You can sue your landlord after you move. See our fact sheet Conciliation Court. It is a good idea to do things like:
- Keep records to use in court like rent receipts, leases, and letters to the landlord.
- Get copies of the inspection orders and any condemnation notice from the city.
- If you can, take pictures of the repair problems before you move out. Make a list of each repair problem and when it started.
- Have a witness go through the apartment with you.
- Keep receipts for all your expenses from the move: motel, moving van, gas, food and storage.
If your apartment was already condemned when you moved in, you can sue your landlord and get 3 times the amount of rent and security deposit that you paid. Call your city inspector to find out when the city first condemned your apartment.
File your case as soon as possible. Go to the courthouse and ask to file a complaint in Conciliation Court. You can ask for up to $15,000 in Conciliation Court, and you do not need a lawyer.
You can sue for more than $15,000 in District Court but you might want to ask a lawyer for help.
If the repair problems caused any physical injury or illnesses, or if there was lead paint, talk to a personal injury lawyer before you file a lawsuit for rent.
You will need your landlord’s name and address. You can get it from the city inspection or property tax office. There is a small filing fee, but you do not have to pay it if you have a low income. You can ask for:
- Your security deposit: If your landlord did not send the deposit, or a letter of explanation, within 5 days of your move-out, you can get twice the amount of the deposit. You can also ask for $500 extra for the landlord’s “bad faith.”
- Your rent money: You can get some or all of your rent money back for each month the landlord knew about the repair problems but didn’t fix them. When an apartment is bad enough to be condemned, you can ask that the rent be zero. That means you should get all the rent money back that you paid for every month the apartment was condemned.
- Moving costs: Ask for all the extra money you had to spend because of the condemnation. You should try to have receipts for every expense to prove it. But even if you don’t have receipts, you can still ask the judge for the money.