(Your Name and Address Here)
February, ___, 2013
Ms.______
Address
Address
Re: RENT
Ths shall serve to acknowledge receipt and reply to your letter dated ______, 2013 wherein you demand the payment of $2,700, claiming I owe you rent.
Please be advised that I do not owe you any rent, nor did I ever have any written or oral lease agreement to rent any space from you.
You will recall that when I worked for you, I also gave private lessons to the children of my friends at their homes. You strongly suggested that I give these students lessons at your music school and also suggested that I use an empty room which you did not use. When I told you that I could not afford to pay rent, you said you did not want rent and you offered a small room you were not using because you wanted to “help” me. Finally, in September, 2011, I conceded to your demands and I used the little room to give lessons to my 10 students.
Although I used the room for only about 20 hours per month, I did not feel comfortable doing so for free and showed you my appreciation by giving you restaurant gift cards and whatever amounts I could afford which ranged from $200 to over $450 per month which you accepted and for which I have cancelled checks. Additionally, I paid for my H1 visa and the attorney’s fee of $3,675 which the US Department of Labor states is the responsibility of the prospective employer, not the applicant. The end result was that you benefitted by this arrangement in many ways, including, but not limited to, having me work more hours for you than I had to and by taking some of my private students into your music school.
In ______, 2012, you presented me with a written lease which you demanded I sign. I told you at that time I could not afford to pay rent and certainly not the exorbitant amount stated in the lease for using a little room less than 20 hours per month. You became very angry that I would not sign the lease, in fact, you became so angry that you terminated my employment and informed the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) that you no longer employed me and that they should cancel my visa. You attempted to cause me harm through the USCIS, and continue to cause me harm by making false and derogatory remarks about me.
If you give my name to any collection agency for any amount of rent which you know very well that I do not owe you, you will leave me no alternative but to file a lawsuit against you for harassment.
Very truly yours,
EMMA ______