Location: Indiana, Greene county
… I had friends. As most things start. Who offered me to pay $500 a month to live in their upstairs of their garage. The agreement was i put in labor to turn the one big room into a kitchenette, bathroom, ‘living room’, and two bedrooms.
I ended up being in their house for almost a year (aug-may) before they finally got the space Semi livable. We moved up there in May but still did not have a working shower for 6 months. We would have to walk through the yard to get to their house to take a shower. They never completed anything else in the bathroom. At this point they were being pretty hostile so I did not put any more effort into the bathroom either. They made it clear that they did want me to do all the labor but only with extreme guided instruction.
I painted, I stained, I drywalled, I put in a TON of labor. I have the labor documented. I do not think either bedroom qualifies for a bedroom due to tiny house sized spaces and no windows. They never added insulation so there were Frost coming in on the walls during the winter.
Living in a space with no windows for over a year was horrible to say the least. No windows in the bedrooms, kitchen, or living room area. No windows at all. Door on the front and back shotgun style. My closet was not in my bedroom. My child had a small curtain rod under their loft bed stairs
The husband owner would just come into our space whenever he felt like. He wouldn’t knock or ring the doorbell I installed. He would just barge in like he owned the place… which although he did it was still very inappropriate. I asked him to stop multiple times. I have a 14-year-old and that was very uncomfortable for everyone except for him apparently. I did not have locks for the front or back door. They insisted we were in the country and did not need them.
They kept wanting to do all this fancy stuff up there like an old world bar in the kitchenette, which was cool admittedly, but I kept insisting I just wanted a bathroom and rooms so I could get out of their house. They were more focuses on ‘fun things that add value to our property’
Just because something looks cool doesn’t mean it actually is. It was pretty barbaric living up there. We had ticks falling on us from the ceiling. They did not help with the ants that were everywhere. I have never seen more spiders in a living space. Frost was accumulating on the walls in giant stripes during winter. I cannot stress enough how this was a tiny house space. I have since moved into a small house and I think the entire area would have fit into what is now my living room and kitchen.
They had not had the area inspected. They did not have landlord licenses. They did not pay taxes on the rent that I paid them. I was paying them the $500 for the entirety of time that I had one room in their house and my child was in the living room. I did continue to pay the electric and rent upon moving to the separate space. I was in their house for approximately a year and in the space above the garage for a year. I just moved out halfway through july. They did have an appraiser come out the week before I moved.
Now here is my question, can they legally pursue July’s half a month rent? They had been refusing me a lease until I began trying to buy my own house to get out of the situation that was extremely hostile by the point. So I asked the husband to please sign a lease i made on chat gbt so I could get a loan. I have numerous text message from the wife of the property owner that are threatening in nature. She accused me of lying for trying to get my own house and being deceitful and getting a lease to give myself bare minimum protection. Fairly certain a lease is just the bare minimum that a tenant can expect in general, however, the lease does state that my deposit was labor. also stated that rent was due on the last day of the month. I began moving out on the 14th of July and have finished moving out on the 19th.
Any insight would be appreciated. I have had to replace all of my furniture and buy a house to get out of this crazy mess. Id just pay the $250 but they refu a ed to reimburse me for the gas tank I purchased for the hot water and refused to let me take the hardware I purchased for the closet. At this point I need to I put my money toward sustaining my new environment.
Single mom. One step at a time. We are safe now at least.