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My current landlord has consistently been unresponsive. Calls/emails for issues, minor or major, routinely get ignored. I've learned not to expect a response when I alert him that the carpet is coming up in the corner - just trying to notify him of potential issues, but I DO expect some type of response when I notice water dripping from a pipe. Called and emailed about water dripping from a pipe one morning and when I came back from work it was 10 times worse. Called again and mentioned that I would have a plumber come and remedy the issue and deduct the exspense from my rent, since I pay for water, and the leaking was quickly getting worse and THEN he responds and says he's on his way to fix it.
I notified him about loose steps and after receiving no feedback or promise to fix it, I decided to send a certified letter letting him know that I will not be renewing my lease. I have another place lined up, but now the new landlord cannot get in touch with my current landlord to verify my rental history (which, by the way is stellar: never a late payment and even though the house is slowly falling apart, I just notify to cover myself and keep him abreast; I don't complain).
The prospective landlord asked me to get in touch with my landlord since they have left several messages and recieved no reply. I offered my new landlord to show them cancelled checks as proof of my rental history - haven't heard back from them yet to see if that's acceptable, however, in the mean time, do I have any recourse to get my current landlord to respond? Does he have an obligation to return the prosepective landlord's calls? I'm in a real tough rental market so I know if my landlord takes too long to respond or doesn't respond at all, the new landlord can easily find another tenant.
What can I do to get my landlord to return calls?
The prospective landlord asked me to get in touch with my landlord since they have left several messages and recieved no reply. I offered my new landlord to show them cancelled checks as proof of my rental history - haven't heard back from them yet to see if that's acceptable, however, in the mean time, do I have any recourse to get my current landlord to respond? Does he have an obligation to return the prosepective landlord's calls? I'm in a real tough rental market so I know if my landlord takes too long to respond or doesn't respond at all, the new landlord can easily find another tenant.
What can I do to get my landlord to return calls?
Your landlord has NO obligation to speak to anyone about you if they don't want. Your only rights is that if the landlord does say or write anything about you, it must be truthful. Beyond that, they can ignore these calls if they want and you can't do anything about it.
How about inviting your old landlord to diner on you and ask them to sign a statement attesting to you being the best tenant they had with perfect on-time payments. If it's that important, do what it takes. As an FYI, new rental or not, you gave notice so you better be prepared to move at the end of the lease.
not a bad idea...I guess dinner is worth a shot.
Also, if I get him to sign a letter, I never have to deal with him again and I can hold onto the letter for future use.
thanks
Any issues with the place you are renting should always be put in writing with clear concise facts, signed, dated and mailed return receipt so the landlord has to sign for the letter to get it. You should also make sure you always get a written receipt for the rent each month.
Can you get a printout of your bank records showing your payment history to the LL over the past year? Perhaps even get online in the new LL's presence and pull up your transaction history and demonstrate to the new LL your good payment record? I know that won't address how well you took care of the place but it will, in earnest, show how much you are interested in giving the new LL information regarding your desirability as a tenant.
I'm a landlord, and you've got a serious problem. I do not accept applicants who don't have 2 really good landlord references. If your landlord will not give you a reference, then you don't have a reference; that's all there is to it.
You might be able to prove you paid the rent, but paying the rent is only a very small part of being a good tenant.
It's possible that for an excellent prospect, with good credit, excellent job reference, and a good prior landlord reference, I might make the effort to verify you paid rent, inspect your current home myself, and go around and talk to your neighbors. But don't expect me to put out that level of effort for an applicant who has anything questionable on their application or about their behavior when they show up to view.
I don't know what sort of solution you have, OP, other than to rent where the landlord isn't so picky about who they accept. Persoanlly, I will not accept a letter of refernece from teh current landlord. Give me a computer and about 5 minutes and I can whip you up a glowing reference from the president himself. I don't accept references that the applicant could possibly whip up himself.
How about inviting your old landlord to diner on you and ask them to sign a statement attesting to you being the best tenant they had with perfect on-time payments. If it's that important, do what it takes. As an FYI, new rental or not, you gave notice so you better be prepared to move at the end of the lease.
Tried to reach out to my landlord to grab something to eat so we could "chat," but no response. I'm not surprised, but it was definitely worth a shot.
I'm a landlord, and you've got a serious problem. I do not accept applicants who don't have 2 really good landlord references. If your landlord will not give you a reference, then you don't have a reference; that's all there is to it.
You might be able to prove you paid the rent, but paying the rent is only a very small part of being a good tenant.
It's possible that for an excellent prospect, with good credit, excellent job reference, and a good prior landlord reference, I might make the effort to verify you paid rent, inspect your current home myself, and go around and talk to your neighbors. But don't expect me to put out that level of effort for an applicant who has anything questionable on their application or about their behavior when they show up to view.
I don't know what sort of solution you have, OP, other than to rent where the landlord isn't so picky about who they accept. Persoanlly, I will not accept a letter of refernece from teh current landlord. Give me a computer and about 5 minutes and I can whip you up a glowing reference from the president himself. I don't accept references that the applicant could possibly whip up himself.
Luckily, my prospective landlord agreed to take cancelled checks as an alternative, but I agree with you 100% on this - just because I paid my rent doesn't mean I was a wonderful tenant. I would love for my new landlord to see my current living situation, see that its neat and clean, talk to neighbors, etc. but who has time for all that? And plus, my new place is over 30 miles away from the current...
I'm really in a bind, and that's why I turned here seeking advice/solutions. Hopefully the cancelled checks will suffice and also, hoping that the next time I move its into my OWN home
I'm a landlord, and you've got a serious problem. I do not accept applicants who don't have 2 really good landlord references. If your landlord will not give you a reference, then you don't have a reference; that's all there is to it.
You might be able to prove you paid the rent, but paying the rent is only a very small part of being a good tenant.
It's possible that for an excellent prospect, with good credit, excellent job reference, and a good prior landlord reference, I might make the effort to verify you paid rent, inspect your current home myself, and go around and talk to your neighbors. But don't expect me to put out that level of effort for an applicant who has anything questionable on their application or about their behavior when they show up to view.
I don't know what sort of solution you have, OP, other than to rent where the landlord isn't so picky about who they accept. Persoanlly, I will not accept a letter of refernece from teh current landlord. Give me a computer and about 5 minutes and I can whip you up a glowing reference from the president himself. I don't accept references that the applicant could possibly whip up himself.
Posts like this make me happy because if I was to live next to one of their rentals, the risk of living next to deadbeats is about zero.
There is nothing worse than a deadbeat landlord..they only attract deadbeat tenants.
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. I'm not surprised, but it was definitely worth a shot.
