JAMES R HARDER a slum lord ripoff he steals and rips off tenants who rent from him Mesa Arizona

Barbara's initial complaint here is one I heard almost hourly when I lived in Mesa. Three times, in that disgusting s***k hole, I tried to move against landlords, in court, for what were clear violations not only of the Arizona Landlords and Tenants Act, but also flat out CRIMES...anywhere from repeatedly and chronically harboring felonious activity, to horrible roof leaks, involving waterfalls, mold, black stains, etc., etc., etc., as well as outright fraud.

I went in with photographs, witness testimony, tape recordings, precise measurements and graphs from legitimate experts, video tapes, what amounts to in-depth forensic and direct evidence of all sorts. The results? Even when the landlord did not even show up or file a written answer, the crooks won.

If you like fiction, fantasy, and other sorts of lies, you should read the "decision" by a Judge Kerry Passey, in my files. He makes up laws and precedents which do not even EXIST to justify dismissing plaintiff's action in a proceeding which should have been a default. This scumbag lunatic, and others like him, are heavily connected with the local criminal conspiracy which runs Mesa... And they feel it is their demented duty to protect businesses, even if they break a few thousand laws along the way.

With the yokel courts and cops and landlords the way they are, you are better off doing what I did: Just leave the rathole! Otherwise, trust me, the only way your can ever win against a landlord or any other local business is with a shotgun or baseball bat, and the consequences of that are horrendous.

Mesa is a scumhole of crime, mainly methamphetamine production, landlord-initiated, concentration-camp procedures, wherein the scum of the earth are allowed to persecute decent people, and this is all orchestrated by the putrid local police and the scumbag City Managers.

They talk about "growth"... It is growth in numbers of "heads", mainly illegal aliencs. These rapacious, malignant ratbastards could not bring in even a minor industry, in their wildest dreams, because of their devious lies... Which is why they are losing their tax base even as they build their stupid downtown monuments to their ill-placed, moronic vanity.
"Growth" here is like Arizona's other dirty secret, the fact that the prison population, per capital, is higher than anyplace else on earth, ever, and that the hobby and/or vocation of most of the "public servants" (aka: thieves) in the state is feathering their own nests and building their own platinum parachutes.

If it were fair, most of those sitting on the benches and occupying overpaid public offices would be the ones in prison.

Leave Mesa, Barbara, live anywhere else except Gilbert. It is the most demented place on this, or probably any other, planet.

If you still have the reciepts of the repairs and documentation of the complaints to the home you rented, you can take him to small claims court and get the monies you are out plus the security deposit. Especially if you have the copy of the lease.

If I am not mistaken, standard lease agreements require the landlord to be responsible for all repairs to property that are not the fault of the tenant.

When you move into a place, you should have had a walkthrough or in the future, insist on a walkthrough. That way you have a detailed list of what was wrong with the property.

You can also file a complaint with the health department if you can establish that there were conditions that were not up to code. Just make a list of all the things that were wrong with the place that could possibly violate health standards.

Examples..

Did you smell a urine smell constantly. Damaged septic system.
Was there mold growing on the walls and the baseboards. Water damage and water rot.
Termite evidence. Electrical wiring problems. All of this should be brought to the intention of the health department if your landlord is not willing to fix it.

I am a landlord. I have a property management company that administers my property. The tenant calls my property manager and she takes care of the problem by getting the problem fixed. It comes out of my rent check and i pay for it. I am responsible as a landlord for the plumbing problems, the appliances, the roof and the structural integrity of the home. I am also responsible to make sure that my property stays up to code. Thus, if a tenant does not mow his lawn and maintain the property, I have rights as well and those can be remedied by either working with him, eviction and small claims courts.

You have rights. Good luck.