Landlord problem - Landlord Forum thread

Landlord problem by Michael (NY) on March 20, 2010 @11:24

I'm actually a TENANT with a LANDLORD problem. Perhaps you can be of some assistance? My girlfriend, her daughter and I signed a two year lease last April. Immediately after moving in we find problem after problem with the house and decided to move out after giving the landlord notice several times. These problems ranged from an over flowing cesspool flooding the basement, a severe cockroach infestation, our property being subject to an oil spill a couple of years back and still containing an active test well, 2 out of 4 burners working on the stove, a leaky toilet, no doorbell, and an outdated oil burner/heating system putting fumes into the house, as well as circulating rust through out the entire water system of the home whenever laundry was being ran. At times he was hostile with us and pushed things off saying things such as "I'll replace the burner 6 months from now when you "really" need it".
After leaving the premises, the landlord (a real estate attorney) continued to be extremely hostile with me, even with a professional attorney trying to mediate and resolve the issue. With no resolve, I have since filed a claim in small claims court. He threatened me with a $50,000 law suit for the 2 years of the lease. After several months of threats, things have seemed to died down. He even had the initial small claims court postponed due to a prior legal engagement. Now the rescheduled date is coming up. My dilemma is should I continue with my small claims hearing and risk having him serve me with a law suit or do I drop my claim and hope that he lets it go. I do have photos of the roach problem and oil burner. I also have a video of the rust in the toilet as well as a record of exterminator visits and a diagnoses from an oil burner technician. I don't expect him to be any less hostile but I'd like to resolve this matter as fairly and peacefully as possible. Thank you for your time.

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Re: Landlord problem by high-line on March 20, 2010 @11:50	[ Reply ]
What is the lawsuit being filed against you for? Did u skip out owing back rent? How many months did you pay and did you withhold rent because repairs not being made?

Re: Landlord problem by MassLL (MA) on March 20, 2010 @11:52

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You don't say what you are suing him for.

Personally, I avoid tangling with attorneys. They know the fine print, precedents, and ins and outs way better then I do. I'd have been happy he didn't file against me (as attorneys are wont to do) and gotten on with my life.

Re: Landlord problem by Anonymous on March 21, 2010 @01:35	[ Reply ]
Sounds like a real shit hole. Why did you move in?

Re: Landlord problem by Anonymous (NY) on March 21, 2010 @11:29	[ Reply ]
Why do you want to back down? Just keep fighting with your landlord as hard as possible, and you do have all your rights, and keep fighting as long as you can!!!

Re: Landlord problem by 574-Brad (IN) on March 21, 2010 @11:44

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Funny how there wasn't a doorbell when you moved in the place, and now you want to complain about it. The test well doesn't really seem to be your problem, considering it's not YOUR property anyways. Roaches, well I'm not going to say for sure, but usually tenants move those in with them.

Why did you sue him? It's gotta be good if your sueing an attorney.

I agree with the other poster about it being a dump. It was a dump when you looked at the place, and you moved in anyways? Let me guess, it's "all you could afford", but it's the LL's fault that you couldn't afford to rent a nice place, so you think you should rent a cheap dump but it be super nice?

Post the rest of the story and the real truth and we can go from there

Re: Tenant Posted In Wrong Forum by Anonymous on March 21, 2010 @21:08	[ Reply ]
Aagin, and again and again. This is a landlord forum, not a tenant rights forum. Go find a tenant right forum for this long winded issue.

Re: Landlord problem by Anonymous on March 23, 2010 @10:20

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Most of these problems do not constitute a reason to terminate a lease. The test well is only that, for testing. It has nothing to do with you unless tests come back with bad results. A door bell, really? Was there one when you first viewed the house? Doorbells are not required. 2 burners out on the stove meant you still had two working burners. How many do you use at a time? (Often these stop working due to lack of proper cleaning of the burner elements.) An oil furnace always smells like oil. That's just part of the system. Unless you can show that it was putting out dangerous amounts of CO, the furnace was working properly. It doesn't have to be a new system, only an operating one. Rust can be flushed out of pipes by running water prior to using it. The only real problems you had were a leaky toilet, the cesspool, and the pests.

Now comes the hard part. 1) Could it be ruled that you overflowed the cesspool with too many people or improper maintenance? Flushed things that should not have been flushed? 2) Could you be found liable for the pests? Were they there when you moved in? Did you invite these by your living conditions? 3)Was the leak small enough to just be a nuisance or large enough to be a danger? Did the toilet still operate or was there another toilet in the property to use? 4) Was the LL notified in writing of these necessary repairs and given proper time to repair?

Finally, you ask if you should continue to pursue or let this die. Anytime you file suit, expect a counter claim suit. You did terminate a term lease early, making you liable for lost rent, advertising costs, agent fees, etc. If you were found liable for any of the listed problems, it may be ruled that since you caused the problems you could not terminate on them. And you would have to prove the 3 problems listed above were habitability issues (affected your ability to live there), were not your fault, and that the LL was notified in writing and had time to correct (up to 30 days on some of these). Can you prove this? If not, it may be better to allow this to die rather than face the counter suit.

Re: Landlord problem by xxx on March 23, 2010 @16:25

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1) don't sign 2 year leases

2) get some combat max force gel and apply as indicated, that will get rid of your cockroach problem

3) unless you dig up the back yard and eat it, an old oil spill is irrelevant to you

4) you can buy a second hand stove for $50 or less, do that and just put the old one in the garage (or, you could just fix the burners if you really very often use more than 2 at a time)

5) there was no doorbell when you rented the place, so don't complain now: many people get by without one (knock knock, who's there? your guests!)

6) basements flood sometimes, happens to everyone with a basement sometimes, unfortunately

7) don't get into protracted legal battles, it is not worth it

8) the furnace does not put rust into the water, it is coming from the street like that

9) get married