Can you please advice on this?

[cristyd]

I have rented some time ago a room(only a room) in an apartment owned but a lady around 55 years. So i was living in the same house with her for like 2 years and paying her rent. I paid in the beginning a warranty(don’t remember exactly 1-2 months). She wanted to raise the rent, i couldn’t afford it and moved. When she heard i am moving she was very angry and said i have to pay because i broke her a chair and burned a kettle. I told her she can keep the warranty, which is more then any damages done and i will not ask for it back. She then told me that since my boyfriend slept sometimes overnight (with her approval, i have asked her all the time if she allows it) for her the warranty is gone and she expects me to pay her damages. We fight and she said bad things about me, i was angry because she is the same age as my mother and said also bad things to her and said i will not pay anything because the warranty can’t simply just be cancelled like that.
Then i went with a first part of my things to the new place and when i returned to take the rest of the things she didn’t open the door and kept what was left, including some religious paintings from my sister who was a art student. I tried to contact her a few times and i went o her her door with money, ready to give her how much she wanted only to end the fight and get my things back, but she never answered to door or phone or mails. My family went also there and tried to talk to her but she didn’t answer.
The neighbors stopped my godfather and told him not to come anymore because they know her to be mentally unstable and she threatened to throw acids in my face if ever i came near her apartment again, and they begged him never to let me come again.
Can you give me some advice. I believe i don’t own her money but i am still scared and ashamed i fight with her and sometimes scared that what if i do own her something.
I’m scared to go to her and i don’t want her also to know anything about me, where i live or where my family lives.

 

[1ke]

This is a legal matter. Seek advice from an attorney.

 

[midori]

Is this in the US? It sounds like it’s in a different country? In the US, I’m guessing your “warranty” is the same as a “security deposit”?

Definitely consult an attorney because the answer is going to vary depending on your local laws. If it was in my area, I’d ask the constable or the police to come with me to supervise while I picked up my remaining possessions. In my area, unless you’ve given her a lien on your non-exempt property, she can’t hold it hostage. And this is why it’s inadvisable to move in somewhere without both of y’all signing a legal agreement that says, “This is how you start living here, these are the things you need to do/not do while you live here, and this is the procedure for leaving.”

 

[pianistclare]

And if you can’t afford an attorney…
understand that you made many mistakes in this whole exercise.
You didn’t follow through.
You apparently damaged things.
You had your boyfriend sleep over? :tsktsk:
You did not keep the relationship cordial nor professional.
You did not exit on decent terms.

Fix all that. It’s a huge life lesson. Don’t act like this again.

As far as the remainder of your things. You can ask the police to accompany you to retrieve the sentimental items, OR you can chalk it up to really bad form.

But I think there are MANY important lessons to be learned here.