Lease Contract and Contract Termination of a condo

Greetings!

I leased a condo unit for 2years. It was only during the last 3 or 4 months before my 2nd year contract ended that I became late with payments. I was then presented with a pretermination of contract, stating instances that I was late in my payments as the grounds. It was later on that I learned (upon reviewing the original contract again) that I did not violate the contract and that the pre-term was in fact invalid for such grounds (the contract states that if i dont pay beyond 45 days of my due date, I never went beyond 45days);

The preterm also indicated some other blah-blahs on "breached some of the mutually agreed terms and conditions covered on the CONTRACT OF LEASE" (Lesse painted the divider, shoe rack and exhaust cabinets); this I admit, but this happened during my 1st month in the unit. I was able to renew the contract again for a second year, yet this "breach" was suddenly an issue all bec she wanted the preterm.


I stupidly signed the preterm, for the simple reason that I did not want to deal with her anymore.

My concern now is that instead of returning my deposits, she is now making bizurk charges, I dont know, maybe in an attempt not to give me back my money. What's worse is that with her recent email, she is claiming that there was a missing item and that she is charing me Php7500 for this ----

"Replacement and installation of missing multipoint heater located under lavatory". I politely replied that "the multipoint heater item listed that was never in the unit when it was leased. I leased the unit without a multipoint heater." She sent me a reply stating that it was there when the unit was turned over - IT WAS NOT.

How do I go about this? Instead of the lessor returning what I would have expected a very small amount left from the deposit, she is now in fact asking me to pay extra, all because of the said missing item.

It's actually not much, and I can settle this just to shut her up (the lessor) again, but what I'm pissed off about is that she is charging me for something that wasnt there from the very beginning. "Prinsipyo ba"...If I pay it, it's like I admit to he claim.

I know you all get emails/posts that have more pressing issues, but I would really appreciate it if you can help me/give me advice on how to deal with this "injustice" that I have.

Looking forward to your response.


Thank you,

Bluey

when you rented the unit, was there a checklist of items that came with it?

if she refuses to return the deposit, your remedy is to file a complaint at the bgy if you live in the same municipality of city, if not direct to a small claims case. rules on sc.judiciary.gov.ph?

Hi attyLLL,

Thanks for the speedy reply.

No checklist was provided, so there is no way to establish that there was, or there wasnt for that matter, a multipoint heater (item in question). So either way, it's hard to prove my and the lessor's claim.

Should I really go that far, file a case (we dont live in the same municipality)? As mentioned, what I expected to be the remaining deposit isnt much the missing item charge isnt on her Security deposit coverage list, BUT I also dont intend to pay for the said missing item.

I hate it that that the lessor may hound me for this. I dont know how else to resolve this.

Again, I appreciate the quick response that you provided. I hope you can give me more insight on the course of action I should take.


Thank you,

BLUEY

i recommend that you put your position in writing and send it to her. emphasize that the heater was never there in the first place.