I am ashamed, but I will be honest.

[truckerswife]

We moved into this apartment in October. We have been late with rent ever since (but we always pay and pay late fees). I got an email from my apartment manager stating that if we are late again we will be evicted. Side note: I have back issues that sometimes make it hard for me to stand on concrete for my 12 hour shift, but I can't switch jobs because I can't lose the insurance(and FMLA).

Ok, we are going to be caught up that's not my problem I just wanted to be honest. When we looked at this apartment I noticed some ugly patch work on the ceiling and around the window. I was told that they repaired the roof and someone just did a lousy patch job on the inside, it would get fixed. There was also a crack in the dining room ceiling under a vent. Supposedly that happened from the a/c being on and all of the apartments were that way. We have now been here going on 6 months. My ceiling in the dining room drips everytime it rains (not if the a/c is on). In the bedroom where we have our computers rain pours through the ceiling and window when it rains (oh, also through the cracks in the wall).

I can't use a quarter of the roomLast month we got a heavy snow. When it melted I had water dripping into a cabinet and down the side of another cabint (in between 2 cabinets)--this leak then dripped onto the counter and splashed up onto the wall and outlet that my fridge is plugged into. Rain also runs down my chimney and has started rusting the inside of it. I have told my manager numerous times about this and she says she will have the maintnance guy look at it. He goes on the roof and cleans out the gutter. This makes no difference at all. Supposedly it's a rubber roof and it's hard for him to find where it's leaking. It seems to be getting worse each time it rains.

Manager tried to tell me last time it was just from the snow melting. Well, am I wrong? Wouldn't there still have to be holes for it to leak through? I tried to show her pictures and she just said "I don't really need to see them. I'll send him up." We have something in the works and hopefully we will be out of here as soon as the lease is up. In the meantime is there anything we can do?

[BKOnce]

Find another apt to move in. Landlord sucks.

[BigJohn]

In some States, I believe you can put the rent into an escrow account til the repairs are made.

As for getting tossed out if you are late once more; I think your landlord wants tenants that do not complain.

f I were you, I would start documenting everything; photos included. I got this funny feeling when you move the landlord may say you caused all the damage.

[truckerswife]

In some States, I believe you can put the rent into an escrow account til the repairs are made.

As for getting tossed out if you are late once more; I think your landlord wants tenants that do not complain.

f I were you, I would start documenting everything; photos included. I got this funny feeling when you move the landlord may say you caused all the damage.

Yes, we have the same feeling. I'm not expecting my deposit back. My father-in-law says, with deposits and rebates, never expect them. If you get them it's great if not you weren't counting on them anyway.

[dingdong]

What State do you live in?

Most states, and some city ordinances have provisions for witholding rent if a dwelling is uninhabitable.

There are "deduct and repair" provisions as well as warranty of habitability laws.

You need to document everything, with heavy emphasis on document.

Letters sent ceritified mail to the LL addressing the issues/repairs, and photgraphs that are date stamped are recommended. IF your LL does move to evict you you will have some evidence of retaliatory eviction ( which is unlawful in many states and often an affirmative answer to an eviction complaint) and also probable legitimate reason to withold rent until the repairs are made.

You MUST check your state's laws and see what the remedies are for tenants who have habitability issues.

Also, you might consider calling your local housing authority office and expressing your concerns over the repairs needed, often a formal complaint to the HA office offfers much more protection when it comes to witholding rent for repairs, and they will often move the LL to get the work done.

[truckerswife]

What State do you live in? I live in Ohio.

[fltoo]

Get a copy of the landlord tenant code for your state. You have to follow the exact procedure it cites for withholding rent and documenting.

For instance you might need to get a cost to repair and send to landlord, give him 30 days to fix, etc etc.

Take pictures, the courts are not stupid, they will see that damage like this was not caused by you.

Follow the procedure to the tee and you will be able to not pay until it is fixed. Chances are they will not fix it and you can move out and break the lease legally and you will get your deposit back. The ONLY reason tenants, if there is just cause, lose a case is because of not following the letter of the code.

btw, paying the rent late has NO bearing on the case.

[AngelinaCatHub]

I don’t think you really want anything fixed at this time. I believe you would like to get away from that dump. This is my assumption on your part. Am I right? So the apartment is actually un healthy to live in when that wet. This causes mold that could affect your health.

Take pictures, write a long letter to your landlord, explaining why you are leaving and his nonperformance. This after you secure another place.

Make two copies. On both copies have the Post Office sell you a penny stamp, put it near your signature on his letter, and have the postal clerk cancel the stamp over your signature. Then mail both copies, one to him and one to yourself. Do not open your letter. If the jerk attempts to make all these repairs your fault, you will have a date and time stamp on his letter of evidence or you have the JUDGE open your letter dated by the postage cancellation as well as the penny stamp. This is a way of a cheap notary and proof that he was notified. Remember, tell the Judge what you did and let HIM open your copy. Have copies of the pictures in both letters.

Hope this makes sense. ‘Hub

[fltoo]

You will only win if you follow the due process of your state landlord tenant code. Nothing else matters.

[crdply44@yahoo.]

call your local health department and have them send over an inspector. Inspector may shut the whole place down and then you would be entitled to all of your deposits back and could also sue for damages to your possessions damaged by leaking water.

[JRScott]

http://www.ohiolandlordtenant.com/revised.html

[truckerswife]

They aren't going to get their way!

It's funny. The people that live below us deliver the newspaper. They are buddy-buddy with the manager and maintenance man (who lives next door). For a solid week, every morning, the paper was laying in front of our door. We don't subscribe to the paper. At first I thought maybe they were throwing it across to our neighbor without fully coming up the stairs. But then I started thinking about it and it was smack in the middle of our welcome mat. And no one upstairs has had a paper in the past. My husband started to just take it with him one morning. He thought maybe they saw him dig all of the Sunday coupons out of the dumpster the week before and were being nice.Then I told him to put it back. I figure they are trying to accuse us of taking the papers. Funny this week no papers in the hall at all. Am I just being paranoid? We might be moving to Texas soon (husband inheriting grandmothers house). Man I hope it's soon. Oh, thanks for the website. I will be doing something about the situation and soon. My apartment smells like mildew. It makes me nauseated. I don't have money to move right now or I would in a heartbeat.

[JRScott]

Yes they might be trying to set you up. Good that you had him put it back.