[pa] Landlord Demanding $2,100 For "cooking Steam Damage" To Kitchen Floor, Threatening Collections In 48 Hours. Can He Actually Do This?
Location: Allegheny County, PA (Pittsburgh area).
Before anyone tells me to just call an attorney, I have about $300 to my name until payday so a retainer is completely out of the question right now. I moved out of my apartment two weeks ago. Did the walkthrough with the property manager, everything seemed fine, no red flags. Then yesterday I get this certified letter from teh landlord demanding $2,100 to replace the entire laminate floor.
His reasoning is that there is "cupping and warping" near the stove caused by "negligent failure to ventilate while cooking," claiming my boiling water and pasta ruined the glue underneath. He literally attached photos of the exhaust fan over the stove saying it had grease residue, proving I "allowed moisture to destroy the subfloor." He says if I don't wire the money by Friday at 5 PM he is sending it straight to a debt collector and reporting it to credit bureaus.
I'm having a full-blown panic attack over my credit score because I need to qualify for an auto loan next month. can a landlord actually just invent a four-figure damage claim and send it to collections without taking me to small claims court first? I lived there for three years and cooked normally, I didn't flood the place.
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