Trae Meyr 1223 Mississippi Avenue Rental & Home Problems Saint Louis Missouri

Trae Meyr, a lawyer at Thompson Hine, rented us the house at 1223 Mississippi Avenue in St. Louis a little over two months ago. We currently have a three (3) month lease and have extended that lease by three (3) months until March 5, 2016. 

Sounds great, so what's the problem?

Well, Trae thought he could squeeze some extra money out of us and told us he was increasing the rent or we're out on the streets... after only being in the house for two months!

My thirty year old wife is currently undergoing cancer treatment and we recently moved here from New York. Trae agreed to rent us the house for a "three (3) month rental period at $1,400/month renewable in three (3) month increments".

Knowing that it cost us thousands of dollars to relocate and that we couldn't afford to relocate again, especially given the demands of my wife's treatments, Trae demanded that we pay more in rent or he was kicking us out on the street. He currently has the property listed on Craigslist and, even though the Missouri Attorney General's Guide to Landlord-Tenant Law says he cant do this, he's doing it anyway.

We have notified Trae that we intend on renting the house through March 5, 2017. Trae has been bullying us around for the past few weeks, but being a bully doesn't make his actions legal. Nor does it make the listing on Craigslist valid. We intend on continuing to pay rent here until the lease expires, or we renew it, on March 5, 2017. Our goal is to find anywhere else to live so we never again have to deal with this person, but it costs thousands of dollars to move and we literally just moved in.

Think about that before you respond to the listing on Craigslist, consider buying the house, or consider doing business with Trae Meyr in any fashion.

If you're thinking of buying the house here are some interesting facts:

It looks gorgeous in pictures. It really does. It's not until you see it in person that you realize it needs major work. The toilet recently broke and was leaking into the kitchen. The sewage pipe leaks into the kitchen closet. The HVAC is constantly shutting off because the electrical system can't handle it. The consensus from the realtors we've spoken with is that Trae is asking $50,000 too much. We've seen dozens of people come by to view the house and it hasn't sold in 222 days. 

Think about that for a minute. 

Do you really want to rent or buy from a predatory landlord with a house that's falling apart? I don't want to, but it's expensive to move! We're hoping the Court will tell Trae to back off and act like a gentleman. Surely he can pretend to be decent for a few more months, and then you can take our glamorous place as tenants and enjoy all of the same benefits!