Legal Ease

Can I withhold rent if my landlord does not fix something?

–          NO.  Generally under Georgia law the obligation to pay rent and the obligation of landlord to repair are separate obligations. Even if landlord is not doing their job in failing to make repairs, a tenant still needs to pay rent. Thus, Withholding rent is not a valid strategy.

I rent a room and a house, the landlord told me that he is going to move all the things out of the house if I can’t pay by next Tuesday. Can they do that?

–          Generally the answer is No, unless it’s a hotel or licensed rooming house. Licensed rooming houses are few and far between. Typically rooming houses must abide by landlord tenant law, which means landlord must go through the dispossessory procedure. This means that the landlord is required to file an eviction and get a court order to move you out of the premises.

–           If the landlord changes your locks, turns off your utilities, or moves your items out without filing a dispossessory action in court, you may be entitled to damages.  The Georgia Law Center For The Homeless has successfully represented numerous clients who have been illegally evicted, and recovered money damages and/or gotten the landlord to let them back into their apartment or home.

–          Note that there are some exceptions where landlord does not have to comply with landlord-tenant law, but you need to consult an attorney to see if those apply.  The most common example is where the tenant abandons the property.  Even then, the landlord may be held liable if his or her belief that the property was abandoned was unreasonable. For example, if the tenant went out-of-town for a week to visit family, it would be unreasonable for the landlord to assume that the tenant abandoned the property, and for the landlord to move the tenants belongings out. On the other hand, if the tenant left town for several months, refused to answer phone calls/emails/letters from the landlord, then the landlord would be on better ground to assume that the tenant had abandoned the property.

My landlord told me not to worry about filing an answer and that I don’t need to

–          NO. One must file an answer to assert his or her legal rights.  We have seen many cases where the landlord promised to dismiss an eviction, and they did not.  You ALWAYS should file an answer and attend your hearing to make sure that the landlord does what they say they will do.

My landlord told me that I don’t need to go to court because they would dismiss my case

–          NO. You must go to court. There are far too many cases where landlord doesn’t dismiss case and the tenant is dispossessed. Choosing not to go to court is a huge risk

 

The full article and more information can be found here.