My damn landlord!

Spooner

Lifer
Jan 16, 2000
12,025
1
76
My garbage disposal has been f'ed for like 2 weeks now. This weekend, our refrigerator crapped the bed.

We have called my landlord like 15 times trying to get it fixed. What other action can I take?
 

Jzero

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
18,834
1
0
Usually calling a repairman and deducting the cost from your rent gets their attention.
 

brtspears2

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2000
8,659
1
81
My landlord hasn't maintained his place for years. I just do all the repairs and deduct. He has no problems as it saves him the trouble of calling a handyman.
 

Spooner

Lifer
Jan 16, 2000
12,025
1
76
Originally posted by: brtspears2
My landlord hasn't maintained his place for years. I just do all the repairs and deduct. He has no problems as it saves him the trouble of calling a handyman.
Can you legally just go ahead and do that?
 

Spooner

Lifer
Jan 16, 2000
12,025
1
76
Originally posted by: Spooner
Originally posted by: brtspears2
My landlord hasn't maintained his place for years. I just do all the repairs and deduct. He has no problems as it saves him the trouble of calling a handyman.
Can you legally just go ahead and do that?
Actually, we wouldn't be able to do this anyway...we already paid for this month and we're moving at the end of it :(
 

pyonir

Lifer
Dec 18, 2001
40,856
321
126
Originally posted by: Spooner
Originally posted by: Spooner
Originally posted by: brtspears2
My landlord hasn't maintained his place for years. I just do all the repairs and deduct. He has no problems as it saves him the trouble of calling a handyman.
Can you legally just go ahead and do that?
Actually, we wouldn't be able to do this anyway...we already paid for this month and we're moving at the end of it :(

You got your answer for why he isn't doing anything.
 

pyonir

Lifer
Dec 18, 2001
40,856
321
126
Originally posted by: Spooner
You got your answer for why he isn't doing anything.
i'd agree, but people are moving in right after us... this problem won't go away

<devils advocate>Do you have a vested interest in the problems the people moving in have? Why do you care?</devils advocate>
 

Spooner

Lifer
Jan 16, 2000
12,025
1
76
Do you have a vested interest in the problems the people moving in have? Why do you care?
We can deal with the garbage disposal, but not having a fridge is not cool.

Plus, maybe he's gonna try to fvck us and take the repairs out of our security deposit
 

pyonir

Lifer
Dec 18, 2001
40,856
321
126
Send a certified letter to him so you have proof that you notified him of the problems before you moved out (to protect your security deposit).

I hear ya about not having a fridge. And i guess not having one would be "not cool" :p
 

Iron Woode

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 10, 1999
31,306
12,822
136
Originally posted by: Spooner
Originally posted by: brtspears2
My landlord hasn't maintained his place for years. I just do all the repairs and deduct. He has no problems as it saves him the trouble of calling a handyman.
Can you legally just go ahead and do that?
Yes you can.

At least here we have laws that dictate just how long it must take a Landlord to fix things. If he takes too long after repeated requests, you can get the repairs done by someone else and give the bill to the Landlord.
 

DurocShark

Lifer
Apr 18, 2001
15,708
5
56
For a deduction to be legal, you have to notify the manager in writing and give him a reasonable timeframe FROM THE TIME OF THE WRITTEN NOTIFICATION to perform the repair. 7 days is usually the standard, but depends on your state.

You can try just doing it, but you won't have much defense if the landlord says "Tough chit!"
 

amnesiac

Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
15,781
1
71
- Check with your local apartment association to see what rights you have and what actions you can take
- typically, it is stipulated that if there is a major problem, the landlord / manager must take action to fix it in a "reasonable amount of time," which in most cases is about 3 days for something critical.
- If after a "Reasonable amount of time" you are still having problems you may go ahead and repair it yourself, give the landlord a copy of the bill, and take it out of your rent yourself. If the landlord has a problem with this, refer them to the apartment association. THey have very good tenant protections in place.
 

Spooner

Lifer
Jan 16, 2000
12,025
1
76
Send a certified letter to him so you have proof that you notified him of the problems before you moved out (to protect your security deposit).
Couldn't he just claim he never received it? Or does a certified letter require a signature?

What is the legality of a landlord providing repairs? Crap, I don't even know if we still have a copy of our lease.

We suck.
 

Vette73

Lifer
Jul 5, 2000
21,503
9
0
Originally posted by: Iron Woode
Originally posted by: Spooner
Originally posted by: brtspears2
My landlord hasn't maintained his place for years. I just do all the repairs and deduct. He has no problems as it saves him the trouble of calling a handyman.
Can you legally just go ahead and do that?
Yes you can.

At least here we have laws that dictate just how long it must take a Landlord to fix things. If he takes too long after repeated requests, you can get the repairs done by someone else and give the bill to the Landlord.


Not always. Greatly depends on the state. So check YOUR state laws before trying this.

But do as someone else said, send a ceterfied letter stating the problems. And also ask for rent back for the days you were without fridge.