Also, the leasing office finally sent me something in writing about my requirement to pay for the locks after I move out, and the cost:
Nicer than the other emails, too. $95 isn't a lot, and pursuing it in court would not be worth it. I still don't see how the hell it's legal at all, but until I can speak to a lawyer, it's kind of a haze. Like I said before, whether I sign or not, I need to get the fuck out of here (either they make me leave if I don't sign, or I don't want to stay if I do), so it's probably not worth it to fight this... The last bit is new (never presented as an option before!) and intriguing...if I do nothing, they install it w/o me signing the addendum. I assume they'll then try to prevent me from getting a temp code till I do, but then they're threatening to lock out a paying and law-abiding tenant that's under a lease, which seems even more illegal than paying for their smart lock... Hopefully I can talk to a lawyer soon, at least now I have my questions narrowed down to whether two things specifically are legal (paying for the lock, and being locked out by the apartment owners)
I lol'd at that email. There's literally no legal basis to their false dilemma. It's just a landlord trying to bully and intimidate tenants because they don't have a leg to stand on.
The only issue is that they'll try to keep part of your deposit and you'd need to either sue or strongarm them for the money. Alternatively, you could ask to be released from your lease early with no penalty on a safety grounds and see if they go for that. I'm not sure how long your lease term is, though.
Monopoman posted...
Well keep in mind also that the smaller the thing you are going after the more difficult legal representation is going to be. If the claim amount is say under $200 you will likely spend more than that on legal fees just speaking with a lawyer and having him get everything ready.
Now there might be some services designed to help a renter out in this case, but many times with smaller things like this most people represent themselves instead of paying a lawyer $250 to win a potential $200 for an example.
You don't need to hire legal representation for small claims. You'd just argue in front of a judge.
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(\/)(\/)|-| There are precious few at ease / With moral ambiguities / So we act as though they don't exist.