I Have A Useless Landlord! Help!!?
I’m in a contract for the next 6 months. The contract states furnished. I asked him to remove the sofa because it was smelly. He’s eventually provided a bed, fridge, washer, cooker.
The washing machine isnt connected. He told me he’d do this ages ago but nobody has been around.
There is junk all in the front of the house because he’s doing up other flats, so virgin media couldnt put a phone line in and wont do it till he moves it and i’ll still be charged!
He’s let himself into the flat without permission, its made me feel really uneasy being here (im 22 and female)
I got back friday & my mail had been opened! hes the only 1 in the building so it could have been a mistake.
I was told the hall light outside my flat is charged to my electric? how do i find out?
No central heating? I read somewhere that there has to be a heat source of some kind. That doesnt include plug in heaters does it?
ive contacted him about all of this & hes not got back to me. what can i do?
1. Go to the police station and tell them about your mail being opened.
2. If you haven’t already, write the landlord a detailed letter of all your complaints.
3. Go to a search engine and type in renters rights Illinois- or whichever state you live in. Look at the laws that protect you from this type of slum lord and find out who to contact to complain.
The more you have in writing the better. If it comes to breaking your lease, he won’t be able to penalize you if you can prove that he’s breaking the terms of the lease- which include a hazard free, heated living environment.
Good luck!
Take him to court. That’s crappy of him to treat you like that.
look up tenant advocates in your city. They helped me out a lot with my situation. The one thing I learned was you need to write down all the issues in a note to the landlord. Keep a copy for yourself and mail it to him CERTIFIED MAIL (even if he lives on property) so you get back a receipt that he received your letter. That way, if you decide to break your lease you have legal backing. Each states laws are different though, so try and find a renters advocacy group to help you. They are usually free or very little cost. Dont call, always write to them & certify mail your issues
There are too many red flags here.. hear it from me.
Hold your rent until he provides the services he says he would. And in the meantime, find another place to live. I doubt he will be fulfilling his promises anytime soon. Also, call your state government info line and ask to be directed to the dept. responsible for Housing Authority. If he is shafting you on money, you can go to small claims court. A lawyer won’t do you much good in a small case like this, except for advice.
Rented homes in most of the US are required to be clean, in good repair as to not be a danger, with a heat source, a utilities source (phone, electric, gas) but not paid. It can vary upon where you live., but most of the basics expected are written into most state laws.
PS: If you didn’t pay a deposit, or If you’re paying rockbottom rental price compared to similar places in the area… that could be another indicator to get out. He clearly charges less because he expects not to be bothered on the details.
If you can get out into another place quickly with little loss of money.. do it. As for this guy, I wouldn’t waste my time and chalk it up to experience in your next rental experience.
Have you ever heard of escrow? Will if so what you will want to do is draw up some court paper. Open an escrow account with the courts to let them the court know that you are still paying your rent. Put the issue that you have with your landlord in writing and don’t release a penny to him until the issue are to your satisfaction. That is the only way to get him going. Hate to say that once you hit him in his pocket things will change. i promise you that. But do it the right way by going thourgh the channels ok. Believe it works.
Where do you live? If its the U.S. then I would not pay any rent until he does what he said he would do! Good luck.
It would have been best for you to make sure he had all this ready before you moved in. But if it is binding under contract (furnished apartment), then you can threaten to leave. But next time, make sure before you move into an apartment, it is ready. Hope everything works out. Also, know your rights. Talk to a lawyer if you can.
do i smell money? OH LOOK! A LAWYER!
Threaten to sue his rear! HOLY CRAP! No plug in heaters esp. if you are paying the electric, heck no! If there was mention of heat included that means heat included, not a plug in electric piss of crap. Gather all you information get legal help now!!! He is screwing you! He has no right entering into your home without your consent, it is illegal.
Get him on the mail opening too! Confidentially!!
Who told you about the outside light? The landlord of tenant? You could find out by hiring an electrician to come in.
Also call the town hall and report him about to junk in the front, tell them you seen mice and rats in the trash and you are concerned. Hazardous/Health concerns.
If you have everything in document, you can refuse to pay as well. He can’t do a thing about it because he isnt doing his end of the deal.
Whatever you do DOCUMENT!!!! DATES TIMES ETC everything in writting! Then sue the crap out of him!
If he’s not holding up the contract, you don’t have to either. Tell him he’s got a week to fix it or you are moving. Then, Move if he doesnt fix it. You don’t have to stay somewhere that isnt what you agreed to.
I would suggest that you report the opened mail and make sure that doesn’t happen again, but as for the other stuff you are just going to have to stay on his case. And I don’t think anywhere is actually required to provide heaters.
I contact your local housing authority or see about getting a lawyer.
Go to a Lawyers office (the best one in your area) get a business card, then tell the landlord you have hired a lawyer to take care of this problem. (you dont really have to hire one). We did this when we had a problem with our landlord and he didn’t call to check with the lawyer he just started fixing the problems.
He has no right to enter your flat without prior agreement from you. Sounds like a creep ( I had a landlord like this once and confronted him about coming him he gave excuses saying he needed to fix this or that, I moved out after a bit). If I were you I’d start looking elsewhere for a place to stay. The contract you have for six months means F all – he isn’t sticking to his side of the deal by not supplying heating, etc etc so he has already broken the contract so dont worry about him trying to sue you for doing it.
There are channels you can go down to ensure a landlord fufils their side of the deal but they are so long winded and no guarantee of anything your best bet is just to start looking for somewhere else to live. Good luck, it;s not a nice feeling but I bet you’ll feel much happier with a decent landlord who does the things they should and also isn’t snooping about !