Free rent for 16 months!---no shower though

[Srami]

This is my first post. Here is the situation;

I live in a 2 story house. when I moved in the other 2 roomates were basically paying month to month ($600) and had no written lease with the landlord. Through the previous years there had probably been about 5-6 other guys living in the house. There was an initial lease, but I don't know the stipulations of it. I do know that if we were late on a payment they would call and and check on us. About 18 months ago it was noticed that there was water damage on the ceiling on the first floor. The water damage was directly under the bathroom on the second floor. We immediately stopped using the bathtub for showers in fear that it could come through the roof. We informed the management of the property, no response. We called a contractor to get an estimate and physically dropped it off at the management's office, no response. we continued to try to page and phone the person responsible for the rental house, no response. Meanwhile we can't bathe ourselves in the house. So after 2 months of trying to be heard, we stopped paying rent, no response. Just two weeks ago the person above our landlord stops by to just to say hi and check out the property. He had no clue of our living conditions. Now they want money. While the amount is small in comparison to what they didn't receive for the last 16 months we feel like we played our cards the right way. Now we are getting threatened w/ a lawsuit and eviction. My other 2 roomates have already left and now I am stuck, with no shower. They are complaing that we let the house depreciate and that we should have moved out when we got no response?!?! There is a little more to the story but this is the heart of it. Help! Steve

 

[LL]

Regarding playing your cards,

You have to know when to hold them, when to fold them.

You said, "WE feel like WE played our cards the right way", but You were left holding the joker.

You will have to fix it up as best you can, by yourself.

Talk to the landlord and see what you can work out. It may cost you some money.

 

[Srami]

LL, thanks for your response.

What should I have done? My main concern is to what I am legally bound to. I know they can sue me or the other roomates for the money, do I have any recourse? What if I left through the night? I just want to know what I can possibly do, besides paying or making an arrangement with the landlord. I have communicated to them that I would be interested in doing something like that. But I cannot bear the full load.

 

[Srami]

As a landlord......what would you do if we refused payment? what would you do if I vacated the premises immediately?

 

[LL]

If you refused to pay, I would file an eviction immediatly and pursue it, including pursuing a money judgement against at least you, probably all of you.

If you left in the middel of the night, I would pursue you in court for money for all of my expenses, damage, rent through the end of any lease. I would give the case to a detective agency to assist me, and add that to your costs.

Bad moves.

Better is to face the problem squarely and honestly, try to make some arrangement with the landlord, even if it costs you money.

As an experienced landlord, I have a long reach. Don't forget your credit report.

 

[Srami]

Ok, I understand that. I can really see the landlord's side. I still want to know what type of recourse I could have, if any. And with the circumstances and it went to court (which I don't want) and there is no lease binding me, what am I liable for. Because you can sue somebody for any reason. They have to prove we owe them money, yet they fell short on their parts of being the landlord. Do you see what I am saying? We didn't want to live rent free and showerless. It was major inconvenience. So, we stayed here and withheld rent until the damage was fixed, we got no response. I still need to know what recourse I have. Thank you for your replies.

 

[LL]

Your recourse is: Not Much.

A lease binding you: You paid rent didn't you? There is at least some kind of an implied contract, enough for a judge to enforce.

Despite their negligence in collecting rent, they are still owed rent. Did you ever send a certified letter to whoever you pay rent to, about the problems?

What this means is this: You want to say that you simply withheld rent but:

1. You don't say where this is; you should check your local state's law about withholding rent.

2. Just as an example, lets use California.
a)California doesn't actually have a rent withholding law. Does your state have one?

b) California has a case on record where the court decided that because there was a habitability problem that the value of the rental premises was reduced, and therefore it is legal for the tenant to withhold rent in the amount of the reduced value until the problem is fixed. Your problem might qualify in California as a habitability problem. You however, withheld the total rent.

c) The California law for deduct and repair can be used only up to one month's rent expense and you must use it to repair the premises. It also can be used only twice in a 12 month period. You didn't do any repair.

d) You also didn't leave, indicating that you preferred the free rent to paying rent for a place with a shower.

These points show that there is another side to the story, a lot of which depends on your local state law.

What do I think that a judge would do with this? I think a good judge would look for a fair solution. If the other side asks for 18 months rent, it may be too big an amount for small claims court and go to a higher court with lawyers and formal procedures, and thus more likely to be decided by law than by emotion and informal fairness. It is also more likely to end up in a mediation hearing where the judge will try to get both sides to accept a compromise. My guess is that the judge would suggest that you pay some rent and that the other side give up some rent because of the lack of shower.

I suggest that you write a letter (certified) to whoever you were supposed to send your rent to, explain the whole situation (as briefly and professionally as you can) and ask for an appointment to come and discuss the situation. Then try to negotiate a fair settlement.

If you call around, there may be a mediation agency in your jurisdiction. Ask, for example, in the small claims court, about how to obtain some "ADR = Alternate Dispute Resolution", which is a professional mediation agency, probably free or low cost because the court prefers that matters get settled this way. You can have non-binding mediation where you can say NO to everything. Mediation usually focuses on both parties NEEDS rather than legal issues.

 

[Srami]

I want to thank you for your response. Some of your responses I have already learned. Today I spoke to an attorney here in Kentucky. One thing I failed to mention was that we have a slight gas leak prohibiting from letting us use the oven to cook food. He did mention the certified letter. That we should have sent one immediately after we got no response initially. He did say though to contact the Housing inspectors to get a inspection of the rental property, before I received an eviction notice. And that this could help my case. I have expressed to the owners that I would have no problem paying for a portion of the money that they/I feel is fair. They are only asking for 1800 dollars. From which after really analyzing it, is not that bad. But in a lump sum would hurt me .But, I was one of 4 people who have lived here since we were not paying. I would have no problem paying my portion of that. Now, my concern is that this may not be acceptable and they would want the money from the other roomates. How liable am I to provide info for them to contact the other roomates? They have already expressed that I could remain (I have had the most contact with them) if I presented a payment plan. This option to me would be worth it (to avoid legal action and to have the property repaired and not have to move out). Would I be obligated to provide contact info to the other roomates? I really don't even have a "direct" way to contact them. And I definitely do not want to bear the full load of the 1800 dollars. So, this is where it stands right now. I once again thank you for your time in responding, any other responses would be welcome and appreciated. Steve

 

[LL]

I don't think that you should have any worry about giving information on the whereabouts of your former roommates. After all, they left you to face all of the debt, didn't they?