Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Massachusetts
Over payment of rent
In 04/05 I paid rent to my landlord. He had asked me for another check because his dog had destroyed the one I gave him. I never stopped payment on the first check. He cashed one check in April and the other in Dec. Which means he has collected rent for April twice as the memo on both checks state Rent-april 05. I have presented to him copies of all the checks paid to him for the rental period and have indicated to him that he collected rent for April twice. Can he legally keep the over payment since it was my responsibility to stop payment on the check?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Over payment of rent
Since the landlord represented the check had been destroyed, all you could have done was ask the landlord for the pieces as proof. Stopping payment was not necessary. The landlord could be charged with larceny by fraud, and you might want to do that.
You may find this is not the first time he has engaged in illegal acts with respect to tenants, and you may wonder if you really want to continue to live there.
I he asks for the next month's rent instead of applying the double payment, I would run from that landlord, and take him to court along the way. You may be able to recover 3 months' rent and legal fees and costs. The problem, as usual, will be proving he told you the dog ate the previous check, rather than asking for last month's rent or security, although if you have all ready paid those, he will be hard-pressed to explain that.
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