My husband and I are having car trouble, and have a baby on the way in 2 months. We are scraping by financially right now. We just rented a 3 bedroom house with unbeleivably NASTY carpet, I'm talking must see to believe. Its a fixer upper, and we told the landlord we would do some work, as she gave us a deal(I guess). Our rent is 850.00 per mnth in N.C.
Anyway, she left the carpet as is, so we replaced it ourselves. We spent 1900.00. Would it be wrong to ask for a free months rent? That would put us paying for half. And if so, how should I word it when asking her? Thanks, I know this is a boring question, but I'm nervous about asking.
2007-03-02 00:47:27 · 20 answers · asked by Sarah 2 in Family & Relationships ➔ Marriage & Divorce
I would think she would offer to take it off your rent in installments until the entire $1900 is paid back. She probably depends on the rent to pay the mortgage or to supplement her income. Maybe she would take $300 off each month for 6 months and $100 off the 7th month. She would have paid the $$ herself had she had the carpet installed herself and not in installments either.
From now on, find out if you could make improvements, save the receipts, present her with copies up to say, $300 per month while you renovate and redecorate HER house. When you leave, she has a much more marketable product to rent and she didn't have to go through the hassle of getting the work done herself.
If she refuses to reimburse you for the carpet, let her know you will be taking it with you when you leave..... YOU paid for it and until she "repays" you for it, you OWN it.
If I were your landlord, I would be ecstatic to have tenants such as you and your husband who care enough to IMPROVE my investment, allowing me to have a more valuable product in the end.
Good Luck with your baby and remember........ things will get better financially.
2007-03-02 01:06:25 · answer #1 · answered by RaLoh 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Oh when I have rented I have done exactly that. All she can say is I didnt ask you to change the carpet. That is if she is greedy but should give you give you a months grace. You can explain to her changing the carpet allows her to encourage people to rent and stay in her rental. Tell her also dust mites are encouraged to breed in old carpeting and with a baby on the way you had no choice. You can as the previous person say perhaps you can pay half of the rent this month and half next. I personally wouldnt offer her too many options as of course she will take the offer best suited to her first. So I wouldnt be shy at all. All she can say is no. Then you know you are dealing with a woman who wont give an inch. And that you probably wont stay too long there.
2007-03-02 09:10:31 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi! When we lived at our old place we also made a deal with our landlord with the flooring and keeping the grass mowed if she gave us a monthly deduction on the rent. We had tons of car trouble and were expecting as well. There is absolutly nothing wrong with talking with your landlord ... people are mre understanding than you think... The hardest part is getting enough courage to ask.. Just explain to the landlord that money is a bit tight and you are going through a delima with the car and it needs to be fixed. In order to do so you will need to say would it be ok if you could give us a months free rent since we used some of the money that we were going to repair our car with since it was spent on replacing the carpet which you will get to keep when we move out. If she doesnt then ask her to let you turn in your rent money late untill you can catch up. I am sure they will be reasonable. I wish you the best of luck!
2007-03-02 09:10:14 · answer #3 · answered by misspookett 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am a small-time landlord in VA, so I have a little knowledge. I think you should contact your local Housing authority (in VA it is the VA Housing Development Authority or the RHA Richmond Housing Dev. Auth) and get them to send you a copy of the State Landlord/Tenant Act (or maybe you can find it online). I say this because I think in VA if the apt has carpeting, the law says it must be replaced or at least steam cleaned for any new tenant (or lease term). So you may be able to use that to your advantage.
On the other hand, as a landlord- I would not feel technically obligated to do anything for you for replacing the carpet if you did not discuss it with me and reach some type of agreement beforehand. In fact I would counsel you that you have broken the terms of the lease for substantially changing a fixture in the house without prior aproval. Notice, I said technically obligated. Being a good landlord I would probably feel morally obligated to work something out with you. So you should certainly ask for what you want.
2007-03-02 10:04:07 · answer #4 · answered by Bball F 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First I would check with your local government to see if it has any housing code standards on how often a landlord must replace a carpet. If there is such a law, then it will help you bargain with your landlord because the government might have told the landlord to replace it at her own expense.
And yes, I think you should bring it up. You are making a long-term improvement to her house so it's only fair that you get something for it. Otherwise, you could gently suggest that you will take the carpet with you when you leave.
2007-03-02 08:53:55 · answer #5 · answered by AnOrdinaryGuy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Can't hurt to try and ask. Maybe as an alternative you make take it off the next few months or rent the landlord may need some of that cash flow and may resist by passing up all the rent for that month. This way you can get more for you for your outlay of cash.
For instance say you'll deduct the rent for the next 3 months by 300.00 see if she goes for that. Than put it in writing and have her sign it.
Good Luck
2007-03-02 08:59:04 · answer #6 · answered by cream city chick 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Make sure you have your receipts handy and just simply tell her with the baby coming and all if she could help ya'll out a bit for the cost of the carpet. She may not be willing to go a whole months rent but you might be able to get some off for a few months or something. Just dont get mad! As for your car problems and such I suggest you join a local church if you have not already as there are many resources there for you. May God bless you and yours
2007-03-02 08:54:28 · answer #7 · answered by dinkylynn 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You cannot impose a verbal contract without having one. You replaced the carpet out of your own free will and on your own without your landlords consent, so what you did is bassically illegal. This is NOT your house and you cannot build/paint/modify somebody elses property. You are the tenant and you cannot do this.
Legally, you didn't have an agreement with your landlord prior replacing the carpet; therefore, you cannot expect for yoru landlord to reimburse you based on your own assumptions and expectations.
You can bring the issue to the landlord in a nice way, but don't expect her to pull out the cash for you. Sorry.
2007-03-02 09:03:58 · answer #8 · answered by Blunt 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would ask because when you leave there, the carpet stays. My landlord went halfs with me. Did you tell her that you replaced it already? If not I would say to her that you guys want to get a new carpet and if you leave that you will leave the carpet for the next tenant. Proceed to ask her if she/he wants to go dutch (half)? Always make it seem that your doing something for her apartment/house which actually you are. My apt looks 10 times better than my landlords cause I am always fixing it up.
2007-03-02 08:55:34 · answer #9 · answered by Unknown, CA 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would definitely ask her for something. However, be prepared for her to challenge the cost of the carpet. My guess is she will tell you that she would have never spent that much money to replace the carpet. However, just stick to your guns, show her the receipt, and possibly suggest other alternatives (i.e. a percentage off your monthly rent for a period of time).
Best of luck.
2007-03-02 08:56:50 · answer #10 · answered by Harry Taco 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋