Why are some landlord's totally unreasonable?

Question

Looking back on my renting years, all but 1 on my landlords turned out to be a scumbag. One of them would lie about recieving my rent checks, so I had to resort spend the extra $$ to have it sent certified with a reciept every month. Otherwise, he would say he did not get it, make me resend the check plus late fees. The other one came into my apartment all the time when I was not home-and charged me rediculous fees when I moved out the apartment. (left it like new!) Fees for things that were already broke when I moved in that I asked him to fix. Everytime I put a post on here, someone (landlords & business professionals) justify why should pay for his or someone else's mistakes. Are landlords liable for anything? Is it okay to nickel and dime your tenents to death? It seems the landlord has all the rights and the tenants have none. How could you sleep at night knowing you are complicating someone else's life? What rights do the tenants have? I can't wait until I buy a hous

I am not naive, I had scumbag landlords. Yes I do take pictures, yes I pay my rent on time, I never leave my apartments a mess. I am trying to finish my last year of school, and It's hard when feel you must leave at the end of each lease because your landlord is wicked! My new landlord seems very nice, and seems understand what I am going through b/c he & his wife went through the same thing at one point in time. Only time will tell how he will turn out!

What makes you people think that I would send my rent twice without seeing if it was cashed first? Of course I had to go through the hassle of stopping checks, and getting money orders reissued. He didn't cash them or acknowlege them. Why do you think I had to resort to the inconvenience of certified mail? I seriously wonder what goes through people's minds. Thank you for those who read what I had to say and made a good response.

Tardis_mom-the two situations were not similar, and I did take pictures. It is hard to get a reciept when the landlord lives3 hours away! I had to mail a money order and use the stub as a reciept..
Kathy, you obviously did not read my question very well. You actually think a college student with limited income would pay rent twice?

Answer 1

I totally understand. I had a slumlord once. I see you have tried to cover your tracks. Just like another poster says, tenents do have rights. It's just you have to put out $$ to get whats right.

Some are looking for quick cash because they are greedy & broke.

Many landlords justify things because they had a bad tenent or two in the past. They end up loosing out by being a**holes to good renters like yourself. So when you say you left the place in good condition, sometimes LL look for the total unobvious so they can withhold money.

My last excuse is that some landlords are total control freaks and they think the name "landlord" makes them a Lord over you!

Hope when you graduate, you can afford a nice home. Prove all the negative people like the posters on yahoo wrong. You can't always trust the advice you get on here. I have seen so called landlord's on yahoo answers give terrible advice to renters in distress over things the landlord IS responsible for. Sometimes, I can't help but to think it is to keep the chain of corruption going.

Keep doing what you are doing girl. Soon you won't have to answer to anymore slumlords!

Answer 2

Well, I have been a renter and I have been a landlord. Neither is fun. You are right to feel ticked off and put out by your landlords. Some of what they have done is actually illegal. (entering while you are gone without permission) The one that asked you to pay for something that was already broken should not have had a leg to stand on if you kept records of what was already in disrepair. It is always a good idea to send money by certified mail. Every state has a different set of laws for tenants and landlords alike. Study yours.

Landlords have it rough too though. There are a lot of crappy renters and sometimes it is easy to just give up and be a hard nosed meanie. It doesn't make it right though. No landlord should be able to enter the dwelling without your permission unless it is under very specific circumstances. They should also repair damages promptly. (even if it is the tenant's fault - they can always charge for damages but it needs to be livable and even enjoyable)

Owning your own home is so nice but I promise, you'll be spending a lot more than a cleaning fee or certified upgrade in the mail. I think it's just about the pride of ownership mostly.

Answer 3

A couple of reasons come to mind. One is the people who decide that rental property will make them rich. It can if done properly and they manager their money properly. However, some jump into it expecting to be overnight millionaires or something. Pretty soon they realize it is not going to happen the way they think. Instead of adjusting their money management style, they decide that they need to be making more money from the tennant. They do this any way they can.

Another is the power crazy individual. Some landlords thing that they are lords. They believe that they have all of the rights and the tennants have none. The problem is that the law is very slow to correct the wrong doings of a landlord and even then the tennant has to spend a lot of money to get things fixed.

What I wish is that landlords have to be licensed before they can rent property. There needs to be a board to report them to. If a landlord is doing idiotic stuff then the license is pulled. In that case, all existing tennants get to live in the places for free until the landlord can get a new license. If a landlord is caught collecting rent without a license then severe penalties will happen. An example of a severe penalty is losing the property. That is what I would like to see one day. Maybe it will come around. Probably not as severe as I hope but maybe something can be done to do something about the millions of scamming landlords out there.

Answer 4

First of all make sure you have a move in walkthrough with the Landlord. Take pictures of everything and the landlord with a newspaper or better yet use a video camera tape everything and commentate the broken things. Make sure theses items are on your lease so your not liable whan you move out.
Second Read your lease.
Third Make sure you hand your payment to the landlord and GET A RECIEPT!!! Everytime. Pay with a check or a money order or even get a cashiers check. Could be free from your bank depending on your account.
Never Ever Ever Pay cash, always always get a reciept.
Fourth Tape your Move out Walkthrough with your landlord.
Always ask for your deposite and certify mail your notice to move out. And make sure you give the proper amount of notice..
Good Luck

Answer 5

My landlord is great, I pay every month online and the checks don't always get there on the 1st but she never charged me a late fee and I've been here 2 years and she has not been in my home once. I know I got lucky... Why are most landlords like that? very simple, people are greedy... They will nickle and dime you to death if they think they can. And you probably have more rights than they want you to think, you may want to get some free legal advice next time something like this comes up.

Answer 6

I as well have never had a problem with my landlord I pay on line as well I have until the 10 until he will charge me a late fee but I have never ever been a day past the first in fact I am usually a couple of weeks early..i.e I have already paid January's rent..He has never in the 5 years I been in my apartment without me being there.He actually let me move in 5 years ago when my credit was horrible all I had to show him was I was a ble to pay the rent through check stubs..I am very lucky I have never had your promblems.

Answer 7

when you rent the first thing you do before you sign is a walk through with the landlord. Take pictures and write down all the things you see that are wrong. Have them sign it along with you date it and give them a copy your keep the original.Next every time you pay the rent do it in person and get a receipt at that time. Keep it. If something breaks put it in writing and give him a copy to use to fix it. Keep the original. Have them include in the lease when and under what conditions the landlord is allowed to come into your home.don't take for granted anything.

Answer 8

You need to arm yourself! Get a copy of your state's landlord-tenant act. Learn what your rights AND responsibilities are.
First, never give a personal check for rent. Get a money order. It has the date the money order was printed on it. If the landlord wants to manipulate you for late fees, he will then have to wait 30 days, because you can't cancel and reissue a money order until then. He'd be shooting himself in the foot!
Second, when you move in, it's your responsibility to do a walk-thru with the landlord. Write down and photograph everything that is broken or needs repair. Keep a copy for yourself AFTER the landlord has signed it. Now you have proof of what needed repair upon move in, and that your landlord knew about it.
3rd, it is againt the law for any apartment employee to enter your apartment, unless you have requested maintenance, they have given 24 hour notice, or there is an emergency. If they have violated that law, it is up to YOU to prove it. Witnesses, video evidence, etc.
Landlords do have rules to follow. Establish from the beginning that you know your rights and are prepared to use them. You will be able to spot the bad landlords immediately. If you try to excercise your rights and they become angry or defensive, you are dealing with someone who will screw you over. Follow your gut feeling.

Answer 9

And congratulations! when you buy your house you will maybe be mature enough to understand why landlords are so particular about the types of tenants they let to.
I myself have never ever had a problem, but having said that I do know people who have.
One of the landlords I had was really quite a fair bloke. I rented off him and I also worked for him.
One day there was a tenant leaving from the top floor of the building. She gave the correct notice and everything and the landlord arranged to call and sort the inventory on the flat and check that there were no problems.

When the landlord got there, he went (this is what we were told) straight to the settee, moved it over and moved a rug and under this rug there was a cigarette burn.
I, as well as everyone who knew this girl, knew firstly that she DEFINATELY didnt do it. And secondly, she was much the same as me when it comes to smoking. theres NO WAY ON THIS EARTH that she let anyone in her flat that smoked, or that would have done anything at all to ruin her property.

Owing to the fact that she knew that she had not done it, after several 'chats' with the landlord she found there was absolutely no way that she was getting her £500 deposit back. That was a lot of money in those days by the way.

What she decided to do in compensation to herself, was very amusing, though not for the landlord I feel.

She, armed with her credit card, went to the carpet shop and bought a new carpet. She then went to the paint store to buy some paint. She had a painting and carpet laying party, and the job was done.

Imagine the landlords face, when he walked in after getting the keys back and keeping his deposit to see.....
CERISE SHOCKING PINK GLOSS, (yes GLOSS) walls, ceilings, skirting boards, curtain rails, picture rails, window frames, every single square millimetre of the flat that could be, was painted in the cerise pink.
On the floor was corduroy MULTI-COLOUR STRIPED carpet.

WHAT AN ABSOLUTE PICTURE

The landlord had to spend a darned sight more than her £500 by the end of it...

I left their employ and my flat about three months later, when I returned home to find their electrician, had, without my permission, turned off my electric (and in doing so had killed 3 of my marine fish) and was busy WIRING HIS SONS ELECTRIC into MY METER. I was absolutely furious.
I marched up to his house, and I was still bl@@dy mad when I got there too, and told him where to shove his flat and that I was going to take the situation up with SWEB whose meter it was. Then I left, It was only then that I realised I was then homeless!!
But on the way home, a boss I'd worked for in the past approached me and said, "Ah. Just the person I'm looking for! I have a flat free in Fosketh, do you want it. I will do anything you want to it, knock the walls down, decorate it, whatever you want."
Later. after I had taken and moved into the flat, he said to me . words to the effect of "Tenants are ten a penny, but GOOD ones are really hard to find! I HAD to get you to move in here!"
So after deeming myself homeless through my rage at Eric, I got another flat with Joe within the hour... So
I think what Im trying to say here, is Be nice to your landlords because you never know when the need will arise to have to move. Im so pigheaded, there's no way I was going to stay where I was after he had done that with my meter. No matter how much he apologised or promised me rent reductions for not reporting it... didnt mean a thing.

Answer 10

You have lots of rights. Contact your local AG's Office and ask for the landlord tenant agreement. read it. then hold your landlord to it. They can't come into your place without prior consent. It's illegal. If the landlord is cashing your checks, you should have that fact on your monthly bank statement. You are going to way too much trouble. Get smart and stand up for your rights. If you think people take advantage of you when you rent from them , DON't EVEN THINK ABOUT BUYING A HOUSE. You need to educate yourself before you jump into that can of worms. Judging from your naive manner, I'm afraid you would end up with a mortgage to pay and no house. Get some help.