What kind of landlord won't do small repairs?... Landlord stories?

Question

A cheap a**hole...This guy's a lawyer, so he knows all the loopholes, but you know he ain't going broke.

My oven element broke out of the blue one day. I was preheating the oven, and all of a sudden there's big sparks coming off the element, so I shut it off and it hasn't worked since. This oven looks like it's from 1970, so you know it could take a s*** anytime.

I called him up and he won't do anything about it! I'm having to replace the part and it's costing us $50.

Then I get a letter in the mail that threatens eviction if I don't mow my yard every week. It says, "It looks like it's been several weeks since you mowed..." It had been 12 days and it was the ONLY time my grass has been high since I moved here. I usually mow every week, but the lawnmower was on the fritz. So, I guess, God forbid, if my grass gets too high for their liking one more time, he's going to throw me out. This guy's a real prick!

Sorry for the rant.

Have you ever had an unsavory experience with your landlord?

By the way, I'm in FL and I rent a small 2 bedroom duplex.

Answer 1

I worked nights and had a landlord who used to let himself in when he knew I was in the apartment alone, sleeping.  He stole from me and was just plain creepy.

Answer 2

Go to http://rentlaw.com your landlord may be required to cover the cost of the oven repair, since when you leave the apartment, the oven will remain behind as part of the unit.  

I had a landlord who told me I had to cover the cost of replacing the water heater.  I had to go to landlord tenant court to get him to cover the costs.  The plumber who did the repairs, told me the unit was 12 years old that I was replacing, I had only lived there 6 weeks.  But the landlord tried to tell the court that I damaged it intentionally and I should pay.  Thankfully the plumber wrote a letter for me to present to the court, stating the age and condition of the unit.  This same landlord tried to get another tenant to pay the cost of a new toilet.

Answer 3

Yea sounds like a prick.

Send him a copy (not the original) of the repair receipt with a letter (a copy) stating that after requests to repair the oven were ignored and the oven was  a safety and fire hazard you expect a refund of the $50.00 or you will take it out of the rent.

If he does not respond well you can take him to court if you want to go that far or just find another place to live.

Answer 4

My first landlord was like this.  I just had an apartment so I didn't have to worry about mowing.  However, when it came time to move out - I lost my entire damage deposit.  I wasn't around to defend myself, but the landlord sent me the bill charging me 200$ for "smoke damage" - uh, I was a non smoker, as was my roommate and all of our friends.  I was also charged 100$ for a screen door - I didn't even have a screen door when I moved in!!  I even lost money because the oven apparently didn't work - it worked when I left the property!!  He essentially charged me so that he didn't have to give back the damage deposit.

My current land lord is amazing.  He just replaced our stove.  We're being paid to paint, PLUS on top of being paid for labor, we're also getting the cost of supplies reimbursed.  He just replaced the carpet too.  He also didn't increase our rent, although he pays utilities and the cost of utilities has increased 20% in the past year!  We're good tenets, so he wants to keep us - it's a fair arrangement.

Other land lord things I've seen:

- at move out time, I was charged 100$ because my "fridge was dirty"

- my friend was renting a home from people in the middle of a bitter divorce, so both "landlords" were demanding rent payment from my friend and they were using my friend as a middleman for communication.

Tenet things I've seen:

- graffiti written in condiments all over the kitchen

- 2 year old left overs in the fridge

- punch/kick holes in all the walls

- missing doors

- broken door frames

- random chunky brown/yellow stains dripping down the wall

I really think you should find a new place.  Like a bad landlord has the ability to s***w you over.  Obviously you and your landlord aren't meshing.  Pick up a newspaper and start looking for a new place.  You never know what your landlord will do.

Answer 5

Well, there isn't a loophole for everything!  And it sounds like your landlord uses his profession to intimidate you.  Don't let him.  Check with your town hall website.  Each state and city has guidelines for tenants telling you exactly what your landlords legal obligations are regarding the conditions of the property they are renting.  Stoves (that are working) are one of those things that most states require that a landlord provides as is a toilet that flushes or bedrooms with doors.  He is very likely breaking the law if he is not providing what the state deems as minimum living standards.  If he is breaking the law, you can deal with him in court, where you will likely be able to get out of the lease if he doesn't fix the stove.  Check your lease about the lawn maintenance,  he may have you on this one.  However, if it's not in the lease he cannot hold you responsible for it nor can he evict you.  Go to town hall, and find out what your tenant rights are.  Here's a link I found for your state and it does mention stoves and what to do if your landlord doesn't comply:  http://www.coj.net/Departments/Environme...

Answer 6

When I was still living at home while in my senior year,we had a real cheap landlord. If we needed a railing to the front stairs repaired or a pipe refitted,this guy would show up with USED materials to replace the damaged ones. I especially like when he would show up on the third of the month to collect the rent. He would sit in his car in our driveway and honk the horn.

My mom would stand at the door holding the check and show it to him.

He'd keep honking,and my mom would keep waving the check. She would tell him to get his fat @ss off the car or she'd just mail it to him.

On top of that ,this guy owned over thirty rental homes. And he didn't beleive in banks so he kept the money in the house.

I'm a great beleiver in what goes around,comes around,and this guy had a nephew and a step daughter. These two ended up not only shacking up together,but they took the landlords' money(about  1million dollars) in cash. Within a week,the FBI found them in Las Vegas with less than $80,000.

I'm thinking how in the world do you spend a million dollars in a week?

And this guy forgave them too. I tell you,if you stole a million bucks from me,KFC and McDonalds would be serving some strange tasting hot wings and big macs after I found you.

Answer 7

Smart landlord.

Answer 8

I had a real slumlord once that cared so little about the house we lived in (this was about 15 years ago) that he allowed the house to become infested with roaches and did nothing and he even painted his choice for president on the front of our house.  I guess he was trying to help along his presidential candidate but still!  To spray paint a name on the front of a house for advertisement purposes is just weird.  Thank goodness we didn't live there long.