What are my legal rights?

sweetpotato

Thu, May 12 2016, 11:08 pm

OP: how terrible! Does your city have a tenant's rights organization? You should call them, or a landlord tenant lawyer, and find out exactly what the requirements are and what your rights are In many states, a landlord must officially provide written notice to you before showing the apartment to prospective tenants, and in some cases the tenant can be justified in refusing entry. I imagine that it's possible that if the landlord is clearly not supervising the visitors and they likely stole or damaged your belongings, it could be grounds to refuse future entry.

You should definitely file a police report! Document everything. When did you leave the house, when did they bring the buyers, when did you return? Did anyone else have access to the property? If the police investigate, they will have to contact and question the landlord and agent.

Do you know any lawyers? If you have a friend who is a lawyer or paralegal and willing to help, they could help you draft a firm (but polite) letter to the real estate agent and landlord detailing the steps you will be taking, and how you propose to compromise and solve the issues.

Finally, is the real estate agent part of a larger firm? You could contact the firm, their supervisor, or even post on their Facebook page or Twitter if they use it (many real estate companies are very involved on social media these days). You don't want to come off hysterical or vindictive, but if the agent has truly been so dismissive of what happened, you should stand up for yourself in hopes that they will offer some compensation.

amother

Goldenrod

Fri, May 13 2016, 7:23 am

Don't shy away from a police report just because it's unlikely you'll get your stuff back. Yeah, they probably won't be caught and even if they are, I'm sure they had a nice shopping trip with those cards. But if the police are involved, it'll force the landlord and the realtor to wake up. Landlords hate having police involved because of the risk of some minor noncompliance being discovered and getting into trouble, plus it reflects poorly on the property. The realtor doesn't want cops in her business because it reflects poorly on her for dealing with those clients and if she has a boss, they won't be too thrilled about the possible implications. Just hearing that cops are involved, either the landlord, the realtor, or both may decide of their own volition to offer compensation just to make the cops go away.

causemommysaid

Fri, May 13 2016, 7:57 am

amother wrote:

It only says I need to let in the landlord in case of emergencies.

well then you have options here.

refuse to let anyone in until they reimburse you for the gift cards.

and if the landlord claims its an emergency then only let him and a contractor in. do not let the realtor or buyers in.

if they want to sell the house they will have to reimburse you.

amother

Tangerine

Fri, May 13 2016, 8:17 am

As others have said, your contract says you only need to allow him in for emergencies. This situation does not fall under that category. You should refuse to allow any more realtor visits.

File a police report.

Many companies, when ordering gift cards the purchaser gets a receipt with the card number. Ask your friends to call the company and report it stollen. They may issue you a new card.

Did you know in advance that it would be a large unsupervised group? Find out from a tenant lawyer if the amount may be deducted off the rent.

doctorima

Fri, May 13 2016, 8:58 am

As frustrating as the situation is, I highly doubt that OP can just unilaterally deduct the amount from her rent, and doing so could get her in legal trouble, since it's in violation of her lease agreement. If you can get a lawyer to say otherwise, fine, but I'm quite skeptical.

Otherwise, email the landlord (everything in writing!) telling him what happened, and that you will be filing a police report, and asking for his name, the realtor's name, and the prospective tenants' names. Also ask for his homeowner's policy info (that will scare him). If he doesn't cooperate, that makes him look even worse.

Either way, let him know that because of what happened, you checked the contract and it says you only have to let him in for emergencies, and that unless this is resolved to your satisfaction, you will not be allowing access until the conclusion of your contract. For good measure you can even cc: it to a lawyer friend to let him know you're serious.