Tennant wants to sue me - Landlord Forum thread

Tennant wants to sue me by Agni (Pa) on April 9, 2012 @16:58

I posted whole story about me and DT in 'Wish me good luck updated".We still do not have water waiting for income tax check to fix a water pomp which serves whole property.Did i brake Pa Act if i am not able to serve a water ?especially because of tenants non payments?DT has no water,but two other tenants as well as me.When the water pomp started to braking up i informed all tenants offering them a credit or if do not accept it option to quit with out any consequences.All accepted except DT and signed acknowledgment letter and stayed and suffering.Most of the was delayed with payments,i gave them brake and they went current.I feel bad about this situation :(

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Re: Tennant wants to sue me by Anonymous on April 9, 2012 @17:17	[ Reply ]

Not having water is a habitability issue for all involved. You really need to break out your credit card and get this fixed NOW and not wait for your tax refund check!!! If a tenant does not want to accept a credit that you are offering, and if they do not accept the option to quit without any consequences, you still have to take steps to mitigate this as you may face a legal issue down the road since you are delaying a fix until you have your tax return money! You may want to send a notice to ALL and offer choices, that they will select ONE choice, select, date and return to you. I think legally, you can only offer an immediate quit without consequence, or offer that the tenants find other lodgings and you will pro-rate their rent for the days/nights they are displaced, and as a show of good faith, you may want to provide $20/day for meals per person (if you can afford it, as that money-for-meals will show you're not only aware of the inconvenience, but you are trying to make things better.). I could be wrong. I could have misread your post above. I know you want to give them a break, but really, you have to do what's legal and what will cover your anatomy!

Re: Tennant wants to sue me

Re: Tennant wants to sue me by Anonymous on April 9, 2012 @18:19	[ Reply ]

Your tenants can decide to withhold rent for this issue as well as file a complaint with the local municipality heath or code enforcement department which can heavily fine you. If your tenants decide to leave, they can ask or sue you for moving costs because essentially by not providing adequate water supply (and river water pumped in is not adequate) they are being forced to live somewhere else in order to get a basic need. And your letter that you had them sign that signed their rights away and said they accept the suffering might not stand up in court. Not having money at that time or a credit card is not a legal excuse to not have something like the water pump repaired. You can apply for a credit card or get a loan if you needed to. If you cannot provide the basic elements in a rental home and make timely repairs for essential and vital utilities, then perhaps the rental business is not one you should pursue any longer.

Re: Tennant wants to sue me by Anonymous on April 9, 2012 @18:27	[ Reply ]

The tenant can sue you and will probably win. You've received helpful responses. Why on earth would you jeopardize yourself by permitting this water situation to continue. This is America. Generally, in situations such as this which can be considered duress (and fear of retaliation by YOU if the tenants don't sign that letter giving up their rights), IT IS NOT LEGAL TO SIGN AWAY YOUR RIGHTS and it won't hold up in court! No one can sign away their rights in cases like this and accept the suffering. You are soooo wrong to do this! Big warning: Fix this problem and FIX IT NOW. I'm not trying to be doom and gloom, but you need to hear this straight up.

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Re: Tennant wants to sue me by Mary on April 9, 2012 @18:59	[ Reply ]

"....But lets keep this subject for other forum, lets take care of landlords problems here:)" You need to spent some time doing some taking care of your property. Your worry is not with the Constitution or Founding Fathers, but will be with the Court system for failure to repair your water pump in a timely manner. When the tenant sues you, the other tenants will be drawn into the law suit also by the attorneys.

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Re: Tennant wants to sue me by Anonymous on April 9, 2012 @23:54	[ Reply ]

Well, when a LL simply doesn't have the money, how would you folks suggest they pay for large expenses? When the well runs dry it run dry - and whole lotta wells are runnign dry these days thanks to the government stealing all our money in taxes and squandering it... This should be a lesson to others that unless you have a LOT of money behind you, being a landlord could result in yoru going bankrupt if your well runs dry and your tenatns sue you and sic the city on you for habtability issues.

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Re: Tennant wants to sue me by Betty L. on April 10, 2012 @10:26	[ Reply ]

"We still do not have water waiting for income tax check to fix a water pomp which serves whole property" This is real bad of you as a landlord. You should have had reserved funds set a side for emergencies. You run the risk of the building or health department pulling your C/O permit, which means everyone will have to move out! Under PA law, this should have been fixed within a few days at the most! If you do not have the money to operate the rental property correctly, then you should consider getting out of the business. You should at least take some courses on running a business from your local college or apartment association.

Re: Tennant wants to sue me