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Landlord problems (long)

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D

dsut

Guest
I am having problems with my landlord. It is now to the point that he is neglecting maintanance on the apartment. I have been renting from him for almost a year, and in this place for 5 months.

First the place is not insulated. Took the landlord several weeks to get the wood stove working. Other than the wood stove, the heating is electric baseboard heat. And it became very expensive.
Second-part 1, the water heater started having problems when I first moved in. The landlord got that fixed in a couple of weeks, but still- taking luke warm/cold showers in the dead of winter is not fun.
Second-part 2, after that was fixed I bled all of the plumbing to get the air out, but no luck. Now, ever since the water heater was fixed, air comes out of the lines before the hot water does. And the landlord "doesn't know" what the problem is. Well, neither do I.
Second-part 3, the water heater will automatically shut itself off periodically. I don't have access to the water heater as it's in a locked portion of the building. So I have to call the landlord so he can reset it. And there are times that I have to wait anywhere from a day to several days.
Third-part 1, he rarely does anything with the yard. I don't recall it saying anything in the lease agreemant about me having to do anything on the yard. But I water it, as a courtesy. The grass will get 2-6 inches in height before he mows it. I have offered to mow it (again, as a courtesy), but then he expects me to go to his house, get the mower, bring down here, mow the yard, then take the mower back to his place. Maybe if I was getting paid, but no way I will do that as a courtesy.
Third-part 2, he complains about how the yard is a mess because I have been working on my utility trailer outside. Even though I have kept it clean, and he is the one responsible for keeping the yard.
Fourth, the exterior of the place really sucks. He tries to cut corners every chance he gets, and it comes out shoddy in the end. When it rains, the water goes through the porch roof. The exterior needs painted badly. He had false masonry done on the porch, and it's starting to fall apart.
Fifth, he has little respect for my privacy. While he doesn't go out of his way to intrude on me, he has in the past entered my apartment without providing notice.

I would move, but right now is the worst time I have had in years, financially. What can I do to protect myself? What can I do to get him to comply with the lease (I think it expired sometime back)? What do I do, period?
 


T

Tracey

Guest
Contact the local tenant's association or legal aid society for help finding Utah's residential landlord tenant act and/or the statute covering a landlord's duty to repair. The duty to repair statute should contain a list of your remedies, including repairing yourself & deducting the cost fromt he rent, paying rent into the court until L makes all necessary repairs, damages, etc. You must follow specific procedures in order to avail yourself of these remedies. Also, look up the statute on access & the remedies for abuse of access. Finally, make sure you check out the security deposit statutes & start documenting the damages the house is sustaining due to L's failure to maintain the house. You'll have to be able to prove that you told L about the problems, that he did nothing, & which damages are due to L's failure to maintain rather than your actions. Assume you'll be in court, so start taking pictures/videotapes & keeping copies of all letters now. Finally, look up the laws on retaliatory evictions so you can make sure that you are protected by them & L can't just throw you out rather than make repairs.

You may be able to find a pamphlet at the library or a helpful person at the law library.

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.
 

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