| Date: Monday, December 29th, 2008 5:49 pm | Category: General Topics | ||
| Per day late… | IL | Former Renter | |
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is my landlord allowed to charge 25 dollars per day for late rent that sounds crazy to me because of christmas i am a little short i get paid the 10th but she is going to charge me 250 dollars more for rent being ten days late second someone told me that the landlord is required by law to pay one utility bill like water trash or sewer is this true please help |
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Archive for December, 2008
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| Date: Monday, December 29th, 2008 5:28 pm | Category: Legal Questions | ||
| Landlord mistake! | Michelle | AR | Renter |
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On 12/5/2008, I received a flyer from the Apartment complex on my door. It says, “As of the current date, you have not renewed your lease term. If you renew by 12/31/2008, you will continue with your same rental rate. If you do not, you will be assessed a month to month charge starting on January 2009 rent.” My apartment number is written on this flyer along with my current rental rate and what my month to month rental rate would be if I didn’t renew my lease. There is no signature on this flyer, however, the Community Manager’s name is on this flyer, the apartment complex phone number, and the Community Manager’s email address. I went to renew my lease today, however, the manager on-duty told me that my rental rate will increase a little more than 10% due to the fact that there were some errors on my original lease. This was an error that they had made, and I was unaware of it until today. At first, the manager on-duty told me the flyer that was sent to me was not correct, and there is nothing she could do. Then the on-duty manager called after I left the office (without signing my lease because I needed time to think about the whole situation) and said that after talking to the community manager, they will try to lower the rental increase, but there will still be an increase. I understand that once a lease expires, there is no contract therefore, a landlord could charge whatever they want. However, I have a written document from the Community Manager stating that they will honor the lease as long as it is renewed by the 31st, shouldn’t they honor it? I am not asking for much…I just want to pay the same rental rate!! |
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| Date: Monday, December 29th, 2008 11:58 am | Category: Renter Q & A | ||
| Eviction foreclosures | Jerry Powell | GA | family on the way out |
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Me and my dependants need to know what our rites are a.s.a.p. as the landlord has just told me he has received notice of forclosure on the home me , my wife and three children live in. He says he’s not sure of when they will lock us out. Please Help’ The Powell’s |
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| Date: Sunday, December 28th, 2008 11:18 am | Category: General Topics | ||
| Toxic Mold | FurtherFedUp | NY | Renter |
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We have rented a home for two years. Over the course of the two years, lots of maintenance issues have cropped up that were covered up, either cosmetically or with a band-aid solution. Most of these issues arise from a greater moisture problem in several areas of the house. Long story short, a skylight that has been leaking for the duration of our tenancy — which we have asked many times to be repaired — is growing toxic mold, both on the wall and on the inside of the wall, in the attic. Also, the basement — which looked clean and freshly painted when we moved in — has bloomed all over with mold from under the paint. We had the attic mold tested and it came back as Stachybotrys, heavy growth. Several of our things in the basement have been completely ruined; we had to throw out a car seat and a box full of hardcover books because they became moldy. A neighbor told us that a previous tenant had complained of mold.
My landlord has avoided all of my messages since this mold issue cropped up and I had the mold tested. I am furious because I think she knowingly rented us a moldy house, knowing we have very small children. Our state has no regulations on mold. I’m not sure where to turn. I think ultimately, we have to move, but moving expenses are going to kill our savings, and I had no intention of having to move again after only two years. Our lease expired in October, I told her I did not want to renew it without repairs being made or the rent being dropped, after which we didn’t hear from her again. (We’re still paying the previously agreed upon rent.)
I have no idea what to do here. Suggestions?
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| Date: Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 3:13 pm | Category: Frustrated Renter, Landlord Problems, Legal Questions, Renter Q & A | ||
| Landlord threats | Sarah | CA | long time, dependable renter |
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I have been renting an apartment in my complex for more than fifteen years. I always pay my rent and take care of the property even calling security when I see something which could cause damage to the property. Every time something has gone wrong, I have tried to be understanding and patient. The landlord refused to give me a lease when the last one was up. His representative has always seemed nice but she is at the other end of the state. The hall bathroom linolium continually pops up from the floor because the heating pipes are too close to the surface, the shower spigots have never been sealed and the entrance to my apartment sits in several inches of water when it rains because there is no drain and it slopes into my entry. In March, they found mold in the hall bedroom and began removing it. This took over two months and during that time I asked for an adjustment in my rent. They gave me a small adjustment but when I asked for another after three months of not haveing the work finished they refused. The representative said I was lucky they hadn’t raised the rent this year. So after more than six months the bedroom doors are still not put back, the screen on the window is leaning against the wall and the electrical is unusable because the cover plate is not on and it jiggles. When they found aspestus is the apartment, they removed it by putting plastic over the door of the hall bedroom and venting out the window. We could not afford to move, and they assurred us it was perfectly safe and refused to help us leave for the time needed to remove the aspestus. Other apartments in this area are going for up to $300 less and are not leaking. Today, I found a stream of water coming out of the hall bedroom and called to complain. Her cell phone cut me off five times, each time I was able to only leave a piece of a message. Finally, since this was a long distance call, I just said the hall bedroom was leaking and I was very unhappy. She called me back, yelling that I was rude and that this wasn’t working out. It seemed like a threat of eviction to me. I’m tired of continually dealing with slow, uncaring maintenance and with people who seem to feel that I will take whatever threats and insults they hand out. Frankly, I am fed up and ready to find another place to live. The problem is that I have lost my job and though my husband works we don’t have much money to pay for moving. If she evicts me, can I get my security deposit back, it’s $980, and do I have to pay the rent for this place when being evicted and not being able to use the bedroom? |
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| Date: Monday, December 15th, 2008 11:28 am | Category: Legal Questions | ||
| Tenant Foreclosure | PTMidland | MI | Renter |
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We found a foreclosure notice on the front door of the house we are renting. We just entered the two-year lease on October 1, 2008. We suspect that the landlords were already in default when they entered the contract. The notice indicates that the property will be sold on January 6. What right do we have if any? we have copies of the leae, and receipts for our rental payments. If someone buys the property, do they have to honor our lease? Can we be evicted? Is there any minimum amount of time we would be given to move? Can we get our deposit back, if not from the landlords, from the entity that purchases the property? |
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| Date: Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 9:50 am | Category: Apartment Complaint, Frustrated Renter, Legal Questions | ||
| Apartment fire | Nick | MI | New Renter |
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This is tricky, and I hope someone here can help. My roommate and I just recently moved into an apartment (the first of december). On the third of december, our neighbor set his unit on fire, causing extensive damage to his and smoke/water damage to ours. We have a company working on the restoration, but they’re taking their time (due to insurance issues…all parties involved have insurance). It’s sucking money out of my insurance and that’s going to run out soon (we’re on week 2 and this was only supposed to take “2-3 days”) However, the apartment complex won’t meet with us, citing that ‘it wasn’t their fault the fire started’. We’re just trying to figure out why we have to pay rent for a month/month and a half that we weren’t able to actually LIVE or even MOVE INTO our unit. Everyone is pointing fingers at each other and i’m wondering what our recourse is towards the apartment complex? Do we have to pay rent because of this? I know insurance will cover it…but it seems silly that we have to put up the money first and let insurance take their time to reimburse us. Isn’t the apartment liable for ANYTHING? Why are we the ones being punished out of all the parties considering we’re not at fault? Are we able to escape our lease? This certain circumstance/displacement issues aren’t covered in the lease. They won’t give us time to discuss moving to another unit or anything. They’re basically washing their hands of it completely…and I’m not even sure where to turn. Thank you for your time! ~Nick |
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| Date: Monday, December 8th, 2008 12:31 pm | Category: Frustrated Renter | ||
| New landlords… | Heather Walters | TX | Renter |
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So, I moved into a house with a first time landlord with 2 of my guy friends. I only wanted a six month lease and the lease on the house is one year. The guys agreed that after six months I could leave and they would find a new roommate. Well with a little short notice around the end of the 5th month, I gave my roommates and my landlord my verbal notice and paid for the 6th month, even though I wasn’t there anymore. After 30 days the guys call and ask me to pay for another month because they haven’t found time to look for another roommate. Mind you my name is still on the lease until they do so, therefore I couldn’t say no, so I just said whenever I can, I will but try to take care of it. Now after almost 90 days of me not even living in the same state, they want me to continue to pay. Now they are getting evicted. There is 3 of us and a Guarentuer on the lease. What is going to happen? |
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| Date: Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 8:11 pm | Category: General Topics | ||
| Landlord Violation? | lizg | NV | former renter |
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my roommate complained that there was pet odor in my apartment. my landlord told me verbally that there was no smell and my lease says all i had to do is have the carpets professionally shampooed when i left. i requested by email that i could break my lease early because my roommate constantly harassed me about the carpet even after the landlord said it was fine, and he agreed in an email to break my lease and return my deposit assuming no pet damage. the week before i moved out the landlord wrote in an email that he would get an estimate to clean the carpet (but not get it cleaned), and that i would have the option of a second estimate. he said we should both be present for any estimates.
my next email from him is a month after i moved out, saying he hired a cleaning company to clean the carpet TWICE even though they said they could not guarantee they could remove pet odor; that he was going to replace the carpet for $700; that he had several “experts” (a carpet cleaning company, a carpet installing company, two managers of petco, his maintenance man who is a family friend, and the current tenants) sign a statement that there was intolerable pet odor.
i responded to his email saying that i thought this was reasonable and that i was seeking legal advice. the advice i received was to ask to be present for a second estimate. (i was not notified of, present for, or even given a copy of any estimates or “expert” witnesses and no longer had a key to the apartment). i THOUGHT i had 30 days to seek advice and respond to his $700 estimate, but within three weeks he notified me that he had already replaced the carpet for $1060 in carpet cleaning charges and carpet installation charges.
i made calls and emails to carpet companies and there are companies who GUARANTEE their work for $200-$400, depending on if they need to treat the padding as well as the carpet. i offered to pay $200 for cleaning since there is no evidence of any pet odor other than the written testimony of witnesses who all have something to gain if the carpet is deemed soiled.
my question is, did he violate my legal rights by: (1) offering me a second opinion and then cleaning and replacing the carpet without inviting me to any of the estimates or witnesses or getting my consent to pay the bill, (2) replacing the carpet when i said i wanted to seek legal advice, effectively destroying all evidence of any alleged odor, (3) telling me he would bill me $700 and then billing me $1060 without notifying me of any changes (4) charging me to replace carpets when i moved out even though he only cleaned the carpets before i moved in (5) he has notified me by certified mail of intent to sue but i STILL have not seen a single piece of paper or email of an estimate, bill, witness statement, name of witness, photograph of the new carpet, i have no proof that the carpet has even been replaced….
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