In Feb of 2006 I moved to a condo. When I moved in I was told that the people were screened for criminal backgrounds. On my lease it states that the contract is void if they find you have a background. I was also told that the complex was gated and that there was security on site. The first week I moved in I experienced a noise problem at all hours of the night. The next day I found out that there was a door to a bowling alley and bar on the other side of the fence. They eneded up letting me move to another side of the complex, but I still had to move twice in one month. They also claimed no knowledge of the problem.
From Feb to August there were a few people. Mainly just really ghetto people living there. When I moved in I was told there was no Section 8. Later I found out that half the complex was section 8. There were gang fights all the time, people (that lived there) digging through the dumpsters, things being stolen. Someone tried to break the door in to my place when I was not there. I complained and it seemed that they made some effort to clean it up. This place was not cheap either!!!!!
In Sept a lady moved into the complex next to me. The first three days she was there she had 2 DV fights with this guy. I went to the office and complained. They told me they let her move to this place and that she lived on the other side of the complex. They also told me that she was not a problem. I found out later this was so not true.
For Sept and half of October I was waken up at all hours of the night. She was dealing drugs and prostituting out of the place. Trust me we heard it and the people would come and go. I was told by managment that they were "taking care of the problem" and that they just could not evict her without cause.
Mid October she had her door broken down by someone. Still no eviction. November same crap I was told they were waiting for the lockout anyday. I was going to move but they told me she would be locked out by the end of November. I went on vacation came back she was still there. December 1st, still there. She smashed out the window in her place and put a board over it. Oh and there were around 8 other druggies living with her. There were much other things but you get the picture.
Mid December she was still there. I started faxing the corporate office letters. Finally I get a response and it states that basically they are not responsible for any of it, of course.
So the last week of December I found another place and this place let me out of my lease. The day I went in to return my key all the management was gone. I was told they sold the building and there was a new managment group.
After I moved I found out that this women had major issues. Felony conviction and a multitude of evictions. Then just to poke a large stick in my eye, they are trying to keep about $584 of my deposit. When I moved in I paid $300 dog deposit, $200 cleaning and the rest was last month. When I gave my notice the old company made me sign a move out list that said what I would have to do. It had prices on it. This new mangment company is trying to charge me $285 to "touch up paint" $150 to clean and $100 to clean the apartment. Now keep in mind I lived there 9 months at the most and it was in great shape. They also refused to give me a itimized list that related directly to my apartment. They prorated the costs and charged me a blanket amount. I also served a demand for three months of rent and for my moving costs. The apartment manager refused to forward it to the building owner.
I later found out that in the end they evicted her on the 5th of January for failure to pay the rent. Get this she had not paid since September 1, 2007. So they let her stay all that time. I think it was because they were selling the building. The other weird thing was that when the filed in court they used a different name.
I am now taking them to Small claims court to try and get my lease amount back and moving costs. I am claiming fraud, misrepresntation, breech of contract, unlawful return of security deposit. You can't have a nonrefundable security deposit. Do I have a snowballs chance in hell of winning this thing?
Any advise would help. What should I bring to court?