Unlivable conditions...

[MaryInMN]

My brother is renting an apartment and is on a year lease. He has been in the hospital for the past 2 1/2 months and will not be able to live on his own when and if he gets out. 10 days after being in the hospital I called the property manager and explained that no one would be living in the apartment and that we would need to move him out. She said that we would have to pay the last 2 months rent and clean the apartment. 5 days later she called and said that his apartment had a flood. Apparently the toilet over flowed and she was going to hold my brother responsible for replacing the carpet. It was completely ruined. I finally got her to see that my brother is not responsible for faulty equipment in the apartment. In the past 2 1/2 months since the apartment manager was notified of the damage only the carpet was just replaced 5 days ago. The toilet has never been fixed since and has been turned off. We have payed the past 2 months rent in full because they tolf me we were still responsible for the rent. But, if the apartment was in unlivable conditions, do we have to still pay rent? Shouldn't we be refunded the rent due to the fact that they did not make the repairs in a timly fashion? Is there a law about this? Because the carpet was not replced right away mold grew around the edges of the wall and the gasious smell was overwhelming. The toilet is still not fixed to this day. I have went and done all the final cleaning they asked. But I don't feel we should ahve had to pay rent on an apartment that could not be lived in. I know they did not make the repairs because they knew no one would be living in the apartment.. But, if we are paying full rent then it should be considered a rented apartment and have all the repairs done as any lived in apartment has. Correct? Please help! Any written documentaion of laws or such would be much appreciated also.

Thank you!

 

[mee]

Technically its still a rented apartment you have not turned the keys over to the management and had the electric turned off... so you still have to pay rent.

If you returned the keys as of the 31st you are no longer required to pay rent...but they have a duty to re rent the place, and you should get your security back...

They have had plenty of time to repair the damage and should have had it rerented by the 1st. But it sounds like they havent....

If you turned the keys in 2 months ago, then they had no right to demand rent from you and you should add that to the deposit and sue them in small claims court
.

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by MaryInMN:
My brother is renting an apartment and is on a year lease. He has been in the hospital for the past 2 1/2 months and will not be able to live on his own when and if he gets out. 10 days after being in the hospital I called the property manager and explained that no one would be living in the apartment and that we would need to move him out. She said that we would have to pay the last 2 months rent and clean the apartment. 5 days later she called and said that his apartment had a flood. Apparently the toilet over flowed and she was going to hold my brother responsible for replacing the carpet. It was completely ruined. I finally got her to see that my brother is not responsible for faulty equipment in the apartment. In the past 2 1/2 months since the apartment manager was notified of the damage only the carpet was just replaced 5 days ago. The toilet has never been fixed since and has been turned off. We have payed the past 2 months rent in full because they tolf me we were still responsible for the rent. But, if the apartment was in unlivable conditions, do we have to still pay rent? Shouldn't we be refunded the rent due to the fact that they did not make the repairs in a timly fashion? Is there a law about this? Because the carpet was not replced right away mold grew around the edges of the wall and the gasious smell was overwhelming. The toilet is still not fixed to this day. I have went and done all the final cleaning they asked. But I don't feel we should ahve had to pay rent on an apartment that could not be lived in. I know they did not make the repairs because they knew no one would be living in the apartment.. But, if we are paying full rent then it should be considered a rented apartment and have all the repairs done as any lived in apartment has. Correct? Please help! Any written documentaion of laws or such would be much appreciated also.

Thank you!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

[Tracey]

Where is bro's apt? We can't tell you the laws unless you tell us which state!! Why did you pay the rent? You didn't sign the lease & bro is probably judgment-proof.

Bro is liable for the rent for the months before L discovered the toilet/carpet problem. The apt was unlivable until L fixed the toilet and replaced the carpet. Once L knew about the problem, if L took longer than about 7 days to fix it, you have a good argument that L shouldn't be allowed to collect any rent for an unlivable apt, since bro would have sent L a letter demanding L fix the problems or bro would terminate the lease immediately. Also, bro may be entitled to a security deposit refund, since the damages from the toilet overflow are L's responsibility.

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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.