Our lawyer got back to us. He was very honest, which I appreciated, as I have a feeling that some lawyers would try to give you false hope in order to squeeze a few more hundred dollars out of you. We don’t really have much of a case, as yes, it is illegal to evict in retaliation for a request for repairs, but that’s evict. In our case, our lease simply won’t be renewed.
So. I called and left a message for the previous park managers, and asked them if they think it would be worth our while to get in touch with the owner of the property. Even if they say nay, I will probably go ahead and do so anyway, as at this point we have nothing to lose. If I don’t hear from the previous park managers by Monday, or they say nay, I’m going to contact the owner anyway, and explain everything that is going on and try to appeal to him.
Meanwhile, I applied for a loan with LendingTree. They submitted our application with another company. This company and I finally stopped playing phone tag and got in touch with one another yesterday. The short of it is, my credit sucks due to past mistakes (rectified, but still showing on my report). My credit score is about 20 points below their minimum requirement. Our income is more than adequate to cover a loan up to $80k or so. But my credit is crap. Fuckity fuck fuck fuck. We have two potential family members who may consider being a co-signer; we e-mailed the one person last night, and are anxiously awaiting their reply.
We’re also looking around the classifieds for a place to rent. But again, a lot of companies and landlords want to run credit checks, which we’ll fail. And we need a three bedroom, and preferably in this part of the county as things are a lot cheaper, nicer, quieter, and closer to family and Dan’s job. But then our income does come into play… with our current income and bills, we can’t really afford anything over $600/month.
So, in addition to looking at private listings, I contacted two rental agencies. The one charges a $169 fee, which is refunded if they do not find a place for us. The other is free, I think. The good thing about using these agencies is I can specify our conditions right off the bat – this part of the county, three bedroom, less than $600/month, and our credit is shot. And, oh yeah, we have a shitty reference due to the park managers being petty. Both places said that the credit and reference won’t be a problem, especially since we can provide letters and e-mails showing that the park manager is being petty. And we can show cancelled checks that show that our rent has been paid on time each month.
So, we’ll see… I can’t wait to have something set more in stone, because the clock is ticking. Only six weeks and two days until April 1st…
It’s sad when your landlord can’t be expected to act maturely.
You might want to check out this Web site if you’re looking to buy a home: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/pa/
They offer low interest home loans to people who have poor credit and lower incomes. There are a few conditions you must meet but it’s worth checking out. I’m not sure if they have an office close to where you live.
I really hope you can get something figured out soon, *hugs* I know it must be a rough time right now but I’m sure you’ll be able to make it through. Don’t you always?
I’m in almost the same boat, only I’m just not willing to rent anymore. My lease does end on April 1st though, so the more you post about it and remind yourself how far away April is, the more it helps me too.. haaa.