What can we do after our landlord sent people into our house without notice and tried to evict us only to let us know he sent the to the wrong house.

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What can we do after our landlord sent people into our house without notice and tried to evict us only to let us know he sent the to the wrong house.

Hi New Link Destination
day,

two people enter our house with a key and were surprised to see us there. They
informed us that we had been evicted but we got them to leave. Our first instinct
was to call the police which we did and then let our landlord know. He then told
us that they worked for him and he had sent them to the wrong house. This
obviously is really worrying since we now have to think about him accidentally
giving ours to people he works for. Do we have any legal options

Asked on September 15, 2018 under Real Estate Law, Washington

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 5 years ago | Contributor

You don't have any effective recourse against a one-time error:
1) The law only provides compensation for actual "harm": a brief, one-time interruption like this, while upsetting, was such a small violation of your quiet enjoyment of your rental (e.g. a few hours out of a month) that there is effectively no compensation you can get. If harassment continues or there is a pattern of harassment, that is a different story, and in that case, you be entitled to compensation, but not for a one-time event of this nature.
2) You landlord has the right to have keys to the unit and to give access to your unit for lawful purposes (e.g. to contractors for repairs or rennovations)--it is his property, after all, not yours. If he gives out keys to an untrustworthy person who robs from you, you could hold him liable, but you cannot prevent him from having or using keys.


IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.

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