Landlord not responding to my notice to leave tenancy ... what now?

MetroidZoid

A week ago I sent out a letter to my landlord, telling him that I was ending my month-to-month tenancy as of June 31st. I also sent myself a copy of that same letter; it's still sealed, on my desk, with a date stamp of May 22nd. Just in case. And since the landlord's copy has yet to show come back to me, I can only assume they have gotten it. The notice does request that they call me at their earliest convenience, and I would presume they would want to do so soon, and I also gave them my cell number again, just in case they didn't have it. After a week of not hearing from them, I called them early today and left a message.

Now, I'm partly worried about the turn of events that could unfold here, and yes I'm a tad paranoid because I know there's going to be discrepancies about things they might feel should come out of my deposit, and they haven't really been the best landlords and this place wasn't the best place, hence me leaving. But I want to make sure that above all, I've done all I can do to give the proper notice time, lest they try to wring another month of rent out of me.

My fiance thinks they could be out of town; definite possibility. The only number I have for them is a land line. And sure, maybe they've been gone since last weekend; hence them not responding to the letter. Is there anything else I should be doing? I just want to cover all my bases.

Also, even though my last day for rent would be June 31st, I'm getting married on the 26th, and we'll be on honeymoon until July 5th. Now if they wanted to get in there the last week and make it ready or whatnot for the next tenant fine, I know I have a right to the property until the last day but I won't make a stink about it for just a week's time. But with the wedding fast approaching, and being really busy at work, there's only so many days I can schedule a final walk through. So would it be in bad taste to give them my spare key, and mail my copy so that if I still need access to the building, I have it?

Thanks guys. I'm still new to this rental thing, but the place I'm in now has the most awesome landlords, and we jumped through all the right hoops, and everything runs much smoother. Also, Oregon, United States, since it might matter.

Esh

As long as you've documented everything, I'm sure you're fine.

BoGs

I would say if you haven't done so send a registered letter to know he got it for sure

Nylonathetep

First, congratulations on your wedding.

But maybe you should call your landlord just in case?

Blake T

A registered letter is easily the easiest way to make sure everything is properly documented.

soxbox

Yeah, the mailing a letter to yourself thing isn't very useful - registered post is definitely the way to go - it provides evidence that they actually received the notice. Mailing it to yourself provides some evidence as to the content of that notice, but the receipt of the notice is the thing likely to come under dispute.

(It's unlikely that anybody is going to be arguing 'yes, they sent me a letter, but it just contained questions about my holiday', but rather 'letter? what letter?')

MetroidZoid

Well it looks like everything's solved for now.

I fired off an email last night, and he said that they just received the letter, and that they would schedule something before the end of the month. Thanks for your help guys.

Also, for future reference, how do you send a registered letter? Do I take the mail down to the post office and ask for something akin to a tracking number on a package?

Esh

MetroidZoid wrote: »

Well it looks like everything's solved for now.

I fired off an email last night, and he said that they just received the letter, and that they would schedule something before the end of the month. Thanks for your help guys.

Also, for future reference, how do you send a registered letter? Do I take the mail down to the post office and ask for something akin to a tracking number on a package?

Yep. Ask for delivery confirmation.

Red Rover

for the record... delivery confirmation isn't the same as a registered letter.

I worked at Canada Post (customer service) for some time and this has come up a few times. It may be different in the US but it's my understanding that the USPS runs pretty much the same way.

When you send a registered letter you get the delivery confirmation AND a signature from the person/organization addressed on the letter. It is also legally binding whether they sign for it or not. They can refuse it but the record will show that they refused a registered letter and they're responsible for any consequences that follow.

A delivery confirmation is just that... it just says it was delivered to the address... anybody at that address can accept it. So he could potentially say "I didn't sign for any letter".

Gdiguy

With the USPS you'd just want anything with a signature - Certified mail w/ return receipt will do that, and registered probably will as well, although registered appears to be more intended for security of the item than for delivery confirmation

Shadowfire

So ah... I mean, it may not be a big deal, but since these are legal documents that you're sending..

There's only 30 days in June...

Unknown

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MetroidZoid

Well everything looks OK for now, this is lockable.

They called this morning, confirming a final walkthrough date. Also sounds like they've already stopped by the place prior to this phone call because she already assumed I was out of the place, and also asked if I was going to mow the yard (it is really bad) one more time. I will, I let it get bad and I'm not gonna be a douche about it.

Thanks for the help, this will come in handy some time again I'm sure.