landlord trying to bully me where can I get advice ? (Houston: apartment, leases)

[TexasResident]

Ok I don't even know where to start. My LL has tried to intimidate and bully me in the past. I decided I would move out. I sent him my 30 notice through certified mail and return receipt. He got it on August 29th and my last day is the last day of September ( 30th ). He has not picked it up ( nobody was there and post office left a notice). He now is trying to intimidate again. He said he will show the apartment to people. I said he can not do that until I moved out. I have the standard TAA lease. He said if I paid him one extra month he will not do it. I think he is bullying me again because. He sent me a picture of that one page of the TAA which is this one

ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

The circled part there.
So far I know they can only do that if I break the lease which is not what I am doing. I hope somebody can help me or tell me where I can get legal advice. Sadly I can not afford a lawyer. I dont know of any low-cost legal services here. I would really appreciate some help with this.
Thank you

[piyf]

The last day of Sept was your original end of lease?

[cheryjohns]

Try calling the Houston Apartment Association on Tuesday. (281) 933-2224

Also, try www.haaonline.org

[TexasResident]

Thank you. Will also do that.
Its a month to month lease.

[modster]

I used to work with the TAA leases a LOT, but that was 10 years ago, so bear with me, I am sure they have changed. I believe paragraph 32 refers to default by tenant. The provision for allowing them to show it during the last 30 days is in paragraph 28. I think you might be misreading the layout of the page. You are incorrect that they can only show the apartment after the notice is given only if you break your lease.

You are not going to get much help with that with HAA or anyone else. It is a provision in the lease, plain and simple. It is not an intimidation tactic, it is a business tactic. The landlord wants to minimize his vacancy loss and get a new tenant in there right behind you. So my first piece of advice is quit taking it so personal and take the emotion out of it. It is just a business issue. Honestly, it is not out of the ordinary for small, individually owned type places. Now if it is a large "complex" managed by a professional management company, they usually will not allow units to be shown until not only the tenant has moved out, but until they have been cleaned, painted, make-ready and carpet cleaned or replaced.

Try to set some rules with the landlord, like you need 24 hours notice, which I believe may also be in the TAA lease. It needs to be during reasonable times. At the end of the day, this is routine business practice that you agreed to allow when you signed your lease. No agency is going to prevent that, why would they? It isn't an unreasonable thing for a landlord to do. It is done all the time.

Review the lease to find the provisions for how much notice you have to have, (I think it is 24 hours) and the provision regarding "reasonable times" which I think is also in there, although that is a subjective term. Make sure your landlord honors those provisions as well.

At move out, make sure you do a walk through with him to agree to the condition of the apartment.

[TexasResident]

You dont even know what he said or how he said it and what he said in the past. I know better what he is trying to do.
I will call the HAA and am confident that they will help me. I dont think he would sign anything after the walk thru. That's another issue i will have to get help with.

[modster]

Originally Posted by TexasResident

You dont even know what he said or how he said it and what he said in the past. I know better what he is trying to do.
I will call the HAA and am confident that they will help me. I dont think he would sign anything after the walk thru. That's another issue i will have to get help with.

I'm trying to help you to understand the situation and offer you some help based on 20 years in the apartment business including sitting on various committees for HAA. I have been out of that for awhile, but I still know how this stuff works, but feel free to ignore whatever I say and find out on your own.

I don't need to know what he said or "how he said it." It doesn't matter, it isn't about what he said or what you said, it is about what does the lease say? That is the position that I would expect from HAA as well. Taking the position that is basically "well, the lease says he can do A, B & C, but I don't like it & he is being ugly to me, so therefore he shouldn't be able to do it even though I signed off that he can." That isn't going to get you very far down at HAA.

I don't doubt that you may very well have a personality conflict with your landlord. He may be happy to see you go and be as disagreeable as possible to encourage you to go. You wouldn't be the first, nor will you be the last that just flat didn't get along with their landlord for whatever reason(s). It wouldn't surprise me if maybe what he is "trying to do" is to be as big a jerk as possible to make you an unhappy as he can. The bottom line is that document, (the lease), governs what you both can and cannot do.

If you find it intimidating that he wants to show the unit during your notice period, a standard business practice, that is unfortunate, but it doesn't make it illegal or immoral. According to the page you sent it is in the lease and you agreed to it.

Stop and think what is it you are asking the apartment association to do? Stop the landlord from doing something he has a legal right to do, something you both agreed to, in writing, that was allowed? I understand not wanting to have him do that, but just stop and take a breath and think about what it is you are asking HAA to do.

Personally I think the landlord is using some bad judgement in this situation. The lease certainly allows him to do this, however, you can be a pain right back. It isn't that hard to make it "not worthwhile" for him to show it during the last 30 days. Be an absolute stickler for the notice requirements. If he wants to show it in the evening or before 10:00 AM or on a Sunday morning or any time you can even half-way claim as "not reasonable hours" then refuse it. Be there when he shows it and undoubtely the prospective tenant will ask "did you like living here?" In which case you have an opportunity to unload on every repair that was never made, etc. It won't take more than a showing or two like that before he will figure out the concept of showing it while you are still around is counter productive.

You are going to have bigger issues to concern yourself with at final move out time. Make sure you clean and clean again and take pictures of everything, including the INSIDE of the oven and refrigerator. Make an appointment with him to walk it when you turn in your keys so if he is going to try to deduct fees out of deposit money, he has to show the damage to you then and there. If you have to take him to court over any deposit refunds, the photos will prove invaluable.

[TexasResident]

You didn't get what I was saying. I was saying that he WAS trying to intimidate me. Even if he can do it he just made it sound threatening. Obviously im not gonna post here what he said. Anyway thats my point.
Im pretty sure he will try to keep the deposit. He already implied that in one email. I am not sure if he would show up for a walk thru and I am almost certain he would not sign anything.

Good idea - taking pictures of literally everything.. thanks. its an older building and nothing was 100% ok when I moved it. There were scratches on the oven for instance and obviously still are. He did not give me an inventory sheet which could have been compared to one at moving out. Its a huge mess i am in. And I am afraid that it is a losing game for me.

[Topaz]

I had a conflict with a landlord once and the People's Lawyer at University of Houston was TOTALLY helpful. A law student listened to my story and he said that the landlord was doing illegal things and he coached me exactly what to write to resolve the problem. Worked 100%. Free.

The People's Lawyer

[TexasResident]

Thank you! Unfortunately he is not taking questions right now

The People's Lawyer

Or did you just go there in person?