How to File a complaint against your land lord.

[JollyRojer]

So ive been having issues with my land lord ever since the day i moved in. i guess i will cliff it all up for you guys in short...

Moved in june 1st

Filed repair contract on june 4th (before the deadline outlining everything damaged in the apartment from previous owner)
Main concerns are the animals eating threw the ceiling in the storage and the fact that none of the door handles locked, latched, or even stayed together.
No repairs have been made and i get a phone call on the 29th of june that Jay (my land lord) has returned to Bosnia for the month, without calling anyone.

Now to july.

I come home july 4th around 1am to find water literally draining into my bedroom from just outside the closet. I call the other land lord absolutely screaming he of course, doesnt answer and i leave a very very angry voicemail. Within 3 minutes a woman calls me back and asks me to go upstairs and ask the women to stop doing whatever shes doing (flushing the toilet of course) and they will send a plumber in the morning. WHICH HAS YET TO HAPPEN.

August now.

One of his friends comes down to replace the front door knob that repeatedly falls apart in everyones hands. He of course does not make sure the door actually latches (which it doesnt) nor does he leave me a key for the new door knob. mind you, there is a 3 page repair contract FULL of things to be fixed and as of now hes literally fixed ONE doorknob. IM STILL GETTING SEWAGE LEAKING FROM THE CEILING INTO MY ROOM.

September.

The animals tearing up the ceiling in the storage room have decided the soaking wet ceiling in my bedroom is much easier to chew threw and have created a 4x4" hole in the ceiling. STILL NO REPAIRS MADE.

August.

My original land lord returns from bosnia or whatever and mails me a 50$ late fee for withholding rent untill the doorknob was fixed the month before, i mailed it back to him saying i wasnt going to pay any fees untill everything in my apartment is fixed.

September

Now its starting to get cold, so i go to turn my heat on (one gas heater in the master bedroom HUGE CODE VIOLATION, and one heater attached to the gas stove) of course its a code violation for me to light them but he hadnt answered my calls in a week so i figured what the **** ill go for it. Neither the stove heater nor the space heater light. Come to find out 3 weeks later THEY'VE BEEN LEAKING GAS INTO THE APARTMENT! due to old frozen open valves, the moment i turned the gas on they began leeking. MIND YOU I HAVE NO STOVE OR HEAT at this point. i had a stove when i moved in but they removed the old electric stove and put in the gas in September and my oven hadnt worked since.

October

Still no heat, its been a month and i with held rent untill he got a gas guy out to fix everything, so the gas guy removes the space heater from the bedroom telling me how huge of a violation that is (10k$+ fine) puts it in the kitchen, lights it and then removes the old stove thats broke and doesnt work. he calls my landlord to get the check and my landlord REFUSES to come down and pay for any of the work thats been done, so the gas guy removes everything and tells me hes sorry and then leaves. ITS NOW THE 27th of october, i havnt had heat or a stove in 2 months, ive got sewage leaking into my room, mold in the bathroom form improper ventilation, a porch ready to collapse its so badly deteriorated and thats just to start.

How and who do i need to get in touch with to get this made right, bc im about to do it with my 12ga winchester 1300.


Cliffs - read it, you cant help me with my problem without at least skimmin it.

[chevy84sdime]

So you've been there for a few months. From what I can understand from the thread, you HAVE been paying your monthly rent. If I was you, I would live in it for another month (if possible) to see if the shit gets fixed. I would NOT pay him what you previously owe him, or the next month you live there. If the shit's still not fixed, I would write him a letter telling him how shitty he is and how crappy of a landlord he is and tell him that because the last few months of your life have been a living hell, he won't be seeing another payment from you.

But that's just me.

[rmoore911]

a)you should leave out the making it right part with your shotgun, cause you won't

b)contact the city, and ask to have someone from the housing authority come look at the apartment/house and have it deemed unliveable so you can get out of your lease and find a new place

c)file small claims for rent paid, stating that your landlord has violated his end of the repair agreement, more than likely this will get your lease agreement voided so you can find a new place


i've got a feeling you're going to say something like i can't afford to find another place or you don't want to find a new place. . .however, living in that shit hole isn't necessary. . .technically, since he's refused to complete the repairs promised in a timely manner, you can skate out on your lease agreement all together. . .he's voided his basic responsibilities of a landlord, and denied you your basic rights as a renter . . .

[ipaintshit]

get ahold of your city have it condemed or blighted tell them what you told us and move you cant live there the mold will make you deathly sick and being cold will only make it worse plus animal feces will make you sick as hell too there are real health code violations there and from the sounds of it the dwelling is unfit for habitation with hold your rent use it to find another apartment.

[montec]

Follow rmorre911 options.

Also contact the state officals too. Health dept, building code officials, among how ever many other depts and officials you can get tied up in this mess to make your landlords life a living hell and to make sure he can't do rental property again, these are the people that need to be banned from renting to people. Also contact your local news media also.

I also asume you have a copy of that repair contract. If so you can also call a local contractor possibly and have they draw up an estimate on how much all that will cost to repair. And I would do the small claims for rent paid and also something to do with possible health conditions. Like getting the flu or cold or what not.

[rmoore911]

if you honestly don't want to move out, file a complaint with HUD . . .or contact your Attorney General's Office . . .but i would get the hell out of dodge

[Futuresweets10]

Post pics of all of this.....

[xJuice]

Quote: Originally Posted by JollyRojer

Filed repair contract on june 4th (before the deadline outlining everything damaged in the apartment from previous owner)
Main concerns are the animals eating threw the ceiling in the storage and the fact that none of the door handles locked, latched, or even stayed together.

Moving into this was your first mistake.

[Semper]

get out of there. why you would be there since june with nothing fixed...

amazing how hard some people still get punked these days

[towb3]

Filing any complaints will make his life a living hell as well. Your best bet would to be move out when you start the process. I know retaliation from the landlord is also punishable by law, but he has not had any problems being a slumlord yet.

[Woody B. Low]

I couldn't agree any more with rmoore911 and Futuresweets10. I suggest that you document everything thoroughly from phone calls between you and your landlord to pictures.

[JollyRojer]

Thanks for all the tips guys.

rmoore, the shotgun comment is striclty due to how frusterated i am with the entire situation.

I CAN afford to move, but ide rather not piss away my 1500$ security deposit skating on the lease. Ive made it very clear to him how extremely unsatisfied i am so i doubt writing a letter to him will change much, ive gotten in touch with the housing board this morning i was just curious at 6am what sort of steps i need to take to do things correctly.

I realizing moving in before the repair agreement was a mistake HOWEVER i documented EVERY ding and tear in the entire apartment before we began moving our things in so im covered there.

as for making his life a livin hell, he literally owns 44 other houses in the city and from what ive gathered from about 20 other tenants literally all 44 houses have one of these kind of issues that could most definitely keep him from renting ever again. thanks for the help guys i will give you an update when somone from the housing board calls me back.

ive made every rent payment in a timely fashion save that one witheld payment (he got the check on the 13th hardly late) and that was only because he refused to get my heat setup. thanks again guys hopefully i can get this worked out bc im extremely upset.

[JollyRojer]

Quote: Originally Posted by Semper

get out of there. why you would be there since june with nothing fixed...

amazing how hard some people still get punked these days

i fell into that box of worrying about getting everything paid for, im still recovering from the second shoulder surgery and ive still yet to even make a dent in the 1st surgerys bill so im not exactly in the best position to be strong arming people because im alittle unhappy however ive reached my breaking point and im not going to put up with this any longer, injury or not.

[MikawN]

Let us know how things go down. I love seeing scum get busted.

[Semper]

Quote: Originally Posted by JollyRojer

i fell into that box of worrying about getting everything paid for, im still recovering from the second shoulder surgery and ive still yet to even make a dent in the 1st surgerys bill so im not exactly in the best position to be strong arming people because im alittle unhappy however ive reached my breaking point and im not going to put up with this any longer, injury or not.

ya. get better. and take it to court that way you can get the lease voided and move on. no way i could deal with sewage going into my closet haha

[JollyRojer]

Quote: Originally Posted by MikawN

Let us know how things go down. I love seeing scum get busted.

thanks, housing inspector is comin today to take a look at this.


thanks, man i appreciate the good words , this is only my second renting experience so im still pretty noob.

it wish it was in my closet it empty literally right into the middle of the floor and the carpets gonna need replaced obviously.

[00xtremeninja]

as noted earlier, make sure you have pics of all of this. We had some crappy landlords (not as bad as you though) who never returned our calls or letters when we said we were moving out.

the girl upstrais had her bathwater start to drain into our bed room. we called the emergency weekend contact and the guy said he wasn't going to come out because he was already out in Minneapolis once that day and he lived in St. Paul. Left an angry voice mail for the landlord. heard nothing back from him.

we move out and get a letter forwarded to our house saying we didn't give notice, never returned our keys, and they were trying to charge us for rent not payed and having to repaint our apartment.

We mailed them a copy of the contract saying that painting was OK and didn't need to be repainted when we left, sent copies of our pics from the damage of the bath water as well as photocopied written logs of when we called to tell them we were leaving a few months prior. The keys were left in the mailbox across the street for some dipshit who worked for the landlord. Needless to say, they never tried to contact us again.

[JollyRojer]

i honestly think if i was 100 able bodied i would have gotten to this point much earlier but the fact that i cant really MOVE anything in or out of the apartment is a huge wedge in any swift moving plans we could have had.

thanks a bunch for the story at least i know there might be some sort of positive light at the end of this tunnel.there is so much to rent in this part of town i know i can find something 10x as nice for the price we are paying.


edit - any one else have any stories? ide love to hear about anyone else experience and maybe learn from them.

[slonlow2000]

Wow, that sounds like a sh**y deal. Hope it all gets resolved, all I ever has was annoying neighbors in my old apartments.

[JollyRojer]

ive been blessed with wonderfull neighbors robyn and shawn have gone out of there way to try and make us comfortable i wish they owned the building! but unfortunately thats now how its goin. the health inspector just called me and hes going to be out here today so wohho!!

[towb3]

Quote: Originally Posted by JollyRojer

i honestly think if i was 100 able bodied i would have gotten to this point much earlier but the fact that i cant really MOVE anything in or out of the apartment is a huge wedge in any swift moving plans we could have had.

thanks a bunch for the story at least i know there might be some sort of positive light at the end of this tunnel.there is so much to rent in this part of town i know i can find something 10x as nice for the price we are paying.


edit - any one else have any stories? ide love to hear about anyone else experience and maybe learn from them.

I moved into one of the "room for rent" deals in the news paper on last minute. I was told I have a couple of roommates. A couple is 2-3 right? ha. I didn't see anybody for a couple of weeks, next thing you know there was 15 people living in the house. Big house, but still. Every one of them paying at least 400 a month. We started having power and water getting cut (landlord was paying for, sorry not paying for) When one of the roommates went to go pay bill and get them on, found out that the bill had never been paid. 3 months or so behind. Of course we end up getting a police ordered eviction notice and move into another house. It happened to be a friend of hers. I did it for short term, till I could find a real apartment. This particular house only had 5 people in it. haha. One was a 60 yr old alcoholic lady and a schizophrenic 20 year old chick. Crazy stuff ended up going down. One guy got into an argument with landlord and she called cops complaining about 150lbs of marijuana hidden in his room. LMao. He got arrested on sum b.s. The arresting cop happened to be the real homeowner. He was renting to her and she was illegally subleasing out. Charges got dropped on the roommate for info on the landlord. It led to some crazy number of Fraud charges in excess of hundreds of thousands of dollars, illegal boarding houses, check cashing fraud, I even think something to do with federal mail laws, etc. We were required to move out for one week, then move back in after that period of time. I had already packed my bags and jetted to my new apartment. It was like living on cloud nine after all that.

Find out as much dirt as possible on the landlord. It shouldn't be that hard. The more info you have, the more he has to fight or prove. Good luck, you are in for a rocky road for a little bit.

[s10blaza1]

Call the local news station, putting him on the spotlight like that in front of a camera might be a good way to put things in motion

[rmoore911]

why do people think that just because you call a local network, that they'll just hop up and bring a film crew right on over. . .yes, they do answer some of those calls and emails asking for help, but i'm certain 90% aren't responded to. . .

[GreatWhite00]

Quote: Originally Posted by rmoore911

why do people think that just because you call a local network, that they'll just hop up and bring a film crew right on over. . .yes, they do answer some of those calls and emails asking for help, but i'm certain 90% aren't responded to. . .

Everyone believes and has so much faith in the media. I fail to see why.

[rocknthehawk]

If you need a hand moving things, just give me a heads up. I deliver furniture on weekends

[JollyRojer]

Soooo update...


STILL nothing has been done, no heat no nothing, he gave me a bunch of phony numbers and the run around on 5 different "gas" people he has called, im calling the city in the morning AGAIN! this is absolutely ridiculous.

[slonlow2000]

Damn man thats shitty, I would def get the hell out of there.

[Porno Joe]

just stop paying rent and move out. document everything.

he wont want to give you back your security deposit, but take him to court and get it.

A lease on an apartment is a contract between you and the landlord- you pay the rent and he supplies you with a place to live, free of defects.

he isnt living up to his end of the agreement.

i dealt with a shitty landlord, nothing this bad but just not doing what was promised.

seriously that sounds dangerous and unhealthy to be living in, get out

[JollyRojer]

Oh i forgot to mention him and the other land lord ambushed my g/f ALONE at 830 at night yesterday no call ahead of time nothing just banging on the door she said. demanding the rent, she panicked and just wrote a check to get them to leave and nobody has answered a call since.

[specter692000]

ok i know it has been said about going to a different place, but do it move out. Since you have documented everything take the Slumlords to court.

Then set the place on fire. (only kidding).

[Bobthebiker]

Quote: Originally Posted by Woody B. Low

I couldn't agree any more with rmoore911 and Futuresweets10. I suggest that you document everything thoroughly from phone calls between you and your landlord to pictures.

Do this, back up your documentation with a family member someplace, and GTFO NOW. then call the city and file an official complaint with them. down here where I am, the city would come right in probably same day condemn the property and most likely have it demolished eventually. Oddds are your city will do something similar to this.

[montec]

Quote: Originally Posted by JollyRojer

Oh i forgot to mention him and the other land lord ambushed my g/f ALONE at 830 at night yesterday no call ahead of time nothing just banging on the door she said. demanding the rent, she panicked and just wrote a check to get them to leave and nobody has answered a call since.

Better have her issue a stop payment on that check. Better yet have he call it is as a stolen check.

[roboticsguy]

Quote: Originally Posted by montec

Better have her issue a stop payment on that check. Better yet have he call it is as a stolen check.

Lying, especially in this instance, will work against the both of them.

Why the hell would you even suggest reporting the check as stolen? It's not. It wouldn't be hard to prove that the check in question wasn't stolen either.

[montec]

Quote: Originally Posted by roboticsguy

Lying, especially in this instance, will work against the both of them.

Why the hell would you even suggest reporting the check as stolen? It's not. It wouldn't be hard to prove that the check in question wasn't stolen either.

Depends is she on the lease too. if not she could report here whole checkbook stolen after here last check before that. She isn't responsible for his rent. A coerced check is just as good as being robbed.

[What?]

You need to press hard on to get all these people in apt ASAP, sooner you do it, sooner you get better place, get your $ back(possibly money back on rent if you go all out and they see everything and documents). You get ahold of local members to help you with move. If this happen to me, I would've already complain after first month then go all out after.

NEWS can be helpful if its really shitty place, unhealthy, unethical with video, then use your injury as cry for help because its harder on you physically/mentally. NEWS will eat that shit up, help you with everything they can and landlord will be put to known publically and shamefully. Great way to put him out of business especially with 20 other location with these issues.



I'm on first renting of apartment, granted not the best but it's biggest(600sq ft I think) 1 bedroom, 1st floor, only pay electricity. Just a tad over $600 a month. They were quick on rain leak, fixed it, little issue and quick to check and take care of it. My friend lived in same place, had more water leak than I did, they automatically moved him to another part of apt with 1 month off due to moving and water leak.

I would sort of live there again, most neighbors are friendly, it's bit of ghetto. Accidents occur 3, 4 times a week. There has been body dumping(2 just recently), kidnapping(2 but 1 returned and 1 hasn't), vandalism(some dumb teen pour bleach neighbor's yard of swastikas), few shooting now and then within a mile. I would've move to 2nd floor or 3rd.



Honestly, with these condition, I wouldn't move in the house in first place esp if it's shitty to begin with.

Checking for house is same as test driving car, don't be afraid to check things out fully. From your description, I'd rather live in my truck.

[LiquidFusion]

Hey, man. Sorry to hear about all of your problems. In California, we have a repair and deduct method of getting things done, which means that you can get everything repaired, then deduct it from rent due. With all the things you've mentioned, you can probably live there rent free for the rest of your lease! I'd say by pissing him off, he MAY retaliate and tell you to screw off if you want your deposit back. So I think as well as phone calls, letters may help since you can keep track of those when you need them against him.

I'd start by going to a local courthouse. They will have tenant/landlord rules so you can follow up with what best to do. If they have the repair and deduct method, you can always do that and he won't be able to harass you or your gf for the money. Definitely get pictures of any and ALL violations for further proof.


http://www.lawyers.com/All-Areas-of-...aw&n s=y&st=q


There's a link for attorneys that will be glad to help you out. Good luck!