[ct] New Llc Landlord Sent Sheriff To Door Without Warning, Won't Return Our Attempts At Contact. One Tenant Incredibly Disabled. Need To Know Next Steps And How To Protect Ourselves. Never Missed Rent.

Location: Connecticut

Hello,

Almost two weeks ago, a sheriff knocked on our door and served us a notice to quit. She assured us we likely had time and could fight through the eviction, but as housing is incredibly expensive in our area, we're worried about how much time we'll have. I am my mother's caretaker, she is very disabled and we need to find housing that will be accessible to her.

The sheriff told us our first step was to make contact with him. At this point, we've called several times, left messages with secretaries twice, and sent an email. We also used the fair housing committee's accommodation request generator, and attached it to said email, simply requesting more time to relocate. We've asked verbally and in writing to negotiate a time to leave, versus going through court.

We pay our rent each month, usually a couple of days early. We have receipts for this. My mother's disabilities are well documented and he was made aware of them the one time we were able to speak to him.

We've lived here fourteen years, the house was originally owned by a local and he sold it to an LLC of all things a couple months ago. Initially he was going to sell to us, but decided otherwise. We had a verbal agreement where the new guy insisted we had nothing to worry about, to simply pay our rent and we can discuss options at a later time. We were thinking we'd get through winter and work on getting out of here, or he'd call and tell us when to leave, or have someone at the office tell us when I dropped off the rent.

I have gone to the guy's local office twice now to attempt contact. The secretary claims she spoke to him and he'd reach out, but he did not. The second time I was there, I spoke to someone who was seemingly a business partner or someone in management, who also said he'd have him call. It's been three days and again there's been no email or call. I plan on making one more attempt at the office this week before giving up. Likely Tuesday or Wednesday.

In case we need to prove attempts at contact, we have written out each attempt at contact, as well as it's obviously saved in call logs and email history. I have also recorded a video of myself outside the office before entering and leaving both times (with nobody else in the video for privacy, just myself saying the day and time, explaining I was attempting contact, and then showing the door and sign of the building). This may be overkill but we've never been evicted before, and given how this guy spoke to my mother we didn't expect this at all.

All this is to say - what are the next best steps, given all I've said here? Sheriff made it sound like we'd have time. We spoke to a realtor who asked about the paperwork, and he said we should have a decent enough case to get enough time to get out, and fair reasons to request extensions if needed.

If this goes to court - how exactly does that go? Do we need a lawyer? What if we can't afford one? Are courts generally accessible? If ours isn't and I can't get my mother's wheelchair in, can I go in on her behalf as I also live here? I have heard eviction can effect credit - if the process starts but does not complete, such as we get extensions or we find a place before time is up, does it effect credit? Does it effect just her as she was the original leaser, or does it effect all here? Does it effect credit as soon as it's filed? We're applying for first time homeowner programs and want buy something small.

Finally - when it comes to leaving, are we expected to do anything specifically in terms of how we leave the place? There's a couple pain in the ass ACs we don't know if we can get out ourselves, for example. Are we expected to afford a dumpster to junk things? What about things our old landlord left behind? There's been no deliberate damage over the years, just wear and tear - original landlord gave our security deposit back, even.

I hope all that makes sense, sorry it's a little long. Thank you in advance.