Back Rent
I need a bit of help solving a rent problem. I live in a large building, managed by a management company. Every month I get an invoice for my rent. Since I moved in the invoices have been $400 less than what is stated on my lease. Every month I paid the amount stated on…
I need a bit of help solving a rent problem. I live in a large building, managed by a management company. Every month I get an invoice for my rent. Since I moved in the invoices have been $400 less than what is stated on my lease. Every month I paid the amount stated on the invoice.
Well, today someone from the accounting dept gave me a call- apparently after 4 months they actually did some accounting a found the mistake. Now they want to pay an extra $1200 (4 months of incorrect invoices). Part of me wants to say a big F*ck You to them, since it was their error but of course there is that stubborn lease. Do I have an argument? And please no lectures! I came here for advice.
7andfive: someone who finds a wallet, removes the cash, and then calls to claim the (stubborn) reward.
you want to negotiate? wow!?
read all the posts, everyone thinks you are a cheat and a thief.
“lucky for me I have friends that are not landlords”
why? would you steal from them too?
Raphael9: In all honesty, I was expecting advice on how negotiate- or if there was room for negotiations on this matter. Also, lucky for me I have friends that are not landlords or aspiring landlords. I will try to work this out with the management company tomorrow and will update here.
here’s my question:
do you really think there is a statute of limitations for you capitalizing on the management company’s mistake? did it ever occur to you to simply point out that you were being undercharged? you did know you were being undercharged, you probably went back and checked your lease, then wondered whether you should point it out, then decided to wait and see.
if your landlord was a person who lived upstairs and owned just the one house would you have pointed it out? is it ok simply because it’s a large company? when you buy something in a store and the person behind the register makes a mistake in your favor, do you point it out or do you pocket the overage and think how lucky you are?
when you stick it to the man you stick it to yourself, because you prove that no one, even you, is honest. you prove that we have to watch you like a hawk, because we don’t know what you’ll take next.
you post something like this here, then say don’t give me a lecture…that’s funny. it’s the second time today i said maxsdad is right: if the mistake was in the other direction you would have called them pronto and asked the blogosphere how to sue the offending landlord.
that’s what i love about the 21st century: someone almost gets away with 1600 clams, they don’t offer to share a penny with us, but when they get asked for the money back they blog about it and expect advice….rotflmao
what did you think we would say? just wondering?
i know. i couldn’t help my self.
what kind of advice do you want?
here is my advice:
pay your rent in full
maxsdad- I think that qualifies as a lecture.
You want advice and not a lecture?
You knowingly cheated the owner out of money they are rightfully entitled to. And you are complaining?
What would you do if you found out that the landlord was charging you 400 more than what was allowed by law?
You would be on here looking for advice on how to sue the landlord…..
You have absolutely no argument. That should be obvious. Their mistake does not abrogate the legal contract you signed.
You knowingly sent them an amount less than the rent each month. Consider yourself lucky if they don’t hit you with a late fee.