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Well my girlfriend and I decided to rent our first place as we are both attending KU this fall, and we have seemed to get off on a somewhat rough start. We moved in at the beginning of May and so far there have been quite a few ups and downs. However lately things have really come to a head...To make a very long story sort of short, we have never met the landlord, don't even have his number, because the property was shown to us by a real estate agent. I contacted her and the #1 thing I said was that any potential rental she might show us must be 100% okay with pets as we have 5 cats and one day we would like to get a dog as well (now remember we reiterated this OVER and OVER and she kept assuring us the landlord does not care one iota about pets whatsoever). The place was an absolute mess before we moved in, with garbage from old tenants everywhere, the hot water heater didn't work and was leaking all over the basement, the water METER was leaking, the kitchen faucet is constantly leaking and so many other cosmetic issues. We ended up fixing the place up and it is a complete 180 from how it was before. Now here comes what is STILL wrong..after the real estate agent PROMISED us when she showed us this place that the washer, dryer, and fridge from the empty apartment next door would be moved over here by the "maintenance man", May 1st came along (mind you she showed us this place in the beginning of April) nothing was done yet. The garbage from old tenants in the house AND under the back porch was still where we left it after she promised yet again it would be picked up by someone before we moved in. Just last week, after bagging all of said garbage up ourselves, we had to have our garbage man pick it up when he came on pick up day during a span of 2 weeks because there was so much crap that they couldn't take it all at once.
We had signed the lease and everything stated move in day was May 1st. Well May 1st came and the landlord still did not turn the water on so we were unable to move in until May 4th. The kitchen faucet still leaks to this day and instead of the water in the basement getting vacuumed up as was promised, it was never done and left there to eventually evaporate and make our basement smell moldy and gross. Our water meter is also still leaking, however that was promised to be fixed when the township came to turn the water on. Luckily we don't pay for water, the real estate agent does!!! Even though when she showed us this place she stated the landlord pays for water, and it says so in the lease! However we have no lease for reference because she still hasn't given us our copy of it! And according to her, the landlord didn't even sign the lease until the other day because we are college aged kids and he doesn't trust us as tenants!! This is all so very fishy, and we are starting to feel duped by this real estate agent because apparently her uncle is buying this property and she will be the new property manager come the end of July...
Now the straw that just recently broke the camel's back is that we were at the local Humane Society looking at the dogs, not planning on adopting just visiting, when up walked the dog of our dreams. We have been wanting a dog for as long as I can remember, but have never been able to agree or the timing just wasn't right. Well we are settled in our apartment with good jobs and so we decided - this is it! Finally the day has come! The shelter needed permission from our landlord before being able to see her so I gave them the real estate agent's info (she told us to go through her if we ever need anything, and we don't even have the landlord's number) and I texted her to give her the head's up. After viewing her and telling the shelter we love her and will certainly be adopting her, I gave the real estate agent a call just to tell her our plans. Well now all of a sudden everything has changed! She must check with the landlord first to see what he says, and she does not sound hopeful. We were slightly confused but brushed it off and prepared for our new "bundle of joy's" arrival. However, the next day the real estate agent texts me and says the landlord says absolutely no way, and we cannot go against his wishes as the neighbor (whom hasn't payed rent in 6 months and is about to be evicted) will rat us out and he will immediately evict us. We were devastated and asked how he could change his mind when we had specifically asked her to find us a place that will allow dogs? She said he must have changed his mind and wisened up on his business sense...and were left to calling up the shelter and saying we were no longer able to adopt the dog of our dreams because our landlord changed his mind. The real estate agent said that when she is property manager it will not be a problem (hard to believe).
My question is...do we have this woman come over and sit her down and explain all of our problems to her? Because we have kept our mouths shut the entire time on everything and chalked it up to "this is what renting is like." Or do we let the dead dog lie so to speak and let it go yet again? Do we even have a leg to stand on (legally or even nonlegally?) We are so beside ourselves as this has all added up and now it has gone too far. Sorry for the extremely long post, but this still doesn't even cover everything we have been through with this whole ordeal.
If you have an issue or problem you first TALK directly to the LL -adult to adult.
Describe the issue(s) and ASK for a solution. Don't accept anything vague as a response.
In the event you do NOT get that solution promptly and as agreed... you put the complaint in WRITING.
Then mail this letter certified to the LL's legal address (in the lease).
If THIS doesn't get you satisfaction you go to COURT.
There you ask a JUDGE to get the LL to do what was requested and agreed to.
Visit the on campus housing office for LOCAL information.
Thanks for the response..I just don't know if we even have a leg to stand on here, if we did threaten to go to court..or if it would be worth it in the end!
Unless you have permission in writing that allows you to have pets, than no, you don't have a leg to stand on. If you took before pics of the mess, and after pics since you've cleaned, and sent it to the LL, than perhaps he/she might consider your request.
Must the LL fix repairs? Yes. Notify your LL via certified mail. Also demand a copy of your lease and whatever else was promised by the PM and not delivered on.
Are you sure the property is not in default? It's a good idea to check. The fact that the other tenant is there and not paying, and the fact that it's going to be sold soon, makes me think there might be an issue.
It will be very difficult for you to find decent LL's that will allow 6 pets. Many charge extra rent per pet and non refundable deposits. A dog is harder to get approval on then cats.
You made a lot of mistakes in this whole leasing deal. But, its valuable because you are so much better equipped for future life as a tenant! Since you are still students, I hope you will have some level of appreciation of all this as a skill acquisition experience. Lesson: before you carry even a roll of toilet paper over the threshold of your new place, get a signed lease from the landlord (this could always be forged so verify you have the real landlord's involvement) Lesson: Make sure a property is not in foreclosure when you lease it Lesson: if a concession you care about is not in the lease, it will be difficult to get it enforced Lesson: if you are going to be doing property cleanup, take photos, and in writing get down from the LL any repairs and lease amount concessions that you will get for doing cleanup (if none, at least get photos and always submit a move in checklist indicating the condition of the property when you moved in)
Ok -- as it stands now -- you have taken the word of a real estate agent who told you that, come July, she will be the official property manager. Since you believed the word of this person up to now, I think you should ask her what date in July will she officially be the property manager and at this late date (we are now coming into mid-June) go ahead and get her to respond in email or text that on the day of July X, you will be permitted to get a dog and wait it out. If that doesn't happen, then you at least have all these texts as evidence of her misleading you and at that time can decide if you want to move out over this dog issue.
I am a landlord. I would never permit a tenant to have 6 pets. Ever ever. So your likelihood of finding another place to lease that will allow a dog while you still have 5 cats is miniscule. Wow, even if you did, the pet deposit would be prohibitively high.
It looks like you just had to learn a lot of life experiences all in one go. Part of me wants to chastise you for certain things, but then it seems like you're young and this is your first rental experience and I think most of us have had a life lesson or two learned the hard way...so this is yours.
I agree 100% with Squirl.
Touring a rental through a real estate agent is common -- that's how we found our current rental and I know many friends with similar experiences. However, before we had signed a lease, we had spoken to our landlord on the phone and via email, and I had verified his ownership of the property with property records (free to anyone, depending on your state/county). We had a lease signed by us and him before we ever moved in, too.
The real estate agent pays the water bill? What the what? That doesn't make any sense. How did you find this agent and this rental?
Granted, my mind jumps to the most paranoid places quickly, but in reading through all of this again and again, I'm inclined to conclude that the place you've moved into is either foreclosed on or abandoned by the owner. That still leaves a lot of unanswered questions -- if it's an apartment, are there other tenants in the building? What is their impression of living there?
If you search for "Your County Your State Property Assessor" (sometimes called an auditor), you should be able to do a property records search by owner or street address and verify who actually owns the property. It's free and public record (and if it's not, you're on the wrong site) -- like I said, I did this before we signed our lease on our property. Our landlord seemed like a nice guy (and it turns out he is), but you never can be too careful.
In the meantime, I think it's time for some certified mail demanding a copy of your lease and anything else you want in writing -- repairs, etc. Best of luck.
#1 rule to learn from this... always get everything in WRITING.
I have a dog and a cat, they are very important to me. Before I will even look at a place, confirm with everyone that the pets are allowed, and will be listed on the lease.
There was a rental where I signed the lease, along with the pet addendum that listed out my pets. The realtor returned a countersigned lease to me, omitting the pet addendum. I refused to move forward until I received that countersigned page. It was a mistake (he accidentally didn't scan it), but no way was I going to move in without it.
Don't ask that in the future you be allowed to get a dog, ask that on the lease, or a pet addendum to the lease, it lists out how many pets are permitted in the unit. For example, mine states "1 dog under 30lbs and 1 cat. Further pets allowed only after written landlord approval". If I wanted to get another animal, I ask for written approval and an addendum to the lease.
I was hoodwinked by many a landlord when I was young. One hard lesson I didn't even learn until I was in my 40's and had to rent again after having been an owner. I let an apartment complex show me their "model" of the apartment I would get. Move-in day, not the apt I was told I'd get, and it was a total dump, while the "model" was pristine.
When I was young, also learned the hard way that any place that is a mess and the landlord says "oh it will be fixed, cleaned, painted, whatever, before you move in......" Run the other way.
So sorry you had to learn this hard lesson.
Legally, if you don't have it in writing about the pets, you're out of luck. If you want to break your "invisible" lease, here's a link that may be helpful:
Just remember you must pay rent until you actually move out, or you can get evicted and it goes on an eviction report that landlords use to screen tenants - as in, if you're on it, you won't find a decent place to rent to you.
Then, you'll probably have to sue to get your deposit back in small claims court, whether or not you break the lease, cuz they sound like shysters.
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