I was once sued by a landlord for a place I was essentially “crashing” at. What happened was that the primary tenant (the leaseholder) invited several others to live with him to help defray the rent and save us all some money. (I was young and foolish—more foolish—then and didn’t even recognize the unfairness of this. Unfairness on the part of the leaseholder and friends, that is.)
The landlord learned what was going on and summarily evicted the leaseholder and all of the unauthorized occupants. By this time we clearly knew that we were in the wrong and all made arrangements to leave the apartment within a week of the notice. The landlord had an eviction notice hand-delivered to the door, and I was the one who answered the door. I gave my mailing address (I was such a polite kid) and within a week or two I had a summons from the local court and request for summary judgment from the landlord. I was being personally (and solely) sued for the remaining term of the lease until the eviction should have been effective (two months, I think) plus all ‘normal wear and tear’ damages.
My response, written without an attorney (I was really foolish in those days) simply stated that I wasn’t the leaseholder, so I didn’t think that he had a claim against me for damages / wear and tear that occurred (or may have occurred) prior to my occupancy, and that I was not responsible for any outstanding damage items. As for the lost rent, I merely answered that we were in agreement with the violation, and we had immediately vacated the premises upon notification, so “lost rental income” was a paradoxical demand from him.
Case dismissed.
My point is: A claim is just that “a claim”. If you document and properly respond with a truthful and effective response (and perhaps a counter-claim if you have one), then anyone making a disinterested judgment can evaluate the two claims and say yea or nay. (You should have a “condition report” on the property that documents the pre-existing rug stain, for example, or you have nothing. The landlord should be making his own proof of his claim of damage to the blind.)
I don’t think I’d bitch too hard about a $60 charge these days, though. That’s hardly worth the trouble. But it would be a good idea to put a stop to future claims arising from the same source.