Contact landlord…?

Joshua this is a common problem we see a lot. Your landlord is required to fix things when they break, unless it is due to neglect or mis-treatment by the renter. For example with your garbage disposal if it just stopped working, your landlord would need to fix it in a timely manner. However, if you turned on the disposal and accidentally had a metal utensil in the unit that tore up the teeth and burned out the motor, you would be responsible to fix it. Although, it may have been an accident, it is would be considered neglect since you could have prevented it from happening, I.E. immediately turning off the unit and pulling the utensil out. This is just an example, since I don’t actually know the circumstances surrounding its demise.

As for the landlord telling you that you keep breaking things, well, does he have any proof or is he just trying to get you paranoid so that you won’t keep calling him? Not all repairs are the responsibility of the landlord, but most are.

The landlord is required to provide you with a copy of your lease agreement. So you should be able to get that from him within several business days. However, as long as the landlord provided you with a copy originally, he has met the requirement by law. You do still have right to request another copy at your expense.

You have many options to help protect your renters rights. You can always file a complaint through the RPA Mediation center, this would assign an agent to work directly with you and your landlord to come to some type of agreement. As for your fear of calling or contacting your landlord about other repair issues… Once you file a complaint via the RPA, you are federally protected against landlord retaliation for 6 months. So depending on your frustration levels and your ability to resolve the management problems yourself, if may make the most sense to file a complaint. http://www.rentalprotectionagency.com/html_apartment_landlord_complaint_help.html

If you need a repair done you can give your landlord a written request to repair the item. In the request you should give a timeline (like 3 days) and a clause stating that if the repairs are not made you will be paying for the repair yourself and deducting it from your rent.

No offense Joshua, but as a landlord it can get tiring to get calls about every little thing that goes wrong with your apartment. I’ve had people call me about reparing the dumbest things, and it makes me so mad. If you broke something don’t expect the landlord to fix it. Why don’t you list the things that you need fixed… this will help me understand if you really have a bad landlord or if you are too picky with everything.