What are my rights? This is long but and I apologize would like to get some help!?

Question

My wife, 3 children and I are renters of a place where the landlord is absentee through most of the year.

We moved in on the 18th of January and through out which time we have not met the landlord we have dealt with caretakers of the property and back in June there was a significant amount of flooding in our area that flooded our basement. Upon informing the caretakers of the problem they saw to it to inform the landlord whom I presume gave the ok to have a service man come service the furnace.


However, At the same time of the flooding I informed the caretakers that we had limited use of our hot water and that it to should be looked at but it never was. Two days after the flooding we received a letter from the caretakers stating for any further problems contact the landlord directly. Because they were no longer going to be the care takers.

A few weeks passed and the people that were/are the caretakers were back doing repairs on our porch steps
I again brought the hot water to their attention and the said they would contact the landlord and get a local company to come and look at it. More time passed and still nothing at the beginning of august my wife and I sent a letter to the landlord bring yet again the hot water issue to her attention and still nothing. Now here it is October and on the 30th of September my wife and I again wrote a letter to the landlord about the hot water.

Monday October 2nd I went to work for a few hours and came home. I turned on the furnace to take the chill out of the apartment and when I did I heard some noise that concerned me but later learned that it was a noise from outside. Anyways, I went to the basement to check our fuel level and that was fine.

upon turning to go back up stairs I passed by our hot water tank and A burn mark up the side of it caught my attention and I shined my flash light on it and saw that the thermostat and wires were melted. I immediately went to the breaker and shut the power to the hot water tank off.

I came upstairs and only could find the caretakers number so I called and I was told that since they have not received any money in over 3 months for the work they already have done that I need to call the landlord. Upon getting the number from the caretaker I did so I called just about every hour on the hour and made a record of each attempt for 21/2 days each time I got voice message and the recording stated that the mail box was full so I could not leave a message. Yesterday I came home from work and saw that the landlord had called I returned the call and asked about the problem.

I told her and she states that she will be coming up to where we live in a few days to discuss this matter and then started going on about other things from rent that we have paid in up to date and when trying to return to the matter of our hot water she hung up.

We do lease and I want to avoid any legal action, but I won’t hesitate if I should do so. …

Anyone have any advice?

Answer 1

Try contacting local consumer advocates assigned to the news department at television stations in your area. If they get interested in your story and broadcast your plight, you'll get action real quick. Beyond that, hire an attorney to do all the discussion with your landlord. Getting a formal letter from an attorney makes anyone nervous. That will also put pressure on her.

But, hey, why put up with the hassle...start looking for another home. Life is too short to have to deal with that kind of aggravation. And let's face it, she may get P/O'ed by being pressured anyway and find an excuse to evict you. So do it on your terms...not hers.

Answer 2

Have the hot water heater replaced and deduct the amount from your rent if she doesn't do something in a timely manner. I would give her fair warning before I did this and be sure to send her a copy of the bill. I would also take pictures and if possible get a report from the service company stating that operating the water heater in the present condition would be dangerous.

Answer 3

So.... please spell it out for me again. What is the actual problem? That you have reduced hot water? Is the furnace, in fact, working? Have you paid anything for the repairs, however lacking they may be? I suspect that the remedy you seek is an abatement of rent for the reduced hot water -- in essence a refund for the less than100% habitability of your place. However, I do not see that in your facts, you have experienced a reduction in the habitability of your place from either the hot water issue or the lack of heat from the furnace. Sorry. Maybe there is more to your situation? Good luck.

Answer 4

I you are three months behind on the rent, that reduces your leverage. If negotiations with the owner do not rectify the problem, the water tank, and maybe other things, should be red tagged by the city you live in. You might consider looking for another place to live.

Answer 5

you will probably need to get the law involved if you're under any kind of lease contract. i would recommend it so you don't have to pay anything for early lease termination or whatever. also, i don't know where you live but anyone that's going to lease property is probably required to keep that property up to code. maybe you should contact the city you live in. you might end up having to move in the end. if you're having these kinds of problems, i would start looking for a new place anyway.

Answer 6

I would contact the district magistrate or mayors office and let them guide you. If they aren't any help call legal aid. Do it today.

Answer 7

Renters have rights:

http://www.nolo.com/resource.cfm/catID/31250834-6A2E-4970-9EDD4DAF221A0C7E/104/138/