the case ended up. (Dismissed,judgments and for who, time frame it took etc).
Once I have more info, on what type of housing etc this is, I"ll post more. If you want to PM jinxy the county/city you're in and I can probably dig you up some local resources. The stuff I mentioned above pertains to Michigan law, and some stuff differs state to state, as well as county by county and so on down the line.
Did the apt. come fully furnished? And is this an apt in the LL's private home or a complex of some type? (By private home, I mean the LL is renting out HIS basement in HIS home to you, vs it being a basement style apt in a complex/duplex/etc. or an up stairs style suite etc)
Reason for asking is the laws change slightly when it's in a private home, but most of the what jinxy stated above still apply as far as proper notice etc goes.
When jinxy stated about calling the police regarding an intruder, after the FIRST report is made, do not bother to go with the main/non emergency number when they walk in. Call 911 (You're in the states, so I"m going to assume your city/county is hooked up to the system) This does two things -
It creates a sense of urgency on the dept.s behalf and is more apt to guarantee that they catch him "in the act", the 2nd is that your conversation is recorded. Less likely of a chance that the call is just logged, because logs in some areas are purged (from the main number) after X amount of time (it varies area by area the timeframe) You CAN get copies of those calls and logs for when/if you go to court.
If you don't/can't/ hire an attorney, call the bar association for your area, Legal Aide (And you'd qualify seeing that you're un/underemployed at the moment) DOES have housing attorneys on staff. The first time around the person answering the phone will take some info about you, and usually w/i 48 hours an attorney call you back. You do not have to allow him/her to represent you, but they know the laws specific to your area.
Most leases have some type of clause regarding overnight guests/people receiving mail or number of occupants regarding the dwelling. What does your say?
There are certain things that ARE required to be put in the lease, in certain types of bold print font, even the font size is noted - these are federal rules, if your lease does NOT have them and you want to "play the game" with the landlord, you can take them to court to have the lease null/voided. If you can't afford the filing fees, most court houses have "waivers" that you fill out (It's a one sheet piece of paper" that is included w/ the docket and your fees are waived.)
Did you receive an inventory checklist upon moving in? If not, in most areas, nothing can be deducted from the security deposit other than unpaid rent/utilities.
Is it possible to have the electric turned on into your name if you're really wanting to stay at this place? If your apt does not have a separate meter, it makes me wonder if the entire place is even legal to be rented out. It's rare now for a LL to pay for utilities esp on more than one apt.
Call your local building inspector, they may have a separate inspector for rental housing. Find out if the apt (Not only yours but as a whole building) has been inspected and is licensed to rent. NOT if you're LL has a license, he could have other houses that he has that for, but if yours in particular has been inspected and passed. IF not, that's another way out of your lease if you want to move. (I took someone to court over this, and not only won my deposit back, but 6 months worth of rent that I paid him)
Be forewarned in the above though, it can get tricky if the inspector finds things that are illegal, they are forced by law to have you move from the apt. Usually w/i a VERY short period of time. BUT on the flipside, they are VERY willing to help in court. When I did this, they not only gave me his inspection notes, on the house I was renting BUT also those on the other homes he had. The inspector also talked to the judge prior to the court date on what was going on.
If you find your county records online, do not just look at the parties involved, click on the "Events" this will show you how the case ended up. (Dismissed,judgments and for who, time frame it took etc).
Once I have more info, on what type of housing etc this is, I"ll post more. If you want to PM jinxy the county/city you're in and I can probably dig you up some local resources. The stuff I mentioned above pertains to Michigan law, and some stuff differs state to state, as well as county by county and so on down the line.