"1/07/13
Dear Sir or Madam,
I believe it was in November of 2011, we sent an email to Jeannette Shelby Realty that our back yard fence was falling apart and the neighbors dog was coming into our yard, no one came to fix it until March of 2012—after I called several times, and finally went into Jeanette Shelby's office and complained, telling Joshua Carrillo, Jeanette's employee, that I was frustrated that it has taken them 4 months to fix our fence.
It is my opinion this is where in our time line together that Jeanette Shelby's employees began retaliating against us. It is our opinion they did not like the fact that I was upset and demanding they fix my fence.
The first repairman showed up, looked around and then never came back. Approximately two weeks later, another repairman came back and fixed the fence.
When the repairman showed up, our backyard was messy;
We save paper products during the winter to use as compost / weed block in our garden. A strong wind had come up and blown the paper around the back yard, creating quite a mess.
We had also recently emptied a 150' x 50' storage unit in Port Isabel, Texas, and moved our belongings to Texas. We had a business down there, which was disrupted by Hurricane Dolly in 2008.
We could not move everything into our new storage at one time because we needed to sort through our belongings, and we have so much; it was also raining a lot last February; and I had to work 6 to 7 days a week selling our jewelry at Beau Theriot's Gallery at the Oasis.
The repairman took pictures of two piles of our belongings covered with tarps, as well as of our broken trampoline and mossy above ground swimming pool.
He also photographed our rock pile and suitcases full of rock (material to be cut into gems), which we were storing in the back yard.
Jeanette Shelby asked us to clean it up, and we did.
She conducted another surprise inspection in April with no notice and said we passed.
When the repairman came back in April to fix the fence, we put in a request to have our leaky kitchen faucet fixed.
Unreasonable Invasion of Privacy
On the afternoon of December 5, 2012, when my wife and I returned home from a business trip in Austin, there was a stranger in our kitchen;
The stranger said he was a local plumber Jeanette Shelby contacted to fix our faucet--he entered our home with a key from one of Jeanette Shelby's employees, without out our permission, or knowledge he was going to be coming.
We were very upset considering we own and operate a jewelry store and manufacturing business; We own Bastrop Goldsmith and Silversmith (we opened this on September 15, 2013), in downtown Bastrop;
We Repair Our Clients Jewelry And Manufacture In Our Home
We had about $40,000 worth of jewelry that did not belong to us and the plumber had access to this.
We told him he could not be in our home unescorted—for his own liability protection.
I then went to Jeanette Shelby Realty; I told Joshua Carrillo we were very upset by the intrusion into our privacy. Mr. Carrillo informed me that we are on a “Month To Month” and that the rental agency could do whatever they wanted.
It is ironic that the speaker for the Bastrop Chamber of Commerce meeting for January lectured about home security, and said to NEVER ALLOW A REPAIRMAN INTO YOUR HOME WHEN YOU ARE NOT THERE AND NEVER GIVE THEM A COPY OF YOUR KEY.
Statistically, many burglaries have been committed by repairmen, who made copies of keys, or unlocked windowed, allowing for easy access.
Abusive Phone Call Demanding Rent In 24 Hours
I told him that I did not believe this to be true; I also told him that I did not appreciate Jeanette Shelby calling me on September 6, telling me “to go rob a bank in Austin” to pay the rent on September 7; she said this 7 times, also saying I would be evicted if I did not have the rent by September 7.
I told Mr. Carrillo this was abusive and illegal—especially because we had an arrangement for us to pay our rent in the middle of the month, as long as we paid the late fees;
According to our contract, we have to pay a $50 late fee on the 6th, and $10 for each day after; we had asked Josh Carrillo to allow us to change the date our rent was due, to accommodate our change in income. Mr. Carrillo would not allow us to change the date when our rent is due, but told us just to pay the late fees.
Jeanette Shelby had berated me for quite some time when she had called, even telling me to “shit or get off the pot;' I had responded to Mrs. Shelby that her company was aware we get paid in the second week of the month, and never before the 5th—this arrangement began back in August of 2011.
To avoid eviction, we got an advancement on September 7, 2012, from Alan Barnette, the owner of the gift shop called Prima Dora, located on South Congress, in Austin, one of 25 locations where we have our jewelry on consignment;
We then paid our rent on September 7, with this advancement, and did avoid eviction.
Unlimited Access To Our Home By Strangers
I made it clear to Mr. Carrillo, we were upset about a stranger being in our home when we were not there, and that we would call the police if any our clients' jewelry was missing; I also told him that the liability for us to replace our clients' jewelry would be assumed by Jeanette Shelby, if she were going to hand our key out to people we did not know and allow them access to our home without our knowledge.
Mr. Carrillo replied that their agency could authorize whoever they wanted to enter our home whenever their employees desired.
I told Mr. Carrillo I was going to consult with an attorney; he replied that I should do whatever I felt I needed to do.
This incident took place on December 5.
Retaliation
On December 13, we received an eviction notice.
Not longer after receiving our eviction notice, I began consulting with Debra Cole, an Elgin real estate agent, who is also a client of mine; she began looking for a house for rent in the area big enough for my large family (we have 5 children).
Blacklisting
After I filled out an application, Mrs. Cole contacted Kay Silkenson, Jeanette Shelby's office manager, to get a formal reference. Mrs. Cole contacted me with the terrible new that Mrs. Silkenson, had said negative comments about us for a half an hour.
Mrs. Silkenson had stated we have trashed the home we are living in, and we had “paid rent late 10 out of 12 months,” and she would not recommend us as tenants, and would never again rent to us if given the opportunity.
Mrs. Cole said, based on this negative reference, my wife and I would never be able to rent from anyone, unless it was from a private individual, who would not require a reference.
I knew this was illegal, and began to research tenant's rights in the State of Texas.
I was able to find numerous websites stating that the actions by Jeanette Shelby Realty were illegal—in fact The Texas Young Lawyers Association And State Bar of Texas summed us Texas Tenant Law in The Tenants' Rights Handbook, which clearly defines the actions of Jeanette Shelby's employees to be illegal.
Slander
Kay Silkenson gave in her negative reference to Debra Cole, that we had trashed the house, yet we are still living there, and they have not completed an inspection since April, which we passed;
I sent the photos that Jeanette Shelby's employee took of our back yard; we had emptied a 150' x 50' storage unit in Port Isabel, so we did not have time to sort through everything because I have to work 7 days a week to support my family; the two piles of our belongings in the photo were covered with tarps because it had been raining that February;
There had been a fierce wind storm the day before that had blown our umbrella into our trampoline, and blown our cardboard compost/ recycling around the yard.
We told Jeanette that we had just moved some of our stuff into the backyard and we were constantly moving our belongings into a unit at Elgin Mini Storage; we also purchased a small shed to keep some our stuff in.
We passed our inspection.
Four Months To Fix Our Fence
Several “surprise” inspections took place in April, which we passed;
We had never had an inspection before, and now we were getting numerous inspections by Jeanette Shelby's employees, we found their actions to be harassing and in retaliation, because I had complained it had taken them four months to fix our fence.
Kay Silkenson said we paid our rent late consistently (10 out of 12 months); we did pay our rent the second week of the month, as we had arranged with Josh Carrillo, in August of 2011—and according to The Tenants Rights Handbook, on page 4:
A court may also consider your rent to be paid on time if you have established a clear and undisputed pattern of acceptance of late payment by your landlord. You should argue that if your landlord no longer wished to accept late payments, she should have given you some advance notice.
We have numerous receipts and emails proving we have paid our rent consistently the second week of the month and paid the requested late fees;
According to The Tenants' Rights Handbook, on page 6:
In every residential lease (oral or written), a tenant has an implied right to peaceable, quiet enjoyment of the premises. A tenant also has a right of privacy in her own home.
I do not believe a Texas Justice of the Peace will rule an EIGHT MONTH OLD REPAIR REQUEST is a reasonable cause for invasion of our privacy.
For Kay Silkenson to say we have trashed the house we are living in is the extreme and most offensive of slanders, when we have paid for the best maintenance (and they have failed to maintain the property); we have planted more than a dozen trees and a dozen roses on the property; we planted a banana grove, introduced nematodes to the soil to fight the fire ants; we added an extra electric breaker, with numerous outlets; and converted our gray water to nourish the back yard giving us a green lawn and flourishing garden in years of drought—all this we did without expecting anything in return knowing we did not own the property, we did this to make our surroundings more enjoyable;
We did not expect Jeanette Shelby to thank us, but we will not tolerate her to slander us knowing we have improved the property—and with Jeanette Shelby's permission.
Financial Losses
We have had several water bills over $400, throughout our time living in Jeanette Shelby's Rental Property, our water bills would be very high from time to time because her repairmen did not do very good work, so then we began fixing our own leaks, and also because we did not want to deal with Jeanette Shelby retaliating against us with surprise inspections;
Our two highest water bills occurred when we were visiting our family in Nebraska during July ($476.50 billed in August) and August ($444.10 billed in September);
Out of fear of retaliation, we did not contact Jeanette Shelby about this issue.
My wife, RaeAnne, and the employee from the Elgin Water Department went around the house and fixed all of the leaks—problems Jeanette Shelby's plumber had previous fixed; the city official said Jeanette Shelby's plumbers used the cheapest and lowest quality parts ($4.00 each), instead of spending $20 for the more efficient plumbing devices;
Our next two water bills were $45.40.
Retaliation for Requesting Repairs or Exercising Your Rights as a Tenant
According to page 17, of The Tenants Handbooks' Rights, a landlord must wait 6 months before retaliating against a tenant:
Your landlord is restricted for six months from retaliating against you
because you gave her a repair notice, complained to a city code enforcement
agency, public utility, or civic or nonprofit agency, or exercised a
right or remedy granted to you by lease, municipal ordinance, or state
or federal law. Illegal retaliation occurs when the landlord, in retaliation
f or your requesting repairs, complaining to a city inspector, or asserting
a right you have under your lease or another law, wrongfully terminates
the lease, files for eviction, deprives you of the use of the premises,
decreases your services, increases your rent, or engages in activity that
materially interferes with your rights under the lease.
We received our eviction notice on December 13, just 8 days after I complained in her office to Josh Carrillo, and had no previous contact with her, or employees since September 6, when she called me to inform me we could no longer pay our rent late or we would be evicted.
At the time of my complaint about the invasion of our privacy by an unauthorized plumber in our home, Josh Carrillo had told me Jeanette Shelby's employees could do as they pleased “because we are on a month-to-month.”
However, on January 16, I thought I needed to print out all of my email correspondence with Jeanette Shelby's employees, and myself. I realized I did not have any on my current email address, so I checked my old address, which I had not used since July 15, 2012.
After retrieving a new password from Yahoo, I was able to check my emails, and to my surprise I found an email from Kay Silkenson; Jeanette Shelby's office manager, sent us an email, on November 1, 2012.
As per the request of the owners of our house, Kay Silkenson, sent us an offer for another one year lease contract, with a $50 a month increase in rent, or $100 a month increase if we wanted to continue going month-to-month rental arrangement.
This proves the owners of the house wanted us as tenants, and to not give us a positive reference is slander.
The Owners Of The House Wanted Us To Remain Their Tenants
Not being aware of the owners' offer, we continued to pay our rent at $1050 a month, and Jeanette Shelby continued to cash our checks, without saying a word about the increase in rent, or the offer of a one year lease by the owners.
What I find to be unprofessional is we never received a letter offering us the one year lease contact, as one would expect if Jeanette Shelby wanted us to know the desires of owners of the house; yet, Jeanette Shelby was quick to have two letters (one certified) sent to us, 12 days before Christmas, informing us we were evicted.
Jeanette Shelby has Failed To Protect the Interests of Her Clients
It was at this time I realized the owners of the house have no understanding of how Jeanette Shelby is mismanaging their property, from failing to maintenance their property, to driving out good tenants, who treated the property with respect, as though we did own the property.
Merry Christmas from Jeanette Shelby, “You Are Evicted!”
According to Josh Carrillo, because we are currently on a 'month-to-month” rental agreement, employees of Jeanette Shelby can do as they please in our home, and we have no rights;
But, according to The Tenants' Rights Handbook, we have the same rights as any other tenant would expect in Texas, a state that prides itself on the legality of Castle Laws;
In fact, it is illegal for a landlord to terminate a “month-to-month” lease for 6 months after the tenant makes a complaint, as it is considered retaliating against the tenant.
From page 40, of the Tenants' Rights Handbook:
Exceptions to Failing to Renew or Terminating a Month-to-Month
The only possible exceptions to the landlord’s right to terminate a
month-to-month lease (or fail to renew at the end of the lease) are if the
landlord is illegally retaliating against you or if the landlord is illegally
discriminating against you.
We Desire To Become Home Owners
On September 6, 2012, when Jeanette Shelby called me, she told me I we would never be able to buy a house. I was baffled by her statement and asked her why she would say that; she responded because we were always late—I argued with her that we had made an agreement with Josh Carrillo that we had followed for the last year. She said we could never pay our rent after the 5th of the month again, so we have not paid after the fifth since.
The day we moved in, Jeanette Shelby had said the owners of the house would probably allow us to buy the house at some point in the future. Over the past year, I have asked Jeanette Shelby's employees to inquire about the price of our home, if we wanted to purchase it, I never got a response.
Now, Debra Cole has informed me a negative reference from Jeanette Shelby could actually prevent us from being able to buy a home.
Painted Into A Corner
Unlawfully evicted and slandered with a negative reference from Jeanette Shelby, we are painted into a corner without the ability to rent from any other realty companies, or purchase a home.
Three Reasons Jeanette Shelby May Want To Evict Us
1. Retaliation Jeanette Shelby may resent that we became insistent that she maintenance our home, and we complained about strangers being in our home without our knowledge.
2. Discrimination Because of How Many Children We Have When she called me on September 6, 2012, Jeanette Shelby said my children have “destroyed that house,” and made several comments about how we have too many children-- of which I argued with her, and told her I was incredibly offended she would say such comments to me about my children (we have had two babies since we first moved into our home; one is almost two, and the other almost three, in addition to our other three children.)
3. Austin Community College is building a new campus a half mile from our home, thus offering new potential tenants to replace us.
Emails and Photos
I have enclosed all email correspondence between Jeanette Shelby and her employees, photos of our gardens and yard, proving her failure to comply with landlord laws, and of her slanders against us.
We have also included our water bill.
I sincerely pray you may be able to assist this hard working family of seven (sometimes 8), in our moment of need. We have earned a positive reference from Jeanette Shelby Realty.
Thank you for your concern,
Chris Parachini
Bastrop Goldsmith Silversmith
Austin City Gems
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