well, NYState laws are interesting, but our poster is from Maryland. Try the Maryland's Peoples Law Library and the Housing section thereof You will find stuff like this: A lease for a term of 1 year or less is valid whether it is written or oral, but any lease for more than 1 year must be in writing and signed by the person creating it if it is to be enforceable. (Md. Code, Real Property, Sections 5-101 and 5-102) From their summary: n month-to-month or week-to-week tenancies where there is no written lease and no code requirement, state or local, relating to notice from tenant to landlord, the common law requirement is that the length of notice must be equal to the base period of the tenancy, such as one week or one month. The Maryland Code is silent on this issue, and the few reported cases do not give clear guidance. If there is any question at all about the actual term of the tenancy, tenant should give notice for the longer period of time. Oh, and---she owes you money!! (Maryland Code, Real Property, Sec. 8-205) Whenever tenant makes a rent payment in person, the landlord or landlord's agent shall give tenant a receipt if the tenant makes payment in cash or requests a receipt. In addition to any other penalty, if the landlord fails to provide a receipt as required by this section, s/he is liable to the tenant for $25.00. (Maryland Code, Real Property, Sec. 8-208.3) Every landlord is required to keep records showing the dates and amounts of all rent paid to him by each tenant, and also showing that a receipt was given to tenant for each cash payment of rent. (if you're in Anne Arundel county, the receipt for cash must indicate what time period the cash covers. Also, re: the smoke detectors. How did you notify her? bcs you can point out, to her and her lawyer, that she can face civic penalties of $1,000. (Unless the place was a 1, 2, or 3-family dwelling built before 1975, in which case YOU would be responsible for the smoke detectors) (Maryland Code, Article 38A, Secs. 12A and 13) ...the landlord is responsible for installing the smoke detector and, upon notice in person or upon written notice by certified mail from the tenant, the landlord is responsible for repair or replacement of the detector. If tenant personally notifies landlord of a mechanical failure, landlord must give tenant a written receipt acknowledging the notification. ... A person who knowingly violates this law or any regulation promulgated by the State Fire Prevention Commission will be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned for not more than 10 days, or both. Each day that a violation continues after knowledge or official notice that it is a violation, is a separate offense. You might draw up a nice, formal letter detailing these events--"In a phone conversation in the two weeks after we moved in, we notified you verbally that the smoke detectors were not working. Maryland law requires you to have provided us w/ written acknowledgment of this. and says that violators of this law will face these penalties..." Then say, "All this information will be certain to come before the judge, and it seems to us that you run a real risk of paying more in penalties than you would collect from us--and it is quite possible that you would not collect from us at all. We wonder if perhaps it would be in your own best interests not to pursue this matter." Let's see--$25 per month paid to YOU for the 9 months of not giving you a receipt is $225. $1,000 for one single day of not installing smoke detectors. Plus her lawyer's fees. Go get 'em, tiger!

Good suggestions Laura12. They have been easy to work with up to this point. I think that's what threw us for such a loop when we started reviewing the addendum. I'm typing up a letter right now requesting a face-to-face meeting asap and am outlining the changes we are requesting and the issues we would like to discuss before signing. Dekeoboe, we did not put a specific completion date in the contract. Our builder is paying the interest on the construction loan so it is in their best interest to finish sooner rather than later (they told us four months - I'm assuming it will be five months and will be pleasantly surprised if we close earlier). I see your point about the other subs needing to be able to start on schedule so maybe rather than striking that completely we can ask them to rewrite it giving us a couple of days grace before the fines begin. That seems like it might be a fair compromise. DH is just annoyed that they are already a week and a half behind the schedule they initially gave us so he had to rearrange a business trip once and now it looks like he is going to have to do that again. Since he had to change plane tickets and hotel reservations he was mad that they would try to charge him for causing delays that may be beyond his control. That's the part of it that bothers me the most - being penalized for weather delays or etc.

linda117-Writing letters to the local board of realtors, regional offices and whomever else isnt going to help you with this. I'm sure that they hear from people every day that are unhappy with their agents. Thanks linda117, Its always nice to hear (from a buyer's agent) how ineffective it is to complain to a realty board. Even when the seller DOES have a point. linda117 wrote-"Ellysas if they are all crappy, why bother with getting another agent at all? What a ridiculous statement." ellysas-Your right, SOME (not all) agents really are crappy. Especially when they suggest that wrongly treated sellers humble themselves to lying, unethical realtors who would hold a clients house hostage so they can get an undeserved commission. The seller should suspend the listing. This sellers agent doesn't deserve a single DIME of compensation for all the aggravation they have caused krista123. Now they are pulling a power play to keep her house OFF them market as long as they can even though THEY were the ones who screwed up? Jeeze. Airforceguy is right. Contact a consumer reporter at your local newspaper. The right publicity will force the realty co. to make this right. Especially with all the negative subprime mortgage news being plastered all over the media. After its over, krista123 should post her negative experience in Craigslist/real estate, CityData, etc. Warn other people so they won't have to go through the same crap that you went through with this lying, unethical, (used car) salesman and their sleazy company. When you hire another agent to sell your house, make sure you have a real estate attorney look over the agreement first. Have him/her put a claus in the listing agreement that says you can cancel your listing ANY time. Make sure you have a list of the specific services you expect, a timeline of when to expect these and a penalty ($) if they DON'T do these things on time (or at all).

floridajane...as you are in FL, and the last time I checked, as of yet the profession is not yet licensed. However, that does not mean that much in the long run...as few states seem to have anything in place that effectively prevents the unlicensed from practicing...or even enforcing the regulations with those whom are licensed. That said...the first step is that one should familiarize themselves with their state regulations (if any) for HI'sor absent that...the standards of practice of the major HI organizations...ASHI, NAHI, NACHI are the most well known. That way, you will at least know what the HI should doand what is beyond the scope of a home inspection, and be in an informed position from which to make a selection. Then, you should ask friends and family for referrals. Within those referrals, find out how long the HI spends in the home....as an average sized home, in average condition should take a good two and half hours...make sure that is INSPECTION time...friends recently had an inspection in CT (where HIs' are licensed) by a very well known firm...and half the time (3 hours, 5300 SF house) spent in the home the HI was writing the checklist report and explaining the "few" findings. As far as the report is concerned......eliminate immediately anyone who gives a check list. They will try to convince you that this is to your benefit.as you can have it same day...its BS. It is for their benefit only as it allows them to maximize the number of homes that can be "inspected" in a day. Most are so basic and generic, that it is almost impossible for a buyer to really know anything meaningful about the house. The next level of report might as well be checklistand that is one that appears to be a narrativebut it is really a bunch of boiler plate about houses in general.. and information about the systems of homesbut NOT about the specific house that has been inspected. It is therefore a glorified checklist in disguise. Some franchise firms actually put it in a nice folderwith a CD.but it is about 85% show15% substance. The best bet is to hire the HI who provides a full, descriptive, narrative report about the house inspected..with specificsas well as digital photos, clearly depicting the items of concern. Such reports can run 50 pages or moreand are not instantas they require timeand actual thought (what a concept!). And..as such, the inspection may cost a bit moreand rightfully sobecause a meaningless report even at the most bargain price is money down the drain. Check references..and try to find an HI who carries errors and omissions insurance, in order that you have recourse in case he does miss something. Many HIs I know carried E&O even before they were required to do so by law.so, even though you are in FL, I am sure the same is true for at least some of the HIs thereand, as such, speaks to the HIs level of professionalism and responsibility. You should also get to see the pre-inspection agreement up front and NOT the day of inspectionin order to determine if indeed the terms and conditions are suitable..and to have time to discuss them if there are any questions or concerns. Last not least, one should start looking for an HI as soon as they deicide its time to house hunt. That way, they have the time to perform their due diligenceand have the HI all lined up as soon as they find the home they wish to buy, instead of finding the homeand at the 11th house settling for whomeversimply because there is no time to do anything further. Last but not leastfor those who live in states where the profession is licensedmake sure the HI who will come to inspect has the licenseit is illegal in NJ..and other states as well.. for the HI company to send an unlicensed HI out to inspect, but they do it nonetheless, due to non-existent enforcement. Get the nameget the license numberand check with the state to make sure they are one and the sameand ask to see the HI license upon arrival. Hope this helps.