I have been living in my apartment with 3 children in good faith for the past 9 months. I signed a one year lease and was excited to finally have my first apartment.
During the term that I have been living here, I have been in consistant contact with the landlord regarding numerous issues that needed to be repaired in the apartment. I paid her on time each month and attached a letter whenever there was a repair needed.
I explained to her that there was lack of heat in my house. She flat out told me that I was cold because it was how I was dressed. There was a 3 inch wide gap in the back door leading to the back yard that she said needed to be repaired. When winter came, I was told to purchase a door sweep to block the draft. The door sweep was too short. Her response to me was to use blankets to cover the back door. It was still cold. I then told her that the drafts were too much to endure and she told me once again, that it was because of how I was dressed. After complaining about this issue, she changed the thermostat and it made the room warmer during the day, but then freezing cold at night. I had to purchase a space heater to put into my kids bedroom. I didnt care much if I was cold, I was more concerned about my children. This raised my electric bill several hundred dollars, and her response to me was that the space heater was %26quot;a choice%26quot; and not a necessity.
After becoming agitated (yet still paying the rent) I called the Building Department to investigate this heating issue. I was told that it was indeed chilly and he instructed her to fix the back door and seal up the drafts in the windows. Because I called the Building Department she has made threats to call CPS on me two times, for no reason. When she did not fix the problems the Building Department listed I withheld my rent. I told her that once the problems were repaired I would pay her.
She hired, (in my opinion) and unqualified worker to repair the door and the floors. While he was repairing the floors, he broke the window in my house with the blow torch. Allthough this was accidental, I told her the window could not stay that way because I have children that can hurt themselves. She told me that she wasnt going to fix the window until I paid the rent. At this point, I went BALLISTIC. I called the Building Department and he put us on 3 way and her story changed. She said that I refused repairs. I then proceeded to curse her out for the vermin that she is and then she hung up.
I told the Inspector that for MONTHS, (which I complained to her about too) that I have been asking for her to call the exterminator because there were roaches infested in my bedroom door, (which she said that I BROUGHT) mice and a RAT (yes a rat) in the wall. I told her it was keeping me up at night with the running, scratching and the biting of the steel wool (which it successfuly ate) as well as defication on my countertops, childrens clothing and floor.
She told me in exact words,
%26quot;If you are so unhappy here, then why dont you leave?%26quot;
Ok, so I want to leave, (obviously) and she wont return my damn security deposit. WTF DO I DO NOW?My landlord is an idiot?No matter what state you live in, the landlord is required to return your security deposit if you havent damaged any of he property.
You have proof that youve called building inspectors and that work has been done on the apartment.
(The building inspectors keep their records of incoming and outgoing calls).
Tenant/ landlord laws exist to protect you and the landlord. I'm sure that if your landlord had a reason to take you to court she would. Well the ball is in your court, so this is a perfectly legitimate and respected reason to take this slumlord to court.
Take pictures of the apartment and get records on the checks given to your landlord to verify your credibility.
Sounds like you have a good case. I've dealt with slumlords myself, in a very similar situation and it just sucks. They dont care about your living situation, no matter how up to date you are with rent. You have a legal right to live in a clean and warm environment.
I might even consider suing her for the money spent on the space heater!
Good luck!My landlord is an idiot?Sounds to me like your landlady is a nasty piece of work, I don't think you're going to get anything done without a fight, and being blamed for things that are not your fault.
I wish you the best of luck either dealing with this, or getting somewhere else to live.My landlord is an idiot?look up your state and local laws (landlord tenant). You should be able to make a demand, if she ignores pay your rent to the clerk of courts and take it up in civil court. Shouldn't cost you much and if you go to court with the letters you have sent and pictures of the problems you should come out ahead.My landlord is an idiot?Document everything you have said here...and take her to small claims after you move out.
Take pictures and gather any evidence you can in order to win.My landlord is an idiot?She is legally required to fix any drafts and make sure you have working heat. That is the law. Her actions after you called the building department is retaliation and also illegal.
%26quot;When she did not fix the problems the Building Department listed I withheld my rent. I told her that once the problems were repaired I would pay her.%26quot; I'm sorry but that was illegal. It is illegal for a tenant to with hold rent over repair issues with out a court order. Yes, she is required by law to fix it but tenants cannot take the law into their own hands. You have to follow the proper procedures.
You need to sue her to legally break your lease without penalty. She then has 14-45 days to refund your deposit depending on state unless the judge orders otherwise. You cannot do anything until that time frame has passed. If she still fails to refund it then you have to sue her for it. You do need to look up the laws for your state though because some require you to send a refund request letter before you can sue her.
Idiots like this are not going to change until the court tells them they have to. They either do not know the laws or just don't care. They just need to be sued.
