Taking my landlord to small claims court?

i was living in a house for 2 years. when it was 30 days before the lease was up the landlord informed me that he wasn't going to renew it. i told him to keep the 400 security deposit for the last months rent, and he agreed. i was to move out by the 25th, i came home one morning because i work nights and my house had been broken into and my laptop, printer, and personal items such as clothes and shoes were stolen. i talked to the neighbors and learned that the landlord had been showing the house to people while i had been gone. i made a police report.....but what good is that going to do. i feel that the landlord is partly responsible. i was still living in the house at the time, he didn't notify me that he was planning on showing the house to people or i would have put my laptop and expensive items away, or had my mother stay at the house. i asked him for a list of people he showed the house to and he said he doesn't keep track of them. when he came over he didn't have much to say about the broken window, he didn't even board it up. he just left it as if he didn't care because his belongings weren't missing. it is not a coincidence that he shows the house to numerous people and the same night the house is broken into. i had lived there 2 years and never had any problems such as burglary or vandalism. so my question is if i take him to small claims court does it look like the odds are in my favor. i know in the future i will get renters insurance, but in this manner i am out about 800 in belongings. another question is how would i go about taking him to court and is it a long process|||Your chances in court if you're claiming that him showing the house is what led to the burglary would not be good. I would say your best bet is to sue him for showing the house without prior notice to you or your approval. He should legally have to inform you that he's showing the house 24 hours in advance. What's to say the people he was showing it to didn't steal things while they were looking at it? Go after him for violating your legal rights as a tenant and possibly also for negligence. You may want to talk to an attorney first too. He had no right to be in the house without your knowledge or prior approval. You may also be able to go after him for not repairing the window, as that would be the landlord's responsibility. Your thinking is right though, next time make sure you have renter's insurance.|||Your renters insurance would have covered your belongings. Your landlord has no liability for them.



Read your lease. Most likely it says that the landlord has the right to show the house to potential renters during the last 30 days of your lease. However, he should have given you notice that he was showing the house.