[Reigin]

My boyfriend and I currently rent in an 'apartment complex' - landlord's words. I can't see how it is a complex, since it is an old converted building.. Anyway, we pay 395 a month for rent, which includes all utilities except electricity. We DO NOT have a lease, and have never made any agreements to the length of stay. The only thing we did agree on was the price. Our deposit was 395, and we have not damaged the apartment at all. (If anything, we've repaired quite a bit)

Let's start the story by saying the apartment building is appalling. It is unclean and unsafe. We have seen roaches, and they've been trying to get into our apartment, but luckily our cat always tries to eat them... There are bees everywhere, since there are so many nooks and crannies for them to hide in. The front door is canvased by bees, making it hard to get inside. The landlord always leaves trash and discarded items, like furniture and carpeting everywhere.
On that same note, let me say that the landlord is the devil. He continually tries to double charge us, over charge us, raise our rent and add 'fees' to our rent, without any notice whatsoever. He tries to collect our rent early to 'pay bills'. We can never get a hold of him, no matter what we do. He lives next door, but even when we go to see if he is home he never answers. Phonecalls do not get returned, even in emergencies.

We moved in on January 1st, but our electricity didn't work because he hadn't flipped the breaker to our apartment. We didn't have electricity or heat for the first 15 days, and whenever we called him he told us that he would get on it, and never did. Our oven didn't work, either, so no makeshift heater. (The other tenants told me that's what they had to do..) He told us he would get us a new oven in 2 days, from the apartment next door. (unrented)
After the 15th, the heat was unreliable. It is an old water/steam system and it hardly ever worked. We had to get a space heater, which upped our electric bill by 60 dollars a month. We didn't get any break in rent.

February was riddled with freezing nights, some nights (recorded on thermometer) went as low as 34f in our apartment. The windows constantly sung due to the wind, and it felt like they were open most of the time because they are so poorly installed/insulated. I had to leave the apartment because it was so cold, for about a week. Meanwhile, my college classes had started, so I had to manage these as well as all the problems. He told us that he would get us an brand new oven 2 weeks after we paid rent (the 1st). This was also the month that we saw him using a flashlight to get around the building, because he hadn't put in any lights into the sockets. We always get home after dark, so it is impossible to see what's going on or if anyone is in front of you, much less to open the door locks.

March.. Last month. A lot of cold nights, since he shut off the heat because he deemed it "warm enough" outside. We live by a lake (lakefront) so the wind is very hard and very cold all of the time, even during the summer.. Temperatures hardly went over 40 in our apartment all month long. We called him several times to get him to come over, no prevail. We went to his house and talked to him. He told us that he was going to 'put it in the budget' to get us a new oven. He also said that he would fix the heating problem, but he never fixed it. This is the month that used carpeting sat in the hallway. Still no lights in the halls so it was like a blind man's journey through tripville. He told us that he would get a repair man out for our stove. (I thought we were getting a new one?) He said that on the 14th of April he would have a repair man out and that he would come out to collect april's rent that day as well.

April.. This month. He never called us about the repair man not showing up. He never came over. We called him, and he said he was 'out of town' and couldn't get it repaired. He asked when we were going to pay rent, and he told us he would get it repaired when we paid rent. We went to see my dad, who lives about 4 miles away, and our landlord called our cell. He told my boyfriend that we had to pay a late fee for our rent, and that he wanted it NOW. Mind you, this was monday, 3 days after he said that he was going to repair our stove and collect the money then. We went home, and tried to call our land lord. no answer. We waited until tuesday. Our landlord came over, collected the rent. We kept 100 dollars in order to pay the repair man. Our landlord didn't charge us a late fee, since we put up a fight about our 'tenant's rights'. He had claimed that the 25 dollar fee was to "repay the gas company" since he hadn't paid the bill and had supposedly gotten the gas disconnected. This is also the month where we tell him it's too dark in the hallways, thus unsafe, and he hands us a light bulb. This is also the month where he tells us that we 'either sign a 3 month lease or your rent goes up to 600.'. We hear him telling our neighbors "People would pay 1000+ to live on a lake." This is also the month where he finally cleans up the hallway, only to start 'construction' at 7am. He tore up all the tiles in the hallway, replaced half of the particle board floor, and left it. Half is covered with old linoleum, half with new particle board. Spare boards propped on the walls, and nails sticking up from the floors. NAILS. Enough to pierce your shoes! I've ripped the bottom of my pants several times just trying to walk through it. Mind you, none of the lights work except the one right in front of our door. The repairman comes, and fixes our stove in 20 minutes. This is the month that our refridgerator stops working, and everything in it (we had just gone food shopping) spoils. We called our landlord to repair it, and he said that we would have to "deal with it" and that he can't come out to repair it until the next day at night.

And here we come to... Yesterday. My boyfriend and I were out, and he calls our cell again. He says he need May's rent early, to pay the electric company. He tells us that he would even accept 30 dollars. We don't have any money and our bank is closed, so we tell him we can't.

We come home, and the light in the hallway in front of our door doesn't work. We ignore it, since we are busy trying to get some furniture in our door without getting stuck on the nails. We finish with the furniture. We try to get water. The pressure is very low. We try to flush the toilet, it won't flush. We call our landlord. "The main electric is shut off, so the water pumps won't work." he says. He also says that "Since 2 or 3 tenants paid their rent (late or not at all.. can't remember.) he says that everyone must suffer. His words. He said, in his words, quoted directly. "That if 2 or 3 tenants don't pay their rent or they pay it late, that everyone must suffer.". I relate this to a prison now, since he is treating us like prisoners. We have to

Water is supposed to be included in our rent.
Can he shut off the main electricity (leading to no water) because someone else didn't pay? Should I be held responsible for this?

I'm thinking about calling the police. I am tired of him harassing us constantly about something or another, or treating us like subpar human beings. Everyone in our apartment building is, but I am not sure if they would be willing to do anything legally about it. Our landlord is notorious for being a bad landlord, and everyone we've talked to (other apartment renters, shop owners etc) have pitied us because we have to live here.

Oh, I believe we are being treated unfairly as well. He told us that we're not allowed to have a dog, but about 3 or 4 people in our building do. We confronted him and he said "they are probably just watching the dogs for someone else". There is also a sewage/stagnant water leak in front of the building. Makes the whole area stink and it is oily looking water.

What should I do? Can he treat us this way?

[Reigin]

Our wonderful power sockets. We asked him about them and he gave us covers to put on ourselves..


Trash in the hallway.


More trash in the hallway.

[canudigit]

If you don't have a lease, why do you still live here? It sounds like a nightmare to me!

DH and I own rental property in the Toledo area. No, the landlord is NOT allowed to shut off everyone's electricity because a few didn't pay their rent on time. As far as the other things, such as trying to raise your rent with no notice, adding new fees that he comes up with, etc., you would have been protected from those things with a well worded, legal and binding lease or, at least, a written rental agreement. Nothing verbal will stand up in court, because it's one's word against another's.

If I were you, I would vacate this place ASAP. I would not leave him a forwarding address, and I would not worry if he tries to threaten you to get you to come back, pay future rent that he will lose by you moving, etc. First of all, he cannot hold you to any future rent if you didn't sign anything that committed you to living there for a specific amount of time, and second of all, it sounds like you could call the city housing department and get this guy in a world of trouble, since, based on both your comments and your pictures, he is running a building that is dangerous and way out of code, no matter where you live. If he tries to threaten you in any way for moving out of his dump, tell him that you will turn him in for electrical violations, sewage and other sanitary violations, and for shutting off your electric when your rent was paid. He should back off right away if you do that.

Even if you have to take a much smaller place to keep your rent the same, or if you have to pay a couple of monthly utility bills, you would still be better off than in this rat trap of a building.

[electric_lady]

So, what did you expect? Sounds like you moved into a crappy place and you're getting what you paid for.
Um, simple solution, suck it up and move out. Next time, don't choose to live in a dump with a notoriously bad landlord. Sure it's cheap rent, but I've learned long ago that you need to weigh things out. Is living in a prison for $400 a month better than having a nice place and paying $100-200 more a month?
Can he treat you that way? I guess so, because he is. What do you think calling the police would solve? My guess - NOTHING, other than pissing off the landlord. Doesn't sound like he is someone you can reason with.
You didn't sign anything, so you can just leave in the middle of the night and never look back. If somehow he finds you and harasses you at your new location, you can call the police at that point.
Sounds like you have to consider this a learning experience.
Do a bit more research the next place you live, don't live in a crap hole, and find a place where you know what you're getting into. I personally wouldn't trust a landlord that didn't have a clear, organized lease which details his responsibilities, as well as yours.
Lucky for you, when you're done complaining and ready to take action, you have the option to move immediately!
I don't mean for this to be rude, and I do wish you good luck, I just think you need to take responsibility for yourself. We all have bad living situations and all make bad choices - what matters is how you handle it.
I'm just curious, Why are you still living there?

[Reigin]

I assure you, we didn't know these things before we moved in, or we wouldn't have moved in.
It is in a small town, so around 400 in rent is the average.

And yes, if I had 600 dollars a month to spend on a place to live, I would, but I am a college student and its hard enough to get by with 400 dollars a month rent.

And I don't like the attitude in your post. I haven't done anything wrong, why the attitude towards me? I was asking what would be legally advisable to do in order to leave.

The only reason i live here is because we can't get the money to move. I don't have a job and neither does my boyfriend, and it's not for lack of looking, it's because anyone who is hiring is hiring part time. we manage with 400 dollars a month for rent, and we can't find a decent place to move to that is in the relative price range.

[electric_lady]

From what you've said, you can leave without legal repercussions. If what you want is to be out, do whatever you can to get out. And that might include taking whatever job you can find - GASP - even a part-time job!

[vagabondc2c]

Your landlord can treat you this way if you let him treat this way. If you don't want to be treated this way, leave. Frankly, you moved into an unsafe environment and there were many warning signs it was such. But since you don't have a lease, you can "just leave in the middle of the night," as another poster said.

How do you expect to live on your own if you or your boyfriend don't have jobs? If you are choosing to limit your income, you have to accept a lower standard of living to keep your expenses low. You said your father lives 4 miles away, live with him. Pay him the money you would give to your slumlord. At the very least get jobs; part-time work is still work.

[Luzette]

What about renting out an RV or some type of trailer. I've often thought about RV living, and I know some people do it full time. I do not know how much cheaper it is versus paying rent but just thought I'd mention it if someone has cost information on this alternative.

[kickass]

You have rights and you need to go to legal services they will handle your leagl issue for you and you have ample ground to sue this bastard. Go get him. Legal services will file and go to court with you.

[ewengry]

I am moving to Michigan soon and I need a lot of help? I was looking at Dearborn, but found out that was not the place I wanted. I am currently looking at Ferndale, Allen Park, Canton, Northville, Farmington, and Novi. I will be working in Wyandotte. Any suggestions would be very helpful