RPA Tenant Rights Blog » Frustrated Renter » Repairs dragging their feet

Repairs dragging their feet

By Apromptdeb

3 years ago I moved into this house, at that time I painted the entire interior, the walls were white and the previous tenant had obviously done a repaint that was akin to a Cathy cartoon.  The stove was not working and that was noted in the move in paperwork.  At the time the property was for sale and I was considering buying it, having to sell my own home first I made my offer 2 years and 3 months after living here with one working burner.  Voila, after paying rent for 2.5 years they declined a reasonable offer (guess I was too good a tenant).  Then I became adamant about getting things fixed and finally received a new stove, oven and microwave.

Last July I noticed the side of my studio building buckling.  Apparently the building was flashed incorrectly and water had travelled down the side causing major damage to the building.  It’s now June, 11 months after reporting the problem and the building has still not been fixed.  I was told that the studio would commence repairs in May so I evicted a friend who was living in the studio due to work that would require the windows be removed and the side of the building be torn off.  Due to some slight rain it has now been postponed to late June, 2 months without the income from the studio.  The main house has had a leaky roof for two years, the management company has sent out a contractor twice to put a cold patch on the roof and now it’s leaking over my kitchen sink, still no date for a new roof.  The fountain in the courtyard which detracts from hi-way noise has not been working for over 6 months, it needs a new pump and has been cited in emails to the management company for over 6 months.  The window cranks in the studio did not work when I moved in 3 years ago, they have still not been replaced.  
What is reasonable when major work, minor work are starting to mount?  I don’t want to move, rental property of the nature that I have is hard to come by even with all the defects, I’m getting really frustrated?  Do I need to hire an attorney to demand rent credits for my trials and tribulations?
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Edited on: Thursday, June 7th, 2012 10:37 am
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One Response to “Repairs dragging their feet”

My response: (We welcome stories, examples, explanations, answers and a touch of your personality)
 

Landlord GURU

June 8th, 2010 11:09 pm

Don’t hire an attorney to request back rents for the studio!  You will want to tread lightly when dealing with this situation.  Your landlord could easily come back and prohibit you from renting out the studio.  In fact, I’m surprised they allow it at all.  It seems like they are losing money by allowing you to sublet the space.  Financially, it would make much more sense for your landlord to rent out the studio unit separately.
 
Things that are cosmetic such as windows not opening are not really considered necessities.  Leaking roof… well that would be a bigger priority.  I would work with management as much as possible.  I would try finding another tenant for the studio unit ASAP.  Windows can easily be replaced while a tenant is living there.  Roof leaks can be fixed for relatively low cost, try contacting a roofing company to see what they would charge.  You might even be able to find someone on craigslist that can do it on the side for even less money.  Might be time to think outside of the box.   If I had to spend $500 one-time to earn a monthly income of $400– I would do it in a heart beat.  Its really just a math question.  Determine how much money you are losing by having the studio unit sit vacant vs how much you will need to invest to bring the unit back to rentable condition.

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