The old square footage con game again. (Austin: real estate, lease)

[austinhome]

Can someone tell me what you would have done in this situation.

You are from out of town, you see a house on the internet you like, you call the listing real estate agent, he has the house listed as a 3700 square foot house.

What would you do if you moved your whole family here and when you got to the house you noticed the house was small and you notice some other things were not right like sewage smell etc. Your in the house for a week and you know now for sure because you have measured the house and been able to check tax records that it is 3100 square feet and the sewage smell has still not gone away.

I sent in writting all of my issues to the owner and real estate agent of the house. I agreed to lease the house for 2300 a month and I have paid 5100.00 prior to seeing or moving into the house.

Now the owner and real estate agent have both said a week and half into the deal and after they have read the review of the condition of the home. They tell me they don't want to get in any type of lawsuit and that we can just move out. They were not willing to return any deposit or first mouths rent.

What do you do? or what would you have done? Keep in mind that money is tight because you already gave them 5100 hundred dollars plus all utilities turned on.

[inthecut]

"I have paid 5100.00 prior to seeing or moving into the house. "

That was your first and last mistake....never ever rent or buy over the web.....not only are there scam artists that can steal and rob you blind, but there are also bullsh*tters like these people that unloaded an unsellable piece of crap on you. I would also worry about spores, per the smell...sounds like that's what you are breathing in(sitting water)......

I would threaten them with a lawsuit, and see if any attorney would take you on. If not, scare them by threatening to talk to a local agency about the matter. Short of that, just stop paying them anything, though you already gave them a chunk of change......

What a bummer......best of luck dealing with this bullsh*t...

[CptnRn]

It sounds like you have three choices.

1. Stay put, making the best of it, fulfilling your obligations until the lease expires, doing the best you can to get the landlord to help you fix the sewage smell.

2. Get his statement in writing that you can move out without penalty, releasing you from your obligations to the lease, and move to someplace you like better. Otherwise you could still be legally obligated to pay the monthly rent until he finds a new tenant. You might still then be able to sue in small claims court to recover some of your damages, which would include moving costs, especially given the deceit regarding the size of the house. If you wanted to persue legal action it would be advantageous to know if the oder is just an odor or if it is an indication of a mold problem.

3. Stay put fulfilling your obligations under the lease, while you do your best to prove that the house not inhabitable, and sue in small claims court to be released from your lease and to get your deposite back.

If you move out and or stop paying the rent without any solid legal basis for doing so, you could just end up with bigger problems including a judgement against you that will end up on your credit report.

If the house actually has a mold problem that can lead to serious health problems. Is it mold you are smelling or just a musty odor? We have a bar sink that we don't use very often that occasionally emits a sewage smell when the water in the trap dries out. Putting a little water in it usually eliminates the odor. If the house was flooded at sometime or has had significant moisture leaks it could have mold problems which if you can prove would entitle you to get out of your lease. There are companies in town that can test the air in your home for mold spores.

Our fireplace also occasionally emits a musty odor if the flue is left open, with no fire in it and the wind blows from the right direction.

Get familiar with your rights and obligations under Texas landlord tenant laws. Austin Tenants’ Council/Tenant-Landlord Fact Sheets You can also consult with the tenants council and get their advice.

[HappyTexan]

I'd get a lawyer..sewer smell is NOT something to shrug off or dismiss..it could impact you and your family's health.

[austin-steve]

You need to consult the Austin's Tenant's Council for free advice. They will ask for a copy of your lease and copies of all written correspondence. Communications that are not written or documented (he said, she said) are worthless, so put everything in writing.

As you seek remedy, don't lose sight of or fail to factor in that you made your own bed by making a lot of mistakes. House sizes are subjective, even in how they are measured, and you have absolutely no remedy if you think the place is too small. This is well established law, even for buyers of homes who later find out it's smaller than represented. The only exception is if you can prove misrepresentation. Owners and agents are, however, not liable for misrepresentation if the source of the square footage was listed along with the size. It's up to you to verfiy the size if it matters to you. Every house has incorrect square footages listed somewhere.

Your real ligitimate gripe is with regard to the odor. The tenant's council can advise you as to the proper steps to follow in seeking remedy. But this should be a curable issue as there has to be a source of the small and that source can likely be eliminated or contained (such as dry ptrap as earlier mentioned).

Finally, as a landlord, I'm always very reluctant to rent to people sight unseen. I try to avoid it precisely because people tend to complain about the place no matter what. Thusly, I collect first month and deposit prior to even holding the property off the market and write in language that the tenant expressly acknowledges that they are renting unseen and have waived their opportunity to view the home or have it viewed by a friend/relative.

Next time spend $99 on a cheap round trip flight and spend a day or two looking at homes instead of taking the risk that you took.

Good luck,

Steve

[atxcio]

I agree with all the above advice, but I'd also add that I think you might have a good reason to report the real estate agent to the board of realtors IF you have a copy of the ad where the property is listed at 3700 sq ft. Real estate agents are supposed to put the sq footage "to the best of their knowledge" or something like that.. especially if they put it in the MLS. And every real estate agent knows that the tax appraised sq footage is the typically accepted number in transactions like this (or sales). They all have access to this data. So, if the tax appraised sq footage is indeed 3100 sq ft, they should never have listed it at 3700 unless they had good documentation to back that up.

Anyway, you may well threaten to report the agent, which might get you some leverage to at least get your deposit back. The first months rent, I think, is a loss since you did occupy the property... the sewage smell issue is a bit different, something you could get help from the Tenant's Council to try to remedy, but not something that would let you get out of the lease unless it's not resolved after repeated attempts.

As a landlord, I would probably feel that if you were this unhappy from the start, you'd probably end up being a problem tenant over the course of the lease... reporting tons of problems, requesting things to be fixed, threatening to sue, etc... and I wouldn't want to rent to you anymore. Sounds like that thinking may already be happening by the landlord... so if you make it clear that it will ultimately not be worth it to them, they might just take the loss on the deposit and let you out. I would, if things are indeed as you describe (with the major sq footage discrepancy).

[south side chap]

The OP has received some valuable and considered advice which should stand him/her in good stead. Which just leaves me to wonder how a 3100 sq ft house can seem small. Crikey. Our house, which may, or may not be 1700 sq ft, still seems big to me! Clearly we need an increased amount of stuff, or kids, or something.

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by south side chap

The OP has received some valuable and considered advice which should stand him/her in good stead. Which just leaves me to wonder how a 3100 sq ft house can seem small. Crikey. Our house, which may, or may not be 1700 sq ft, still seems big to me! Clearly we need an increased amount of stuff, or kids, or something.

Really. If a 3,100 sqft house seems small, one only needs to give it a thorough cleaning, from stem to stern. It won't seem so small anymore.

As far as sqft, the law is clear. As long as the source (such as tax record, appraiser, or even "owner") is quoted with the size, it doesn't matter whether the size is correct or not, the agent cannot be held legally responsible for variations. And if you sent three appraisers to measure it, they'd come up with three different sizes. It's 100% buyer beware. You are renting a particular house, not a certain number of square feet, and that's what a judge would have to say based on case law.

Steve

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

As you seek remedy, don't lose sight of or fail to factor in that you made your own bed by making a lot of mistakes. House sizes are subjective, even in how they are measured, and you have absolutely no remedy if you think the place is too small. This is well established law, even for buyers of homes who later find out it's smaller than represented. The only exception is if you can prove misrepresentation. Owners and agents are, however, not liable for misrepresentation if the source of the square footage was listed along with the size. It's up to you to verfiy the size if it matters to you. Every house has incorrect square footages listed somewhere.

Steve

This is troubling to me. The owner and agents certainly should be liable, (in my opinion), regarding the home they are selling. This loop hole whereby they are not accountable for "accurate" information regarding such a large purchase is absurd. Why should the purchasing public just think that it's the norm for the square footage to be incorrect "somewhere". How hard is it to use a tape measure?

My father would have called people that misrepresented shysters.

[G Grasshopper]

Originally Posted by south side chap

The OP has received some valuable and considered advice which should stand him/her in good stead. Which just leaves me to wonder how a 3100 sq ft house can seem small. Crikey. Our house, which may, or may not be 1700 sq ft, still seems big to me! Clearly we need an increased amount of stuff, or kids, or something.

I'm not a fan of misrepresentation, but I don't understand why the exact square feet is such an issue. To me, if the space is right for your family, it doesn't matter what the actual square feet are measured to be. We found out after we had decided on our house what the square footage was. Our house is about 2,000 sq. feet, and it has always been plenty big for the three of us. When it starts to feel crowded, I know we have been collecting too much stuff, and its time to take a load to Good Will (or get on Craig's list or Ebay, etc.) IMHO, Its how a space feels, not how it measures that counts.