Q: Am I entitled to receive the money I paid towards renovations on a home I did not own but lived in?
My mom recently sold a duplex that I lived in with my family. The apartment we lived in was in significant disrepair so we invested over $6000 in renovations (permission was received). We also paid almost $6000 toward a new roof as well. Though we paid for rent till the end of the month. She physically prevented us from accessing our apartment. We lost personal belongings because of this. My questions are: can I get my prorated rent back for the month we paid for, compensation for the items left behind, the renovations, and the roof investment? My mom played on my emotions convincing me she would not make any money on the sale of her house but she did make over 50K.
A:
Generally, tenants investing money into improving a rental unit have no expectation the landlord will kick back that money when they move out.
Locking you out of your home without a court order is a crime. If you called the police when this happened mother could face arrest.
You could sue for the value of your lost possessions, but that is not the replacement value of your property. Why did you not send a lawyer to the Closing or try to bust up the sale?
Peter J. Weinman agrees with this answer
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