In March of 2013 I rented a townhouse through a property management company. I pay my rent through a direct deposit on website. On May 1, 2015, I went online and paid my rent. The system was unusually slow as the company is updating it. A week or so later sent me an email and then a notice that I owed them $100 late fees because my rent which is due on the first of every month hit their systmen at 12:04 AM on May 2, 2015. I tried talking with about the fees and the website issue but they were not willing to take off the late fee and sent me another notice that if I did not pay the fees they would not accept my rent for the next month. Then I found out that in some cases late fees may not be legal.On May 13, 2015 I contacted Better Business Bureau (BBB) to inquire. The BBB contacted on or about May 16, 2015. On May 17, 2015 the hot water on/off control broke on my kitchen faucet and I contacted with a maintenance request. On May 19, 2015 on office manager from arrived and my residence and issued me a 60 day notice to move out. I know for a fact that the action that took against me was in retaliation to my inquiry with the BBB and requests for maintenance because wrote a statement to BBB that they were not interested in doing business with me because I had too many complaints over the last 2 years that I have lived in the unit. I am the single head of household with 2 other dependents living with me, one of which is over 80-years old and disabled. I tried getting more time to move out and mediation but was not willing to allow more move out time or to mediate. So, I worked hard on finding legal help but to no avail. Everyone one seemed to think that landlord retaliation is too hard to prove. So, I found another place to live and at the last minute took something that is costing more money per month and I also paid over $4,000 to move in the place. While I know that landlord retaliation is illegal because the the two other people that live with me name's were also on the lease, I did not want to take a chance on their credit getting ruined by an unlawful detainer. My family has been traumatized and we have all suffered loses and damages but punitive and material because of Management's illegal deeds. I know it might be too late for me to recover any losses but I do not want anything like this to happen to another citizen. I would like any kind of resources or advise that anyone can offer on how to start a coalition or movement against landlord retaliation against tenants.
