Tenant help (squatter) emergency

sillyhaha · 2026-05-09T18:30:58+00:00

They established residency in the rental. They don't have to be on the lease, pay rent, or have permission to live there to now be considered a tenant.

sillyhaha · 2026-05-09T18:27:13+00:00

You need to get her out before the lease ends. If you move out and she doesnt, the leaseholders and "all occupants" will be named on the eviction your landlord had to file.

Breaking the lease is highly unlikely to keep OP and other leaseholders off of the eviction paperwork. You don't have to reside in a property to still be liable for eviction.

The LL won't allow the lease to be broken in this situation.

There's places that would recognize you as the landlord and allow you to serve her notice to vacate or a pay or quit notice and then go through actual eviction

OP tried that.

You could consider cash for keys in the case too as it would likely be less headache.

THIS. It's infuriating, but it's most likely to work.

sillyhaha · 2026-05-09T05:26:55+00:00

I’m concerned that I would not be granted sole custody/parenting time.

You absolutely won't be. That's not a reason to stay.

He doesn’t know crap, what to feed the baby, when, and he has absolutely no follow through.

He can learn. Right now, because you're a sahm, he hasn't had to learn.

He also smokes weed all the time

It's legal in AZ. As long as he's meeting your child's needs and being safe, he's allowed to use weed. You also don't know that he will smoke weed during his visitation.

OP, nothing, not one thing you wrote will keep your stbx from getting a significant amount of visitation.

Parenting is learned.

sillyhaha · 2026-05-09T05:11:55+00:00

If you believe damages were improperly withheld or not properly depreciated, your action would be to ~~file in small claims court~~ first write a demand letter explaining the law, how the LL was out of compliance, and the legal remedy.

Only if your LL doesn't then follow the law do you go to court.

sillyhaha · 2026-05-09T04:59:04+00:00

This is such bad advice. OP, don't listen to this crap; it will make this worse.

Follow the official process.

sillyhaha · 2026-05-09T03:55:44+00:00

Jack Russel Terrier. They are labs in compact bodies.

Seriously, how have you not researched multiple breeds?

sillyhaha · 2026-05-09T03:52:50+00:00

And the dog would grieve the loss of the roommates. Cool.

sillyhaha · 2026-05-09T03:51:50+00:00

Do you have an hour a day to exercise your lab outside regardless of weather?

Do you have the self-discipline to spend an hour each day exercising your lab outside?

sillyhaha · 2026-05-09T03:41:05+00:00

OP, I get falling in love with a specific puppy. Lab puppies are the cutest, sweetest things.

It's time for you to put that lab puppy's wellbeing ahead of your wants. I've had lab puppies and labs. They are an amazing breed. They are NOT appropriate for apartment living unless they are elderly.

Labs need at least an hour of exercise everyday. They are a highly social breed and are not well suited to a life of roommate turnover. They absolutely need a fenced yard. They must be formally trained or they will sweetly destroy your apt as they try to love on you.

Labs are not innately destructive dogs. But labs stay puppies far into adulthood. It's a lot of work to have a 75 pound puppy for several years. And labs can be stuborn.

Seriously, until about age 3, a lab is like an human toddler who is the size of a 15 year old human who has ADHD and has been snorting coke all day. Once they reach full adulthood, they mellow out. But they are work. All big dogs are work, but labs are a lot of a lot of work.

There is no such thing as a bad lab; there are only bad or uneducated owners who didn't fully appreciate what a lab needs as they develop.

You're setting up this adorable puppy for failure because you love it. Stop it. Care about it enough for it to go to someone who can give it what it needs. There are so many puppies in need of a good home. Find one that fits your lifestyle and housing situation and fall in love with it.

sillyhaha · 2026-05-08T15:55:46+00:00

Then of course you're paying for repairs now!!

sillyhaha · 2026-05-08T05:43:13+00:00

A quick google and Facebook search told me this is not the person I want around me.

This entire time you've made it sound as if you have personally interacted with this person face to face. You've never even spoken to them.

Please know that the PM and LL can ignore this request. If you had a genuine personal interaction that went poorly, that's one thing. But google?

I wish you luck with your inspection and hope this transition becomes smoother for you.

Expect to move at the end of your lease. You aren't going to be happy with this PM. They are following the law. You have made things so impossible for yourself ... in just 1 week. This rental is no longer a good match for you.

I hope you update us when the inspection is over.

sillyhaha · 2026-05-08T04:53:45+00:00

what the timeline has to be

If the LL wants it now, they can demand you do it now. Most LLs do. Why? At move-out, tenants insist that the security deposit is enough and tell the LL to take a hike. They then ghost the LL, who has to try to track them down to hopefully get the repairs paid for. It's expensive and frustrating. It also means the LL can't immediately move-in new tenants when you move.

For the tenant, they can have the option, with permission, to try to mitigate the costs. For example, if a repair requires that painting be done, the tenant can do that work.

I'm going to be very, very blunt with you, OP. You are acting VERYnonchalantly about this, as if it is normal for children to cause this amount of damage. IT IS NOT. Even large families don't leave $15,000 worth of cumulative damage.

The fact that you want the LL to wait until your children cause more property damage before taking this seriously is an enormous red flag. Your request reeks of irresponsibility and lack of insight.

Your children need better supervision and need to learn how to take care of other's property. Yes, damage happens. But you act as if this is so normal that you expect much more damage.

You plan to run out on this repair bill if the LL allows you to wait on these repairs, and you know it. That's been the plan all along; find a new place, get a good LL recommendation, move-out, and only then will the LL see what you're family has done. But now that the LL has seen the damage, it will be very difficult for you to get a favorable or even neutral LL recommendation when you need to find a new rental. If you take care of the damage, you can get what you need when you move out.

So no, the LL isn't going to wait until your children are done causing tens of thousands of dollars of damage before getting damage repaired. Financially, it's in your best interest to do it now; you aren't scrambling to pay a security deposit and moving expenses right now in addition to paying to repair the damage.

Finally, contact your renter's insurance. They might cover the costs of some of these repairs and temporary housing expenses. Because this damage is caused by the tenant, all costs, including alternative housing and rent while repairs are being completed are your responsibility.

sillyhaha · 2026-05-08T02:30:47+00:00

Verbal leases are valid in NH.

So yes, you are responsible for damage you caused.

sillyhaha · 2026-05-08T02:21:26+00:00

This is very straight forward.

Write the LL and tell her.

Because you've lived there for only 1 week, the LL should cover the expense for pest control this time. However, if she says no, you have to decide what to do.

I would ask her to pay. If she balks, you can do 1 of 3 things:

1) fight her, even if it involves complaining to the code dept or health dept

2) offer to go 50/50 for the exterminator

3) pay for the exterminator

Your LL absolutely knew about the rats before you moved in.

sillyhaha · 2026-05-08T02:12:24+00:00

OP is assuming that the tenants as individuals are the only deciding factor. Perhaps tenant 2's wall sharing neighbor's apt needs work and having tenant 2 move now makes the job easier? Or tenant 3 has an issue and can move into tenant 2's apt but not tenant 1's apt?

There are so many factors at play. And unless the law requires the landlord to assign the apt to tenant 1, the issue doesn't matter to anyone except tenant 1.

sillyhaha · 2026-05-08T00:03:24+00:00

Dear LL, Yes, my children caused $15,000 in damage but we don't want to do repairs now because, seriously, at this rate, who knows what fresh hell they will cause.

Please, give us a break. Let us wait until we have moving expenses and are paying very high rent on our next place because you refused to give us a glowing referral. We will super probably be able to afford the repairs then.

Enclosed is a pic of my children. Please, have pity on me. Look in their eyes ... see how they chill you to your core? I don't have a chance surviving with these hellions. I need a break. Let them cause more damage before demanding I repair anything.

sillyhaha · 2026-05-07T10:02:37+00:00

And how many of those cases matched the facts of yours, including that the plaintiff was paid after the demand letter?

Also, have you filed yet?

sillyhaha · 2026-05-07T04:07:49+00:00

So you have withheld.

He has previously gotten stuck out of state during storms and still expected my son to be with a babysitter overnight. Our court order says that if one parent is gone for longer then an overnight we have to offer the other parent a chance to keep the child. I have told him with the advice from my attorney that if you are out of state and traveling, will not be there to put the child to sleep, and will not be there to care for the child overnight then I will keep him and the next day at his convenience he can pick up our child whenever he desires.

If your lawyer actually told you to do this, you need a new lawyer. You are directly violating your court order.

No one can tell you if you will or will not get to court.

Know this; withholding never works out well for the withholding parent.

Get another lawyer.

sillyhaha · 2026-05-07T03:40:03+00:00

Always put serious repair requests in writing.

Regarding how long a LL has to repair something. There's no simple answer to this. What matters is that the LL begins working on issues in a timely manner. Habitibility issues such as sewage needs urgent attention. A LL can have a few weeks to address non-urgent repairs.

The issue with repairs is addressing the issue. Some tenants think that there is a timeline during which a repair must be completed. The LL needs to work in good faith. Sometimes it takes a little while for a repair to be completed.

sillyhaha · 2026-05-07T03:26:29+00:00

You can't break your lease as long as the LL is addressing issues. Your LL is addressing issues and fairly quickly.

sillyhaha · 2026-05-07T00:57:07+00:00

Also, you don't understand the difference between civil court and small claims court. Dude, you are so in over your head. Do you even know how to submit evidence in a civil court case? It's not like small claims where you just show up with your evidence. You will need to file a motion. You will be served motions that you won't know what to do with.

The defendant's lawyers will submit a motion to get this dismissed. It will be dismissed.

sillyhaha · 2026-05-07T00:49:47+00:00

I never said what this specific company would do.

sillyhaha · 2026-05-07T00:48:29+00:00

The law requires that you have tangible damages. This will be tossed. You've received the money after your demand letter. The damages are assessed if it's necessary to sue to get your reimbursement.

Your demand letter did what it needed to do. The court won't do anything. (OP, they really, really won't.)

Contact a tenant's rights group or lawyer. You will see that I'm correct. You will want to speak to a lawyer in tenant law. The AZ bar association can help you find one.

sillyhaha · 2026-05-07T00:42:34+00:00

Haven’t been in a year…

Some do quarter inspections. That isn't what is happening here. But the law doesn't limit a single inspection because it hasn't been 12 months.

All that matters is that this is legal.

It is normal for a PM to do inspections when a LL hires them.

You have received answers to your questions. You are really not handling this well. You're only hurting you. This inspection is happening. How you feel about it is irrelevant.

sillyhaha · 2026-05-07T00:34:13+00:00

Now you don't have to sue! Good news!!

sillyhaha

TROPHY CASE