Hi,
I just gave my landlord 480,000.00 cash for a year's rental for my home in Hikkaduwa. I rented for 6 months the first time.. The first time I paid a lawyer $354.00 USD to "file" some paperwork for the rental agreement. My landlord told me I would need this paperwork for a visa which never happenend. I asked if we had to do that again and my landlord laughed and said no it wasn't necessary and the lawyer had overcharged us anyway. I found a solid rental receipt on the web, printed it and his wife (the owner) and I signed it. We all agreed that was fine. This was two weeks ago, Then this morning, I had to call him with an electrical emergency (the sockets were spewing fire...). This pissed him off that I would bother him so he and his wife showed back up this afternoon. They stated that because of my actions, they had consulted a lawyer and demanded 96,000 rupees to be pay NOW for lawyers fees. I think this is just a power play. I told them I won't pay them a dime. Then they said they could talk to another lawyer who would charge less. I told them I wouldn't pay another dime and would move out if they needed me to. I was very nice, but I am not going to pushed around because the were inconvenienced by their property. I will happily move out even though I know I will never get my years rent back. Is this legal and customary to pay almost 30 percent "lawyers fees" for a rental home? I only pa 40,000 per month. I pay for all of the repairs and materials myself.
Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.!!
Chris