Taking my ex landlord to small claims court?

I have filed a small claims case against an ex landlord. The landlord is vacationing out of the country for the next 4 months. But his son who I have never met or spoken to has written a letter to the court saying that he will come to court and represent his father at the hearing. When he originally responded to the summons he did not have power of attorney but the court told him if he got power of attorney he could represent his father. The hearing is scheduled for next week. I am just wondering how someone who has never even had a conversation with me will be able to defend any claims I make. If I say the father refused to fix problems with the apartment, lied to me about certain things which cost me money, withheld my security deposit without reason what can his son say or do to defend against anything I say. It seems to me that I will have an open and shut case. Will it really be that easy or am I missing something? Any ideas?

Need some answers about the legal rights of a landlord…?

On October 28 my boyfriend and I moved into the top half of a house (a duplex) It was a family of four’s personal home-2 parents-2 adult children. The parents were not to be living in the house any longer. The daughters would be residing in the bottom half of the house that is kept completely separate from the top and me and my boyfriend were to live in the top story-which consisted of 2 bedrooms (one for us one for another future tenant) and a kitchen/living room area and bathroom to be shared with whoever the other tenants would be.)We signed a one year lease agreeing to pay them $425 a month that included everything. To help us not to have to dish out so much money, they agreed that we could pay the security deposit ($400 total) in increments over the next 4 months-thus paying them $525 for 4 months and then $425 the remaining 8. (you guys still following?)So we paid the $525 and moved in.
1 week later, the downstairs tenants came up to complain to us that the living room area wasn’t clean enough for them…unbeknown to us they had come up a few times while we were at work. We said that we would keep it cleaner and that was that.3 weeks into it they all pull my boyfriend into a room and tell him that maybe we should consider moving into an apartment because the kitchen is not clean enough still.They gang up on him when I’m at work.No other person lives up there yet but us. They said that they had been showing off the other room but they give us absolutely NO warning when they are. We can just get done having an intimate moment to walk out the room and find them all in the living room just there giving a tour.My boyfriend told them that we would work on the cleanliness and asked if they could please give us some type of warning that they were coming up so we would be prepared and straighten up.
(Also-they pick that AT MOST WORST times to pop up. My boyfriend gets off work at 1 am (which they were aware of) and I cook dinner for him and by 3am we soak the dishes for in the morning-but of course they pop in at like 7am when we’re still asleep and complain.)
And their complaints are so effin retarded: take your shampoo out of the shower when you leave. Don’t leave open food in the fridge. Don’t leave your xbox in the living room. Don’t leave your flatiron on the bathroom counter. NONE OF THIS WAS IN THE LEASE THAT SAID WE HAD TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE WE NEVER LIVED THERE.
They also complain that we are noisy-mind you our bedroom is located ABOVE the living room and our living room is located ABOVE their bedrooms. They hear our every step and every time we cut the TV off, drop anything, or cut the radio on. We hear them talking all the time through the vent, but we don’t say anything. They suggested that we could stay for 4 more months-get our security deposit back and then move out. Rent is due on the 1st. In the lease that we signed we agreed that it was due on the first every month and that there was a $25 late fee for everyday after that. WE DON’T HAVE A COPY OF THE LEASE. It’s something that they typed up. I get paid on the 3rd. My boyfriend gave them $150 on the 26th and told them that on the 3rd I would have the rest of the money and the extra $50 for the late free.They called last night to complain about noise (which yes, we were playing guitar hero-sue us) but we cut it off immediately and apologized. So today I get a phone call in the middle of my job saying “Hey I just served you guys papers you have to get out in 30 days because you’re too nasty and loud.” They ONCE AGAIN waited till I wasn’t home ganged up on my boyfriend and attacked him. And why would you call someone in the middle of their job to evict them?
The eviction form-which they typed up says:
1-The noise is too much for the people living downstairs
2-The rental agreement states that the rent is due on the first for the full amount not partial payment.
My questions are-
a) Did they have legal rights to keep coming up into the area we live in without notifying us first?
b) Can we be evicted for not paying when the lease CLEARLY states a late fee? AND-the rent isn’t due yet…so how could we have failed to pay it?
c) We didn’t get a reciept for that $150 we paid them this week-do we get that back? Do we get that first $100 back?
d) What happens to that year lease that we signed?
e) Do you see anything else wrong with the situation-please let me know.
They claim that the living room was a common area-but the parents don’t even LIVE there-they just like to pop up and check on it. It would’ve been a common area-but NO ONE BUT US lived upstairs.
I think what’s really happening is that the daughters have friends who wanna move in so they just complain about us to the parents who don’t live there. It seems really unfair.I don’t wanna “fight it in court” but I’m not gonna have somebody wrongfully cheat me out of money or pu
We paid the rent on time November 1st.
The rent is due now for December 1st-
We haven’t had a chance to even pay it yet and they’re saying we haven’t-its November 29th…
A-we got EVICTED-we were already served papers…so why would we keep paying them?

B-the papers clearly say WE DON’T ACCEPT PARTIAL PAYMENT. We gave them $150 already-a PARTIAL PAYMENT. That they gladly accepted and put into their pockets-that’s why I asked if we should get that back.
C-Can we stop trying to sound like a-holes and just answer the questions?

Florida Tenant rights when wrong landlord info listed on 3 day notice?

My landlord has hired a management company to manage the property in Orlando just this past month. My original lease is up in Aug and they stated it is not going to be renewed. I recently got married and my husband was helping out with the bills since I had lost my job and only have unemployment coming in. Well, long story short, the marriage is not working and my husband has since moved out of the house. Since I am unable to pay the rent myself I was served a 3 day notice from the management company for non payment of rent and my daughter was served at the door by a sheriff deputy with a 5 day notice this past week in my absence. Not that I want to stay at the house for free, I just need until the end of the month to collect enough money to move.

My questions are:

Is it possible that the court will allow the landlord just keep my deposit in lieu of me paying the rent for this past month if I leave the property virtually spotless?

Can I file a response to the 5 day notice because:the 3 day notice was taped to my door on Saturday, July 3rd. and the date states it was posted on July 4th (which was a holiday and a Sunday this year) Also, the landlord name that says I owe the rent to is totally incorrect. The PM company is the one who issued the 3 day notice and I’m guessing that they have a fill in the blank form and just overlooked changing the landlord name from a previous notice to a different tenant all together. But, somewhere along the line, they must have realized the error because the 3 day notice attached to the 5 day notice from the court had been corrected as to the landlord names, but not the correct date actually delivered. I was never given a corrected 3 day notice. The only one I have is the one with the incorrect landlord name and of course the date delivered.

Shouldn’t I have received a certified copy in the mail of the 5 day notice since the deputy gave it originally to my daughter who did not sign the lease? I did receive a copy addressed to me though regular mail.

All I am concerned with is having until the end of the month to be able to move. If I file some sort of answer with the above discrepancies listed this next week (the 5 days are up on Thurs) is it enough to get the eviction process thrown out of court for now to buy me a little extra time? I know that they will have to refile the paperwork again, but by the time they start the process over again, I will be out of the house.

Thanks!

Will my landlord renogotiate my business lease?

I am nearing completion of my five year lease. I have two five-year options. I would like to stay here, but I would also like to have an attorney review it. Do you think I will be able to successfully renogotiate my lease or will I have to abide by my current one?

what can i do if my new landlord did not accept my rent for being late?

i receive a 3 day notice or quite letter from my land lord on oct on the envelope its stamp on 2nd i don’t remember what date i receive that letter does the stamp mean i received it on that date? anyhow i always pay my rent on the 7th but since this is a new land lord i was never inform that the rent was due on the 1st. i made a money order and sent his rent on the 8th but today he came to my apartment and return the money order and said he couldn’t accept my rent because it was late he asked me to call him later but his not answering my calls does that mean he will order an eviction form on me what can i do if i want to stay in this apartment i’am a single mother and can’t afford the really high rents im a low income mom help please