I am a retired, severely disabled resident of Slidell, LA.
I signed a lease for property located at 34653 Grantham College Road, Slidell, LA for residential usage through Coldwell-Banker Company, Agent Mike Brister. Prior to signing the lease, I reviewed the condition of the property and identified several areas that needed to be corrected prior to my scheduled move-in date of July 1. These concerns were passed to agent Mike Brister on June 15. When I signed the lease, I gave the agent a check for $1300 as a deposit for the property. This check was dated July 1, I was told the check would not be used until July 1.
I went to the property on June 30 to ensure that it was ready for my move in. I found the house to be in filthy condition, and most of the appliances were inoperable. There was no hot water in the bathroom and the air conditioning was out of order. I was told that repairs would have to WAIT A FEW WEEKS since the owner was too busy to respond. Since I had given notice to vacate my previous apartment as of July 1, I was forced to notify agent Mike Brister that the property was unsuitable for habitation and that I was canceling the lease at the new property and reversing the vacate notice at my apartment. I immediately went to my bank to stop payment on the $1300 deposit check, and found that it had already been cashed on June 22nd, despite the agent's promise to the contrary.
To date, the deposit has not been returned, and the property owner is attempting to sue me for the accelerated lease amount of $7150, even though the house is still unusable. I am now forced to spend very limited Social Security funds (my only income) to a lawyer for defense, even though this will make it impossible to pay the rent at my current residence.
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