landlord and rent?

Question

I had a rent check bounce but paid ther rent in full with cash and gave my land lord the money for the pennalty ,but for 8 weeks now I have had no airconditioning or heat in my house because of the theromstat being broken and I have children. my land lord has not made any attempt in fixingI asked her if I could give her half the rent because of this and she said no because i messed up her checking account by law am I alowed to put the other half of the money in escro until my theromstat is fixed regardless of what I did to her balencing of her book.

Answer 1

Unless you signed something in your lease about the landlord's inability to perform, you can withold the rent... now the landlord will probably give you an eviction notice, just make sure you DOCUMENT EVERYTHING! I am a landlord and I can tell you right now that judges in court are ALWAYS tenant pro and you will have the best chance of winning the case in the court room. You will most likely have to go to court with your landlord but they may settle. Many landlords do things because the tenants are not aware of the law. So yes you can do that so long as you didnt sign something in your lease that states otherwise

Answer 2

Best advice would be to consult a Lawyer who specializes in Tenant rights.

If the apartment becomes unlivable, I believe you do have the right (depending on states, really should just call a lawyer) to not pay the rent until the problem is fixed. You can also use the rent money towards the repairs yourself, and then hand the landlord a copy of the bill and the remainder of any rent that didn't go towards that bill. But again, a Tenant Rights Lawyer should be called as soon as you can, if nothing more than for their advice on what you should do.

Answer 3

If you paid an NSF fee on the returned check then that is a closed issue. Repairs are the responsibility of the landlord and you should always submit a request for repairs in writing, dated, signed, and keep a copy. She cannot "punish" you for the NSF check when it has been taken care of.

Eight weeks is a long time to go without heating or cooling!

Do a search for your state's Attorney General's office website. It should have a section on landlord/tenant rights.

Good luck

Answer 4

You have rights depending on what state u live in. You do need to consult a lawyer regarding your rights to an abusive landlord. You could maybe try contacting your local Human Resources or Children's Protective Services. If you can't afford a lawyer try your local Legal Aide. Do you maybe have a friend who is a paralegal or legal secretary? They could maybe be of help as far as advice or options. No matter what the circumstances are between you and your landlord there is a procedure to follow as far as when a tenant owes rent etc. and it p*i*ss*es me off when they withold necessities or won't make repairs especially when children are in the residence. In desperation try contacting the media (t,v, local paper). There's gotta be free legal advice on the internet. Try local law enforcement see if they can advise you. Good Luck.

Answer 5

At least in California, no air conditioning is not a good enough reason to utilize the "repair and deduct" remedy. I wouldn't do the "repair and deduct" thing unless I talked to a professional. If it's not done right you could be evicted. You should be able to find landlord/tenant assistance in the phonebook.

Answer 6

check with code enforcement, but usually you can withhold rent for services. having said that they also CAN NOT with hold basic necessities of life such as heat or water. messing up her checking account is not a reason. so either repair it or have it repaired yourself and tell her that you are deducting the money from the rent. if she has a problem then you better get code enforcement involved...

Answer 7

Yeah, call a lawyer, she has to fix this stuff for you, as long as you paid your rent you owed to her.