Emily Gravett and Adris Gelani caused over $10,000 worth of property damage

Under no circumstances should you rent to either of these people. Emily Gravett was our tenant, always late with rent, kept the premises very dirty. She moved in her afghani boyfriend, without our permission and from then on, things got from bad to worse. She kept reporting this issue or that issue, and every time we sent our handyman in, he could find no problems. The final straw came when they caused a flood by damaging a pipe, and then charged us for their hotel stay, and falsely claimed damage to their personal property. They dragged us to small claims court, even after we paid for their hotel stay, because we refused to allow them to forgo paying the next month’s rent. They lost their case. The judge saw that they were clearly lying about damages. However, within three weeks, they caused yet another smaller flood, which again we had to have cleaned up, but this time we kept the piping which clearly showed that someone had purposely caused damage to it. We tried to bide our time, because the lease was coming to an end, and Emily Gravett had informed us she would not be renewing her lease, which we were fine with. We just wanted her out. We continued to treat her professionally and without malice, since we needed to rent the place after she was to leave. However, whenever we had to show the place, she kept the place untidy every time, knowing full well in advance that someone was coming to see it. We asked her on many occasions to please make the place presentable, which was to no avail. At one point, on a number of occasions, they put up a large poster saying that the number of the Police was below, in-case you need to report a crime, letting potential tenants believe falsely that the apartment was in a crime ridden area. Needless to say, due to all these efforts by these two people, we are still unable to rent it. Please do not rent to them, if you do not want a financial headache. These two should be in jail. If you are renting to them, get rid of them as quickly as possible. If you require proof for any of my statements, please contact me.

I would like to take the opportunity to address Mr. Dayem’s false accusations about me. Many of his statements are libelous—outright, written lies, which can be easily disproved and for which he would be subject to legal action.

“Emily Gravett was our tenant, always late with rent.”
- This is the first of Mr. Dayem’s lies. I paid my rent on time (or early) every single month I rented from him. I have bank statements to prove so. Prior to Mr. Dayem, I rented from two other companies—Wade Apartments and Real Property, Inc., whom I would be happy for you to contact at (434) 293.9147 and (434) 971.1600, respectively. My current landlord has also received my rent on time every month since I moved in.

“She moved in her afghani boyfriend, without our permission.”
- My partner moved in with me and Mr. Dayem knew about his presence on the property from the beginning (knowledge of which is well documented). In no way did I intend to deceive or exploit Mr. Dayem; I simply did not know the proper procedure and presumed that if he had a problem with the new tenant, he would have said something, at any time, over the course of the six months he knew someone else was living with me.

“She kept reporting this issue or that issue, and every time we sent our handyman in, he could find no problems.”
- Again, Mr. Dayem is lying. I did have a few routine maintenance requests during the time I lived under Mr. Dayem, as most tenants do. Many of these issues were handled by Russ Melton at (434) 760-4263. He will have records to verify that there were in fact normal issues that I reported and that Mr. Dayem had to pay to fix. At no point did I hassle Mr. Dayem with unreasonable requests or fabricate nonexistent issues.

“The final straw came when they caused a flood by damaging a pipe, and then charged us for their hotel stay, and falsely claimed damage to their personal property.”
- Mr. Dayem’s allegation about a “final straw” is false and nonsensical. Not to mention that the flood occurred while I was asleep and not to mention that the flood happened on the eve of my school spring break (forcing me to cancel prior plans and spend my entire vacation in a Charlottesville hotel), thousands of dollars of damage were in fact caused to my personal property (clothing, shoes, linens, furniture, books, artwork, food, electronics, etc.). To suggest that I caused this incident is illogical. Secondly, Mr. Dayem offered to pay for the hotel; it was he who suggested that I deduct this expense from my rent (a deduction I would have never done on my own). Finally, there was no “false” claim to damage of my personal property. Damage did occur; Mr. Dayem himself was a witness. I would be happy to email anyone interested photos (of which I have over 50), capturing in detail my possessions that were ruined or in need of repair after this incident.

“They dragged us to small claims court, even after we paid for their hotel stay, because we refused to allow them to forgo paying the next month’s rent.”
- Mr. Dayem’s language is again misleading. We believed, based on the Landlord-Tenant Act, that he was partially responsible for some of the damages we suffered. We offered to quickly and easily settle the matter by not paying one month’s rent (an amount significantly less than our losses). In response, Mr. Dayem tried to evict me (if you are interested in the type of man Mr. Dayem is, it would be educational to read this email). Realizing that any further communication with Mr. Dayem was impossible, we filed a small claims lawsuit, at the recommendation of several, reputable lawyers. There was no “dragging” and it should be noted that pursuing the matter in General District Court (where Mr. Dayem had to pay an attorney to represent him) was his own choice.

“They lost their case. The judge saw that they were clearly lying about damages.”
- In fact, after the case was dismissed by the Hon. Robert H. Downer Jr., he spoke with us about the great sympathy that he had for our position. In no way did Judge Downer indicate during the case or afterward that he thought we were being dishonest; he did, however, say that he had to follow a recent VA Supreme Court precedent that had been set. The fallacy of Mr. Dayem’s claim is underscored by the fact that Judge Downer did not request that we pay Mr. Dayem’s attorneys’ fees, a practice common in cases where lawsuits are deemed fraudulent. Please contact the Charlottesville County Clerk’s Office at (434) 970.3388, to obtain a copy of this case’s ruling. The case number is GV09-2672.

“However, within three weeks, they caused yet another smaller flood, which again we had to have cleaned up, but this time we kept the piping which clearly showed that someone had purposely caused damage to it.”
- It makes no sense to claim that I caused a second flood in the unit I was still living in, yet again damaging my own property and forcing me to interact with (a now embittered) Mr. Dayem late at night. Furthermore, the first flood occurred on February 27, 2009, and the second flood occurred on June 23, 2009. The two floods were separated by a period of over three months, not three weeks, as Mr. Dayem alleges. These dates can be easily verified by calling the Charlottesville Fire Department at (434) 970.3240, which was dispatched to the premises both times. Finally, the piping Mr. Dayem claims he has as evidence is nonexistent as I, in no way, played any part in that awful incident. 

“We continued to treat her professionally and without malice.”
- It should go without saying that I find Mr. Dayem’s claim that he ever behaved “professionally and without malice” toward me complete and utter hogwash.

“However, whenever we had to show the place, she kept the place untidy every time, knowing full well in advance that someone was coming to see it. We asked her on many occasions to please make the place presentable, which was to no avail.”
- Conceptions of cleanliness are solely a matter of opinion. I will say, however, that when I moved out, the place was so clean that Mr. Dayem’s own real-estate agent, Gracie Haines of Real Estate III at (434) 817.9200, asked if I had had it “professionally done.”

“At one point, on a number of occasions, they put up a large poster saying that the number of the Police was below, in-case you need to report a crime, letting potential tenants believe falsely that the apartment was in a crime ridden area.”
- I did post a sign in my own apartment, with the police phone number on it. At this point, Mr. Dayem had barred my partner from the property in retaliation for our lawsuit, so I was living alone. Cherry Avenue in Charlottesville is a notoriously seedy place, but I had never felt unsafe living there until two break-ins occurred in April and June in one of Mr. Dayem’s units across from my own. The Charlottesville Police at (434) 977.9041 will have records of both crimes. The woman who lived there was a young, female student, like myself. The sign I posted made me feel safer, providing me with the police’s number, in case of an emergency. To use this as evidence against me is totally abhorrent.

“Needless to say, due to all these efforts by these two people, we are still unable to rent it.”
- Again, Mr. Dayem’s statement is nonsensical. It is unclear what “efforts” of mine he is referring to, which left his property allegedly unsuitable. When I moved out, I left the unit in pristine condition, with the exception of the carpet (for which I hope Mr. Dayem has used the $185 he rightfully deducted from my security deposit to clean himself). Mr. Dayem did increase the rent of the unit after I left, so it may be that his greed is what prevented him from finding a new tenant, not any unspecified “efforts” on my part.

Finally, especially given that Mr. Dayem himself is a foreigner—an Arab Egyptian who is not a U.S. citizen—I find it racist, inappropriate, and irrelevant that he would mention that my partner is Afghan (not “afghani” as he incorrectly stated).

To: Hesham Abdul Dayem (aka “Sam")

It would serve you well to take a few moments and acquaint yourself with the Slander/Defamation statues of the state of Virginia. Were you to do this, you would realize the absolute idiocy of knowingly committing the crime of slander in a public forum such as this, one in which your crime is evident, traceable, and undeniable.

Ms. Gravett’s Bank of America checks, made payable to you, and always on time, are now all neatly collected. As is every email regarding handyman services at 1305 Cherry Avenue, Unit C, Charlottesville, VA 22903. Did you not think how easy it would be for us to gather these pieces of documentation, and to use them in a simple and organized manner to refute your slanderous, criminal lies in the Charlottesville General District Court? Did this crucial and elementary thought not even cross your thoughts before you decided to commit a crime, in plain view, in such a public venue? Wow!

Your above posting is being read this very moment by an attorney at the offices of Tremblay & Smith LLC, Charlottesville, VA.

See you soon, sir.

just read this and wanted to comment.
if you have copies of the checks cashed and they were on time, then this landlord has definitely committed defamation. my husband is an attorney in the field and it is definitely a clear case of slander...if you have the checks and other paperwork.
making statements like this is *not* protected speech when their is paperwork to disprove the lie. this is a very serious crime.
file a suit against him, even if he is no longer in the state, its very easy to serve an out-of-state subpoena.
at the very least the judge will embarrass this landlord in front of you. which i’m sure will bring you some satisfaction. and a good laugh.

good luck

j. goldstein

sam dayem samdayem abdul dayem abduldayem heshamabduldayem heshamdayem hesham abdul dayem heshamdayem “1305 cherry ave” “1305 cherry avenue” travelaly

Thanks a lot buddy for letting us know about Emily Gravett and Adris Gelani. They are really messed with your property. Anyway take care

I would be happy to email anyone interested photos, capturing in detail my possessions that were ruined or in need of repair after this incident.

Thanks for informing. I’ll aware from these tenants from now on. I think these types of tenants are very risky for property.

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