If you live in Iowa, here is your state's landlord/tenant code. Actually, they spell things out rather nicely. Not a lot of rambling legalese. 562A.10 of your code addresses no written lease. Basically if you took possession, he took your $, 'without reservation' on either party's part it gives your verbal agreement the same weight as if it had been written. I read through your post twice. Quite a bit jumped out at me. If you pursue it, it might be wise to anticipate some things coming up. Not taking sides, just pointing out observations based on what you said. You're putting heavy emphasis on how the money was handled and saying he doesn't have it based on what a neighbor said. Neighbor is a source of information to you but in the end it's just a neighbor talking and not worth anything more than that. Where the money at is the last duck in the row. First it has to be established you're entitled to any/all of SD back. About the damage. Crumbling ceilings and holes in walls are hard to miss on an initial viewing. You can argue you lived in a dump that was never repaired, but you rented the place in that condition. And you've got to be realistic. Even in the nicest of places walls get dings, that's a nothing issue. Holes would be different. Big difference between hairline crack in ceiling (settling will do that in an old house) to plaster chunks falling down. If it was really bad, unless it was the last place possible for you to rent to get a roof over your head, why did you opt to take it? And if a LL promises to fix something major, it should always be gotten in writing before moving in. I'm not condoning a LL let his place fall apart and be a hazard, nor is it legal. But tenants have options. So taking a unit in that condition, being long-suffering, then trying to use that as leverage later to get SD back doesn't make sense. The faucet deal was not handled well by him, but it was fixed so isn't relevant now. The harassing entry situation. Don't see it. That leak certainly constitutes an emergency entry - no notice required by law. (That type of leak is major tho, not minor.) You said you were in the shower and your daughter was sleeping when you heard loud banging and he rushed in. Is there a chance neither of you heard him knocking at a normal level before that? At that point all he knew was water was going where it shouldn't, needed to be stopped at the source, and he has no idea if anyone is home, not home, ignoring him, didn't hear him, sound asleep. He is allowed to protect the integrity of the structure, hopefully swiftly. (Had you attempted to delay his entry purposely that could really backfire.) As far as ranting, maybe he could have been more diplomatic, but LLs are human, too. You've just purchased a house yourself. What frame of mind would you be in to discover a leak like that a week after your purchase? The landlord is never home either he is an over the road trucker so he is rarely around. This winter, the property was not adequately maintained. The sidewalks were dangerously icy and snow covered. Never once were we told that we needed to take care of any of the snow shoveling. Uh, might be wise to leave that one alone. Did you ask if your rent payment included snow removal service? If only other building occupant is away all the time for work, & your rent didn't specifically include the cost of providing a service like that, it can be reasonable concluded without being told that if it snows, you might have to grab a shovel and toss down some de-icer and clear a path for yourselves and car. I also found some vague things about since we never received keys to the actual dwelling, he technically never surrendered the dwelling to us. But he did surrender possession of the premises to you. You lived there. And as far as a key goes, you're absolutely entitled to one from the start. Why would you live there the entire time without the ability to lock your door? You had the option of requesting (preferably in writing) and if he still failed to comply immediately, call a locksmith, have a new lock installed, keep your keys, give LL a copy key and the bill. It's at a date now where you don't have legal possession or access to the place anymore. You say the place is spotless. But yet you've not cleaned the carpet yet - it's still on your to-do list (tho your tenancy is done). But then you say you shouldn't have to pay for cleaning of the place on move out when you weren't shown the same courtesy when you moved in. I'm confused - spotless or it needs to be cleaned? I didn't read through the laws on it, but if your state law says you need to give 30 days notice, it means 30 days. Your letter only gives 28. If it only requires "a month" you're OK. Also, if he's got 30 days to respond from date of your notice, that gives him till 3/2 because Feb only had 28 days. So maybe it's en route to you now via postal service. Guess next couple days will tell.

I have been living peacefully in a sometimes loud community in portland, or. Let me explain a little. I have a townhome, and in the back of me is a 2 bdrm flat, and on the left side of me is another townhome with 3 bdrms, and on the other side of them is a townhome like mine. So i am in the end unit. Well the neighbors in the 3bdrm townhome have started smoking pot, the skunky kind which has the most God awful smell in the universe. I know it well because my ex-boyfriend smoked it in our backyard in california. Now Oregon has a no smoking policy which is strictly enforced. Rather it be cigarettes, cigars, pot, etc.. I have complained to my landlord about the smell and that its them who are smoking it, I know it because I have seen him boldly with his terrible rolled up joint in his mouth. Since my complaint they went two days with out smoking it, now they are back to smoking it again, I have decided to move out because my infant can not be exposed to that smell. She was born with some lung problems (not going into detail about it) But, I have also contacted the police regarding the fact that he is so bold about it. The police have taken matters into their own hands and well now they are pissed off but, hey I will do anything to protect my child! They also have two small kids and I don't understand why they are smoking that around them. But, hey to each their own. The fact of the matter is when your landlord doesn't do enough about the issue they lose tenants, and then things can get nasty when the Police get involved. So be kind and keep in mind that in a shared community others matter! So abid by the rules and regulations and everyone will be happy. TENANTS HAVE RIGHTS! Even against smokers Atleast in Oregon they do. Peace!

Just a quick note on the post dated checks....I seem to recall something about post dating personal checks being not acceptable. I don't think a bank is required to honor a post dated personal check but it's something I would check with your bank about. I know businesses do it with pay checks and such but when I worked as a teller I seem to recall that it didn't apply to personal accounts. So in that case, you could be sending your rent like a month ahead of time and your landlord could cash them whenever they wanted. If that's true, you would be better off sending a money order which proves the date of purchase and seeing if there is some sort of option at the post office to simply get a receipt that you MAILED the check on a certain day. If there wasn't anything to sign for but you had a way to prove that you mailed it....seems like that would be about the only option at this point if they aren't willing to work out a direct deposit sort of thing.

I'm a property owner/mgr, also in Indiana (homes, not apartments). Your landlord is doing exactly what I would do with new tenants. And it doesn't matter how much rent your're paying. Nor does it matter that he's right next door. He doesn't see what goes on inside. He has no idea at this point how you live, whether you're neat as pins or putting holes in walls during drunken fights. The only way he's going to find out is to check out his property (which he pays taxes, insurance, repairs, maintenance, etc. on). So I would bet at this stage that's exactly why he's doing it. If it were me, and I saw that things were in order, no damage, no unreported leaks/repairs (which happens all the time, and only cause bigger headaches when not addressed early), then I wouldn't be so hasty to show up again in a few months. I actually seldom do "formal" inspections, because at least several times I year I'm called out for some kind of maintenance or repair. I use that opportunity to take a look around. I'm not trying to invade my tenants privacy, evaluate their decor, or anything like that. Quite the contrary, I'm looking beyond all that to the bones of the house: I look for telltale signs of water leaks, broken windows, pets that have been snuck in, dripping faucets, running toilets, things like that. I have had tenants (twice in past 4 years) yank entire sinks, plumbing and all, off the wall rather than tell me there was a leak. My homes are not dumps: they are neat, tidy, well kept and maintained and I intend to keep it that way. I've researched this quite a bit and talked to my attorney and Indiana law uses terminology like 'reasonable and necessary' for inspections and notice. If a tenant is locked in a lease and prone to kicking in doors, quarterly inpsections are more than warranted. A conscienscious tenant does not require such frequent monitoring. So in my leases I put that I will give 24 hours minimum notice for repairs/maintenace (say the furnace has malfunctioned and HVAC guy is coming out), but in an emergency I do not have to give notice (fire, flood, extremes like that). In my years of doing this, I have never had to use the "emergency" clause. I always make an effort to give far more notice than 24 hours for general maintenance (cleaning gutters, etc.) and I make every effort to schedule my presence when the tenant is at home. Not always possible, especially when a repairman's schedule is involved, but I do my best. And although I have established relationships with various contractors, I never turn a repairman loose in the house, I'm always there with them (even if the tenant is home) to monitor what's done and pay the bill. I would encourage you to reign your feelings of being imposed upon in just a bit. Don't start complaining and talking "lawyer" just yet. You might find that will readily backfire. In all likelihood you'll be making more of a pain of yourself than your landlord is willing to deal with and come lease renewal, you'll find yourself not welcome any longer and house hunting again. I had a young couple like that, gave me nothing but grief. It wasn't over a routine inspection, it was over a repair that I had scheduled, and given them two weeks notice for. They threw an absolute fit. And it escalated from there: they threatened, screamed, refused to take or return my calls, instead choosing to communicate via notes dropped in my mailbox, and even sent me a letter from an atty half way across the country (a relative who was a new law school grad, this person was not only not licensed to practice in this state, they didn't even spell my name correctly on correspondence. It was a joke). I wanted those brats out and I made sure they knew it: I told them one more instance of them attempting to block me from doing a repair, and they would not be welcome at our home come renewal in a few months. Her response was typically snotty. And three weeks later they broke their lease and moved. I was never so delighted to see tenants leave. Your landlord has what amounts to a very costly investment that he needs to watch out for and it will be standing long after you've moved on. Just let him do it. He'll probably be in and out in less than 15 minutes. Show him you're responsible, have things tidy, be cordial and don't make a fuss and make inferences about your rights. That's the best way to win him over and reassure him that he doesn't have problem tenants on his hands and it will no doubt be a relief for him to not feel obligated to inspect every few months.