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This issue should be an entirely different thread and would warrant an entirely different tone in response.
After five years or apparently amicable tenancy a tenant absolutely warrants more than two weeks of notice.
You are absolutely right...I perhaps wasn't clear enough with my post. Thanks!
And how long have you been in the property management industry? 6 years for me. Last 2 years working for a company that holds over 100 apartment communities nationwide. I do believe I know of which I speak.
The basic premise of a rental situation is that a landlord is providing adequate housing for a fair market value to the tenant. What this means is that the landlord has a responsibility to fix maintenance issues that are requested by the tenant, provided that the maintenance requests are reasonable and it's not noted in the lease that the tenant is responsible for their own repairs. A broken stove is more than reasonable, painting is not. Painting is cosmetic. Problems with appliances, electrical, plumbing, safety, and the structure of the building are ultimately the responsibility of the landlord, and a tenant has an absolute right to put his rent in escrow if the landlord is not completing basic maintenance issues on the property.
And the landlord is violating state law by not giving the tenant a 30 day notice of rent increase.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bentlebee
Sorry but your advise seems strange to me. The person is not in a lease, any judge will tell him to move out if he doesn't like it. He is there for 5 years which gives the LL more credit than the tenant in the eyes of the judge.
If it was so bad than why not move out!
Clearly the LL is giving him a sign between the lines that he doesn't care about the tenant and if he wants to stay he is going to pay a lot more, usually a sign that the LL is done with this tenant.
I'm not saying who is right and who is wrong since I don't know the tenant and neither do I know the LL but just going by the info I have it sounds like a clear situation...
I mean the guy is a jerk and hasn't done anything in the past 5 years to improve the apartment or even fix any issues....without exaggerating about 8 families have lived on the other two apartments during the time I have lived here and they have mostly ended up taking him to court.
...and yeah this is an anonymous forum why not throw a little fit lol
Well you have to understand that we can't see the whole picture here. Not really a cut on you. It just seems like a tiny increase after 5 years... Most rent would have gone up annually.
And how long have you been in the property management industry? 6 years for me. Last 2 years working for a company that holds over 100 apartment communities nationwide. I do believe I know of which I speak.
The basic premise of a rental situation is that a landlord is providing adequate housing for a fair market value to the tenant. What this means is that the landlord has a responsibility to fix maintenance issues that are requested by the tenant, provided that the maintenance requests are reasonable and it's not noted in the lease that the tenant is responsible for their own repairs. A broken stove is more than reasonable, painting is not. Painting is cosmetic. Problems with appliances, electrical, plumbing, safety, and the structure of the building are ultimately the responsibility of the landlord, and a tenant has an absolute right to put his rent in escrow if the landlord is not completing basic maintenance issues on the property.
And the landlord is violating state law by not giving the tenant a 30 day notice of rent increase.
If you have been in business that long then you should know that the laws are not the same in every state. Here in Texas the tenant may be responsible for some maintenance and repairs, depending on the lease, maintaining the yard, air filters, etc. The landlord is responsible primarily for repairs required for health, safety and habitability issues. The landlord has no responsibility for appliances unless they were provided by the landlord, which is not always the case. And the tenant can NOT withhold rent over maintenance or repair issues, failure to pay can subject the tenant to eviction.
Gather up all of your written maintenance requests that have dates on them, and all other paperwork that you have regarding your apartment, take it down to the courthouse, and tell them you want to put your rent in escrow due to refused maintenance. What that means is that you pay your rent to a trustee of the court until the case comes before a judge to decide what happens next. You'll have to pay to file the paperwork, but if you are granted judgment, the landlord will have to reimburse you.
It most likely won't actually go to court, because my guess is that once your landlord receives notice that you've done this, he's going to come fix your issues. However, then he's going to give you another 30 day notice and raise your rent to a ridiculous amount for spite, I would gather to guess. He can raise your rent every single month as much as he wants, as long as you have no lease and he gives you 30 days notice.
Putting your rent in escrow is not allowed in some states, such as Texas.
Rental increases in retaliation of a request for repairs or exercising other tenants rights is illegal in many states, such as Texas. It can result in additional damages assessed against the landlord if they were to try this.
Fair market value is whatever the person is willing to pay for it!!!!!
I never heard of any owner/LL who is raising the rent in between rents, perhaps given the notice but it always will be charged at a later date and if 2 parties agree that the next increase will be the upcoming month than it is a new verbal contract in a month to month.
We would never do anything verbally like that but I was replying on post from a tenant, not a professional in teh business.
Btw I own a brokerage and property management company and we are an independent of one of the largest National Franchise in Real Estate.
Did you ever hear of a tenant complaining for 5 years and staying at the property? I have read posts like that and always wonder what is wrong with them and always wonder what the story would sound like if we could hear the other side, since there are 2 sides to every story!
Please provide me with State law of having to give 30 day notice for rent increase....perhaps you are confused with 30 day notice to end the lease!
Quote:
Originally Posted by cmjones311
And how long have you been in the property management industry? 6 years for me. Last 2 years working for a company that holds over 100 apartment communities nationwide. I do believe I know of which I speak.
The basic premise of a rental situation is that a landlord is providing adequate housing for a fair market value to the tenant. What this means is that the landlord has a responsibility to fix maintenance issues that are requested by the tenant, provided that the maintenance requests are reasonable and it's not noted in the lease that the tenant is responsible for their own repairs. A broken stove is more than reasonable, painting is not. Painting is cosmetic. Problems with appliances, electrical, plumbing, safety, and the structure of the building are ultimately the responsibility of the landlord, and a tenant has an absolute right to put his rent in escrow if the landlord is not completing basic maintenance issues on the property.
And the landlord is violating state law by not giving the tenant a 30 day notice of rent increase.
Putting your rent in escrow is not allowed in some states, such as Texas.
Rental increases in retaliation of a request for repairs or exercising other tenants rights is illegal in many states, such as Texas. It can result in additional damages assessed against the landlord if they were to try this.
In Florida it is allowed but you need to have a good reason and pay interest on top of the rent, something hardly any tenant wants to do. We recently had a tenant who refused to pay rent because he claimed we didn't fix a window but the real story was he didn't want to give access to a Hispanic handyman. He even left a voice mail with racist remarks which I still have. The handyman went 3 x and was never given access. We even sent an American born (redneck as he joked when he referred to himself) handyman and he was allowed in but than the tenant told him he wouldn't pay the rent, so we stopped doing the work and told him that we would evict him for non payment and even advised him to pay into the court register if he felt he was entitled to do so...
He didn't do that either and the eviction was finished within 3.5 weeks later, but they left within 2 weeks (very strange to now having to deal with an eviction in their name)! We never got soemone out so fast. It seems that overhere the courts have time on their hands...
If you have been in business that long then you should know that the laws are not the same in every state. Here in Texas the tenant may be responsible for some maintenance and repairs, depending on the lease, maintaining the yard, air filters, etc. The landlord is responsible primarily for repairs required for health, safety and habitability issues. The landlord has no responsibility for appliances unless they were provided by the landlord, which is not always the case. And the tenant can NOT withhold rent over maintenance or repair issues, failure to pay can subject the tenant to eviction.
I'm not sure why you're disagreeing with me, as what I bolded in your statement above is the same thing I said:
providedit's not noted in the lease that the tenant is responsible for their own repairs.
Problems with appliances, electrical, plumbing, safety, and the structure of the building are ultimately the responsibility of the landlord.
And of course when I said appliances I didn't mean appliances provided by the tenant. That wouldn't even make any sense, for the LL to be responsible for something he didn't provide.
I'm perfectly aware that laws are different in different states, but the overall premise for landlords and tenants is pretty generally specific. As I said, it depends on the nature of the maintenance request as to whether it's an escrow-able issue. But it doesn't matter what state you're in, if the LL is refusing to (for example) take care of a maintenance issue regarding an electrical issue that could cause a fire, or a plumbing issue that leaves the tenant without water, the tenant can absolutely put their rent in escrow. That's the whole PURPOSE of escrow, for the tenant to still be paying their rent, but legally get their issues taken care of before the LL gets the money. If the tenant is paying the rent to the court's escrow account, he cannot be evicted for non-payment, because they're still paying. The court holds the rent money until a suitable resolution is made.
polarbear85, that's good that you're finally looking to move. I'm sure you feel between a rock & a hard place. On one hand, the landlord's a complete a$$hole & you've managed to tolerate him somehow & the rent's been good all this time & you like the place ok, so that's why you've stayed. BUT, on the other hand, you don't really want to move because in your area, you know you can't get another place w/ the rent you're paying now. Well, maybe it's worth it to pay a little more to get another landlord who will APPRECIATE having a good tenant & keep up on maintenance/updates/repairs.
In my opinion, landlords need good tenants a little more than tenants need good landlords because anyone can just up & move to another place. It's the landlords who own the property & need the rent money & it's hard to find good tenants who will help with the upkeep & take care of the property & not turn it into a dump.
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We never got soemone out so fast. It seems that overhere the courts have time on their hands...
