New to Houston (Renting) - getting sarcastic treatment from landlord's realtor (Katy: real estate, lease) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

DrD76 · 05-21-2015, 11:15 PM

Hello everyone,
I am requesting advice from veteran city-data folks... looking forward to hear from perdromartinez and the rest of the regular Houston folks...
We finally moved to Houston in April, and are renting in Katy for $2000 per month.
Our backyard has become like a swamp due to the non-stop rains and what we found out from the hoa folks is that the builder didn't do a good job with the drainage for many of the homes that have been built.... and that homeowners can call the builder to get a fix in place.
We brought this to the attention of the landlord's realtor.

Instead of saying "there is nothing we can do", our landlord's realtor has become unprofessional and sarcastic towards us.... saying we should go back to AZ where we came from... that this is how all of TX is... and that landlord cant fight the weather... etc...

We didn't ask to ask to break the lease. We need to rent for a year to be able to search and buy a house before the lease is up.... however, he says we can pay 4 months penalty (i.e. $8000) and vacate!!!

Should I take this as a threat to evict me??? Can landlord do that?? Should I ask for legal help?? If so, can someone point me to one?

I would really appreciate some advice. We are new to TX, and not sure how to take this. Is this normal. Should I just shut up and pay rent and just not complain about anything?

I am a landlord and have tenants in my home in FL... jeez, I never treated people like this.

Please help with advice.
Thanks
DrD

cheryjohns · 05-21-2015, 11:43 PM

Is realtor also the property manager? Do you have to go through her, now that you are in - or can you talk to the owner?

I have seen where the builder didn't grade properly, which causes ponding. Do you know how old the house is? I doubt the builder will correct the grading if it over a year old.

Yes, she was rude. I doubt the owner knows that she behaves like this. Or maybe he is as bad. Who knows?

If the home is older than a year, I wouldn't hold my breath that the builder will help (you can see their point, if the home has been sitting there for years and finally someone calls).

Rather than go through the hassle and expense of moving, I would contact the yard people and get a price to re-grade and bear the expense. It will be cheaper than you think - and far cheaper than moving. No, it's not an expense that you should incur, but it doesn't sound like you can expect anything from the landlord side - and you are the one having to live with the problem.

crone · 05-22-2015, 05:59 AM

Cheryjohns is correct on that if you want the yard graded it will need to be done by you. Yards, by code,are supposed to be graded so that they drain to the front street. By the time people put in flower beds etc, they mess up the drainage. My house was 15 years old when we bought it last year. Right now, the back is so mosquito infected, we cannot go outside. We will put in drains to the street when it dries up.

One half of Houston is having mosquito problems. You can read about right here.

This rainy season could end tomorrow, or not.

Just don't go outside in the morning and evening until it is over. Use repellent.

The friendly person who advises me on real estate matters informs me that the majority of agents she deals with don't have sense enough to come in out of the rain. I believe her. Yours is just a dumb bit--.

Sross · 05-22-2015, 06:51 AM

If possible, I would contact the owner about the water issue and your treatment by the property manager/realtor.

If they are not willing to do anything, I would NOT spend any money on their property to correct the issue (or for any other reason). Save your money, complete the lease then move even if you have to find another lease property before buying.

baggiegenes · 05-22-2015, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrD76

Hello everyone,

Should I take this as a threat to evict me??? Can landlord do that?? Should I ask for legal help?? If so, can someone point me to one?

Please help with advice.
Thanks
DrD

I wouldn't worry about eviction. Assuming you used a fairly standard TREC lease it protects you as well. If you pay on time and don't break any of the rules in the agreement they can't evict you just for asking about the drainage.

marksmu · 05-22-2015, 08:24 AM

I am a landlord myself, and while I don't defend your landlords agents actions, I do know where they are coming from. When tenants first move in, they often expect things to be perfect...99 times out of 100, they are not perfect, but they are good enough. Lots of landlords see repairing non-essential issues like yours as non-important....some feel that if they fix something like this in the first couple months of your lease, it will encourage more non-required requests for repair.

A yard that does not drain well is annoying, but it does not affect the lease, and the landlord is not required to fix it...It seems to me the agent that was disrespectful needs to learn some courtesy, and should have just said that type of repair is not required by your lease and that its not something they are interested in doing. That would have ended the issue and would have been non-confrontational.

We have had rent houses for a while, and I can say I have only once had a tenant who improved the landscaping while they were there...I would not waste my own money on someone elses landscaping, unless I intended to stay a long time, and it made me happy to do.

DrD76 · 05-22-2015, 09:41 AM

Chery, Crone, Sross, Baggiegenes, Marksmu,
I want to thank you for taking the time to give me much needed advice.
I didn't expect any repairs to happen for my benefit. Other Homeowners in our HOA are fighting with builders to get their repairs done, so I thought my homeowner might be interested to get his home fixed as well.
Being 2 months new to TX, my biggest and only concern was, can I be evicted because I "complained". I think what I am hearing is that as long as I pay my rent and don't break any rules, I should be fine. I just wasn't sure if they could do this: "Hey this tenant complains and is annoying, so lets evict them". That is why I asked this question on this forum.
I appreciate all the inputs.
For now, I will do my best not to bother them with any more complaints.
Thanks everyone.
DrD

Houston321 · 05-22-2015, 09:55 AM

Sounds like the realtor is a hothead. I am also a landlord. If it is a serious grading issue, I would fix it. If it were a mild grading issue, and the heavy rains just make it hard to drain, I would offer to split the cost with the tenant if it bothers them that much.

This wouldn't happen to be in Katy would it? I know of a certain builder in a certain neighborhood who didn't grade properly so they end up having to put French drains in....but only if the customer complains enough.

DrD76 · 05-22-2015, 10:02 AM

Thank you Houston321.
Yes, this is in Katy... in King Lakes Community... Pulte is the builder.
Seeing all the other homeowners' reactions in this community, I thought that my homeowner might have wanted to be aware of it as well.
At this time, I am just going to continue living in the house, stay away from the ponding areas in the backyard, not bother them anymore with any "complains about anything", pay my 2000 rent, and move out at the end of the lease. I hope to buy, so my goal is to save every penny for the home purchase.
DrD

HookTheBrotherUp · 05-22-2015, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrD76

Thank you Houston321.
Yes, this is in Katy... in King Lakes Community... Pulte is the builder.
Seeing all the other homeowners' reactions in this community, I thought that my homeowner might have wanted to be aware of it as well.
At this time, I am just going to continue living in the house, stay away from the ponding areas in the backyard, not bother them anymore with any "complains about anything", pay my 2000 rent, and move out at the end of the lease. I hope to buy, so my goal is to save every penny for the home purchase.
DrD

You can spend a little bit of cash... purchase a bilge pump with a float activated switch, and a 5 gallon bucket. Dig a hole where the water collects the most and dig a hole to insert the bucket. Put in the bilge pump and get a long extension chord (and keep connections dry), and only plug it in when it is going to rain a lot. This will pump out the water, sometimes not as fast as it collects, but you will not have water ponding. All can be done for less than $50. Don't leave the extension chord plugged in all the time of course. Good luck!