Landlord Troubles

[Phoenix86]

Wait until he moves the fence, never agree to it. He'll break the lease for you.

 

[MrPickins]

I'd hold the landlord to the terms of the lease.

If he wants to move the fence, he can wait 6 months.

 

[Eli]

Most would think living on 1/2 acre parcels, a weekend party wouldn't bother their neighbor either.

Right, and it really doesn't for the most part. Like I said, I could live with the noise just to keep the peace. But combined with blatantly disregarding our written agreement, we've gotta say something or it feels they'll just continue to trample us. Way too much give on our part, not enough take. Time to take, and what better to take than money.

 

[drebo]

Right, I know. But remember, we still have 6mo left in our lease. So either we fight this and plan on moving in 6mo(or less), or we say nothing, are miserable and want to move in 6mo or less.

I guess there's no way around it, time to move on like you said. Bleh, I hate moving.

We lived in an apartment for 18 months...our lease had a "24-hour quiet time" provision...basically, it was written in to our lease that we would not be disturbed by neighbors. Obviously, shit like walking around or knocking on doors, etc, should be fine.

What transpired, though, was that the new maintenance people, who moved in 14 months into our stay, decided it'd be fun to play music loud enough to shake our walls (we were in a different building). After that, the people immediately next to us moved out and new people moved in, who liked to watch TV on full volume all day every day.

Our lease was month-to-month at that point and they wanted 30 days notice. We didn't want to wait 30 days, so we found a house and moved out on the 29th of the month. They sent us a bill for the 30 days of rent they felt they were due. I sent them a letter explaining that they broke the lease and that we were no longer bound by it, and since we didn't stay past the paid-for month, we owed them nothing. They sent an eviction company after us, and I explained the situation.

It's been 3 years and that's the last I've heard of it.

IANAL, but to me, a lease is a two-party agreement. If one party breaks the lease, the other party is no longer bound by it. If the landlord breaks the lease by altering the property in a manner not consistent with the lease, I would move out and let him find new tenants.

Also, it seems to me that if you're renting an entire house (with an address,) you are renting the entire parcel of land at that address, not just the building.

 

[Eli]

We lived in an apartment for 18 months...our lease had a "24-hour quiet time" provision...basically, it was written in to our lease that we would not be disturbed by neighbors. Obviously, shit like walking around or knocking on doors, etc, should be fine.

What transpired, though, was that the new maintenance people, who moved in 14 months into our stay, decided it'd be fun to play music loud enough to shake our walls (we were in a different building). After that, the people immediately next to us moved out and new people moved in, who liked to watch TV on full volume all day every day.

Our lease was month-to-month at that point and they wanted 30 days notice. We didn't want to wait 30 days, so we found a house and moved out on the 29th of the month. They sent us a bill for the 30 days of rent they felt they were due. I sent them a letter explaining that they broke the lease and that we were no longer bound by it, and since we didn't stay past the paid-for month, we owed them nothing. They sent an eviction company after us, and I explained the situation.

It's been 3 years and that's the last I've heard of it.

IANAL, but to me, a lease is a two-party agreement. If one party breaks the lease, the other party is no longer bound by it. If the landlord breaks the lease by altering the property in a manner not consistent with the lease, I would move out and let him find new tenants.

Also, it seems to me that if you're renting an entire house (with an address,) you are renting the entire parcel of land at that address, not just the building.

Indeed, that does seem to be the case. The rental includes the premesis. In this case, "premesis" means "the actual dwelling unit a tenant rents, the structure of that unit, and the grounds, areas and facilities for the general use of tenants."

It's just that moving the business is such a pain in the ass and takes quite a bit of coordination so there is no downtime, etc. I wouldn't care nearly as much otherwise, although moving is usually quite expensive.

Plus, it's really hard to find houses in town with shop space. Like I said, we were looking forward to possibly renewing our lease through 2015.. unless the business continues to grow rapidly, which would force us out at the end of our lease anyway. So maybe it's not that big of a deal, but it's still a bad overall situation to be in. We were hoping to "make it work" until we could buy something.

 

[JJ650]

I'd hold the landlord to the terms of the lease.

If he wants to move the fence, he can wait 6 months.

You can try this.
It's a legal and binding agreement between both parties. If he violates the terms then you have it easy. Just don't break your end.

If it was agreed upon about the original position of the fence, politely remind of that. If he presses the issue then you have a stance to negotiate for lower rent, moving early, etc...

Just don't push them yourself.

 

[Wreckem]

We lived in an apartment for 18 months...our lease had a "24-hour quiet time" provision...basically, it was written in to our lease that we would not be disturbed by neighbors. Obviously, shit like walking around or knocking on doors, etc, should be fine.

What transpired, though, was that the new maintenance people, who moved in 14 months into our stay, decided it'd be fun to play music loud enough to shake our walls (we were in a different building). After that, the people immediately next to us moved out and new people moved in, who liked to watch TV on full volume all day every day.

Our lease was month-to-month at that point and they wanted 30 days notice. We didn't want to wait 30 days, so we found a house and moved out on the 29th of the month. They sent us a bill for the 30 days of rent they felt they were due. I sent them a letter explaining that they broke the lease and that we were no longer bound by it, and since we didn't stay past the paid-for month, we owed them nothing. They sent an eviction company after us, and I explained the situation.

It's been 3 years and that's the last I've heard of it.

IANAL, but to me, a lease is a two-party agreement. If one party breaks the lease, the other party is no longer bound by it. If the landlord breaks the lease by altering the property in a manner not consistent with the lease, I would move out and let him find new tenants.

Also, it seems to me that if you're renting an entire house (with an address,) you are renting the entire parcel of land at that address, not just the building.

You typically have to notify the landlord of a problem and give them a a reasonable chance to rectify the situation(moving you to a different unit/getting the people to be quiet).If you didn't give them notice of the problem and a chance to fix it, you broke your lease, not them. And just because you haven't heard anything, doesn't mean you don't have a black mark on your rental history.

Landlord tenat law depends on jurisdiction. In some jurisdictions a lease is not broken if there is a partial eviction(which is what would happen if the Landlord installs the fence), the lease is still valid and you are still liable for rent but with a rent reduction. Other states, even the slightest partial eviction gets you out of the lease.

I see the OP having to move in 6 months no matter what. He complains and they won't renew his lease. If he doesn't complain he is just going to become bitter/angry and want to move.

 

[Scarpozzi]

It sounds like you're not happy and want to move.

I'd tell him he misrepresented the clubhouse and yard scenarios. Ask if he can either 1. terminate your lease without penalty or 2. Guarantee no noise after 9pm.

If he can't do either, start calling the police after 9pm and make him pay.

 

[drebo]

You typically have to notify the landlord of a problem and give them a a reasonable chance to rectify the situation(moving you to a different unit/getting the people to be quiet).If you didn't give them notice of the problem and a chance to fix it, you broke your lease, not them. And just because you haven't heard anything, doesn't mean you don't have a black mark on your rental history.

Landlord tenat law depends on jurisdiction. In some jurisdictions a lease is not broken if there is a partial eviction(which is what would happen if the Landlord installs the fence), the lease is still valid and you are still liable for rent but with a rent reduction. Other states, even the slightest partial eviction gets you out of the lease.

I see the OP having to move in 6 months no matter what. He complains and they won't renew his lease. If he doesn't complain he is just going to become bitter/angry and want to move.

I didn't specifically say it in the post, but we made complaints every time it happened. Eventually the apartment management simply stopped taking our calls. Needless to say, that is unacceptable and dangerous.

We gave them plenty of opportunity to fix the issue before we left.

 

[SunnyD]

You're going to move anyway OP. Best thing you can do is use your Saturday nights to be looking at other properties. Win-win?

 

[DrPizza]

"We leased this place because we liked the size of the yard for the kids to play in. If you move the fence, how much are you willing to reduce the monthly rent by to compensate us for the lost space for the kids to play in?"

 

[alkemyst]

In reality, without seeing the lease and agreements no one is right.

My neighbor rented his place and the tenants thought they had a right to his three car garage even calling the police to gain access. He provided the lease the stated they had no access to that space and also that he retained access to his pool and back yard at his request.

He ended up just evicting them as they were already behind on their rent.

 

[Eli]

The lease is just a generic lease, it doesn't say anything about issues such as this. Although we did note it says we must be quiet after 10PM.

We have a note signed by both parties that clearly states the fence will be installed behind the trees. We have reminded them of this.

We stated we are open to a new or amended agreement, but we must agree in writing before the modification is performed or our lease agreement is nullified as per Oregon law. We asked them to install a wooden privacy fence, rather than a chain link fence. We also asked if they are prepared to compensate us for the loss of yard space, greenery and/or privacy, especially if they elect to put up a chain link fence as is currently proposed.

Guess we'll see what they say.

We're trying to approach this cautiously and nicely, as like I said there is a possibility we'll want to stay here for another 1.5 years. I don't really care for the place overall, but it suits our current needs pretty well and like I said it's hard to find houses with shop space in town.

So sick of renting. With any luck, we'll be able to buy a place next year. With cash.

 

[Wreckem]

The lease is just a generic lease, it doesn't say anything about issues such as this. Although we did note it says we must be quiet after 10PM.

We have a note signed by both parties that clearly states the fence will be installed behind the trees. We have reminded them of this.

We stated we are open to a new or amended agreement, but we must agree in writing before the modification is performed or our lease agreement is nullified as per Oregon law. We asked them to install a wooden privacy fence, rather than a chain link fence. We also asked if they are prepared to compensate us for the loss of yard space, greenery and/or privacy, especially if they elect to put up a chain link fence as is currently proposed.

Guess we'll see what they say.

We're trying to approach this cautiously and nicely, as like I said there is a possibility we'll want to stay here for another 1.5 years. I don't really care for the place overall, but it suits our current needs pretty well and like I said it's hard to find houses with shop space in town.

So sick of renting. With any luck, we'll be able to buy a place next year. With cash.

IMHO the most likely scenario is they will wait 6 months and then build the fence. You'd then have the choice to sign a new lease or leave. The noise isn't going to be much of an issue as it isn't a substantial interference but you have alternatives such as calling in noise violations for the loud music.