Jun 15 2008
That Ain’t No Way to Treat a Soldier
Is this any way to treat our troops?
ST. PETERSBURG - Michael Agosta joined the Army on May 30 and was immediately ordered to ship out for basic training in 19 days.
So he gave his apartment complex copies of his orders and notice that he was terminating his rental agreement.
Only the complex, Camden Lakes at 11150 Fourth St. N., won’t let him out of his lease, saying what he provided were not official orders, according to Agosta and a lawsuit filed Tuesday on his behalf.
Sweet. Bleed money out of a soldier who hasn’t even deployed yet.
Agosta said he even had his Army recruiter, Staff Sgt. Sherwin Richardson, intercede on his behalf, but to no avail.
“They were coming off to me like I was a six-month resident who was just giving them fake orders just to get out of my lease, which was not the case,” Agosta said. “I’ve been there for four years and eight months.”
He acknowledged he gave the complex only 17 days’ notice when state law allows military members to break their leases if they provide 30 days’ notice and documentation.
He enlisted on a Friday and gave notice to the property manager the following Monday. Now visiting with family in South Florida, he is to report for 19 weeks and three days of basic combat training at Fort Jackson, S.C., on Tuesday.
Last time I looked it was WAR time. This means 30 day notices should not be expected. And when papers show an order to report for duty, people need to respect this no matter what the dates are.
Let’s show our support. Call the apartment management
727-577-7557
H/T to Kender
6 Responses to “That Ain’t No Way to Treat a Soldier”
Here is where I stand on this. The apartment is well within their legal right according to state law. The way around this would be to cancel his lease thirty days after he learned that he would be shipping out. Simply shut off all of the utilities and move your stuff into storage, like he was planning to do anyway. And I believe that this soldier was obligated, due to state law and the contract he signed, to pay for the thirty days he agreed to when he signed his contract. I am all for special priviledges for our soldiers when they get orders to PCS. Heck, I’ve used this same clause to get out of a few of the contracts I’ve signed when I got PCS orders. However, I never expected to get out of the 30 days notice clause that protects the renter. Nor should this guy.
All that being said, I believe the aparment complex should take the higher ground and let him out of his contract anyway. Had this been immediately after 9/11, then I have no doubt that the renter would have been more agreeable. Unfortunately, this war has faded to the backs of the minds of the average American. American Idol is on the tube dontchaknow?
I, too, posted on this.
Mr. AOW’s experience with something similar was very different — back in 1974. The landlord should be more understanding with Agosto.
Oh…thanks Duncan for that info. I wasn’t really sure how it all should work; I agree this could have been handled a lot better though. Too many people have forgotten our recent history and it shows in so many areas.
I saw your post AOW and things were different then eh? And I wondered how, since so many people were against the war back then too.
[...] I heard from Kender over the weekend about this story from St. Petersburg, FL. Always on Watch mentioned it, as did And Rightly So. [...]
Well stated, Duncan. On the other hand, there is the law ,and then there is grace and life. Although not legally obligated, the apartment manager would be well advised to be gracious and come up with an accomodation that all can feel respected by. Certainly a court battle is in no one’s interest, except perhaps for the lawyers collecting fees.