landlord/tenant rent question....

[nismo_fan]

ok, so here's the deal, i live in an apartment where the landlord does not live in the building. as being so, i deposit my rent into a locked box in the building.

now before anything, my landlord is the nicest guy in the world. he's very, very old (like 70), and he's very old school. he will help anyone out, as he did myself. he would never be rude to anyone, he's just a nice guy.

i deposited my rent on the 31st of october, with a message sent to my landlord from me that i have record of.

when my landlord came to the building to collect the rent on the 3rd, he said that it was not in the box. am i responsible for this in any way? i paid in cash, as he prefers that, so there is no cheque or money order to cancel.

and there were some previous tenants who moved out at the end of october who left on very bad terms, and my landlord thinks that they might have been responsible for the theft. can he do anything legally? they destroyed their apartment before they left, took parts of the apartment, stained all the carpets, and so on.....

i'm so confused as to who has the right to do what at this point?


thanks in advance beyond!

[project240]

Why would you pay in cash? You have absolutely no way of keeping track and just seems like you are asking for trouble.

[nismo_fan]

i've paid in cash for about 6 months now, never had a problem. it was him who asked me to do it, not the other way around.

[TurboD]

Lol, cash in a box, no receipt.

get your bank records and show him you withdrew that money that day at that time.

next time don't be so stupid!

[nismo_fan]

well yeah i have my paystubs from the day. he believes that i paid my rent, because i've never defaulted on it. i did pay my rent, and my girlfriend seen me take the envelope down.

[2Valve0]

So your telling me...



You put CASH(and to top it off your rent) into a box which other people can access other than your landlord?

[nismo_fan]

this box was locked, and he never had a problem with it before. it was a combination lock, and a hinge lock thing.

[superboss]

I'm a landlord for one of the properties I own, I'm not a lawyer but what I can say is that you are responsible for the rent, and to see that it gets into the landlords hands every month. Is the safety deposit box built into the apartment complex?(like a banks?) If so then dude you are screwed!! Those boxes are like tamper proof, did you call the cops and file a report? I'm guessing its safe to say.Yes your landlord will be requesting Novembers rent, start preparing for a court battle. NEVER, NEVER ,NEVER PAY YOUR RENT IN CASH!! ALWAYS GET A RECEIPT IF YOU DO AND ALWAYS GIVE HIM THE MONEY IN HIS HANDS... Good luck. keep us posted!!

[Kloubek]

Be real nice to the landlord, and show him that you did in fact take the money out. Perhaps he will let it go.

But in the end, you have no proof that you paid. If he chose to take you to court, it would be interesting.

[TurboD]

when my landlord came to the building to collect the rent on the 3rd

You admit that he comes around to the building and collects the rent, all you have to do is keep the envelope and pay him when he comes around.

[97'Scort]

Just get a bank draft next time. Same as cash.

[Trites]

If he ever took you to court over this you'd be screwed. It's his word vs. your word. And I'm willing to bet he has books to prove that he doesn't have you money. Just because you claim to have put it in the box, doesn't apparently mean that it will end up in his hands. As the renter its your responsibility and the onus is on you to make sure the landlord gets his rent. If he decides to let it slide, go buy a lotto ticket. Nice guy or not, its his business, and he needs to make his money.

As for the people who trashed their apartment...good luck proving they had anything to do with the missing rent. Unless someone saw them break into the box and take the money, that will never fly.

Best of luck.

[dexlargo]

I don't know - if the agreement was that the rent was paid by putting it into the drop box, I think that if you went to court, all you would likely need to do is show that on a balance of probabilities, it's more likely than not that you actually deposited the rent. I'm assuming that the deposit box is in some common area of the rental property? Is there any sign of tampering with the box? Would just tenants have access to the box or could anyone off of the street get to it? What kind of combination lock? is it like a padlock you'd use on a locker, or something more secure? Is the landlord the building owner, or is he an employee or agent of someone else?

These are all factors for determining how likely it is that either, a) you didn't deposit the rent and are lying scum; b) someone else somehow got into the box and took the money and are thieving scum; or c) The landlord actually received the cash and is slumlord scum.

In the future, you should always get a receipt for cash at the time that you pay, either that, or pay by money order, or something like that where you can keep a copy and show that it was paid. You've got to protect yourself, and your landlord should be understanding of that.

[masoncgy]

Man, that's why you give the landlord a stack of post dated cheques... then you don't have to deal with any nonsense like this...

Too bad if he requests cash, that's a bad way of doing business. He obviously takes all the rent and deposits it into a bank account, so who cares if it's cash or a cheque.

Something sounds very strange with the whole situation.

As well, you need to be getting receipts from him, every month.

[bourge73]

please provide your address....

[71car2]

Damn, talk about bad luck... hope something good can be worked out. But I'm surprised the landlord prefer CASH over any cheque, money order or bank draft!?

Some years ago I had simlair matter with an old landlord but I told him off it's money order or bank draft PERIOD because I don't trust handing cash to someone without signing a recipit and have a witness standing by. He said he didn't have time for that, so he accept my terms.

I did get recipits from him for the rent through.

You should do the same! Good luck...

[GREENBOY]

It's not his fault, so surely you've just got to pay the man?

[nismo_fan]

Originally posted by dexlargo
I don't know - if the agreement was that the rent was paid by putting it into the drop box, I think that if you went to court, all you would likely need to do is show that on a balance of probabilities, it's more likely than not that you actually deposited the rent. I'm assuming that the deposit box is in some common area of the rental property? Is there any sign of tampering with the box? Would just tenants have access to the box or could anyone off of the street get to it? What kind of combination lock? is it like a padlock you'd use on a locker, or something more secure? Is the landlord the building owner, or is he an employee or agent of someone else?

These are all factors for determining how likely it is that b) someone else somehow got into the box and took the money and are thieving scum

first, the deposit box is beside the mailboxes, just inside one of the entrances. only tenants have access, unless someone props one of the doors open. there was signs of tampering with the box, the hinge lock thing is bent, and the whole box itself has been pried at with something. i will go get crappy cell phone pics if you want of what this thing looks like and whatnot. it's like a combination lock for a locker. the landlord is the building owner. no middle person, nothing.

any other questions please feel free to ask.

[Kennyredline]

If this goes to court(and will be small claims court), the owner of the property can't really win, as there was a verbal agreement to put cash in the box for the previous five months, which was done. If the owner is happy with this arrangement, he either needs a better way of tracking rent from tenants, or assume the risk of money going either missing or being stolen, if the box is accessible.
It's the owner's bad habits that have left him vulnerable to this type of incident, and a Justice will see this.

[euphoria]

Is this a large apartment building complex? Maybe there's surveillance in this 'mailbox area'?