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Lease issues

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Elise S

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York (Nassau County, Long Island, private home rental)
My income situation has changed, I must move with my 3 children to a lower rental apartment. In reading my lease, there is no wording noting I have to give 30 or 60 days notice of my move, or that I cannot live out my security, which is what I want to do for the month of December. The lease is not up until Feb 15th.

Here is a little history of my living in the apt. We moved into a house that had been empty for 2 years. When we moved in, the boiler died (from non-use), she had to replace. The house trap (main water line) backed up into our lower bathroom, she had to hire a plumber to snake it out. The pipe in the wall connecting the washing machine to the plumbing in the wall had a whole in it due to her having the 2nd bathroom next to the washer renovated. She didn't know about this until after we moved in and started using the machine and there was water all over the place. Then the refrigerator died (it was about 15 yrs old), I had just gone food shopping and lost about $200 dollars worth of meat and groceries which she refused to reimburse me for (it died in the morning and we hadn't come home until very late that night). It took her 2 days to have it replaced. We had to purchase coolers, ice, buy food daily to eat, then replace the food that had gone bad. Then again the main line backed up on a Saturday night at 10pm, she was out of town, she wouldn't return any of my calls or text messages, so I had to call Root Rooter to come in. They arrived at 11:30 at night and stayed until 3:30 in the morning. Evidently, the first plumber did much of nothing but to temporarily clear a clog. It turns out that the main line had backup going back 20 years or so, old paper towels (black), soap build up in the pipes, etc and they had to do major pumping, they even had to pull the toilet out and pump it out in the opposite direction to clear it. This cost me $700. I deducted it from my rent with a copy of the bill with the company's explanation of why this backup happened (no fault of mine). She refused to pay for this. She showed up unaccounced with her boyfried screaming at me that i had to pay 1/2. Then we had slugs in our family room due to a whole in the foundation in the back of the house, carpenter ants, camel crickets, a ceiling fan broke within a month in my sons room, the dining room ceiling fan was totally unstable. She finally hired her fix it guy to come over and fix everything in the house. He had to replace the ceiling fixture in the dining room because the electrical was extremely dangerous (could have started a fire at anytime), the ceiling fan in my sons room had to be replaced, she had the foundation fixed, called the exterminator. While the work was being done, the electrician had to rewire some things because of incorrect wiring. The night this happened, I had to purchase the light bulbs for the new dining room fixture, when putting them in, the fixture fell out of the ceiling into my arms, I was alone and it was very heavy. I was able to catch it. I called her to let her know that they did not install it properly and she accused me of breaking it. Then she told me that I expected too much of her as a tenant and when my lease was over, I should find a new place. She was screaming and didn't want to listen. I got it back up with the help of my 15yr old son, it is crooked because the base wasn't put in properly. There are still slugs coming into the family room, there are still crickets in the house, etc. We pay all of the utilities in this house, I pay for a landscaper, I paid a plumber to have a hose bib put on the outside of the house so we had outside water to water the grass. I also replaced the decreped kitchen floor when I moved in and had 20plus year old wallpaper removed and the walls painted. I have put well over a month's rent into this house for repairs and improvements. An apartment has literally fallen into my lap that is available on January 1st. I do not want to lose this opportunity, as the rent is quite a bit lower than my current rental and I am sick over the behavior of my current landlord and her verbally abusive boyfriend who eggs her on at any moment escalating every situation.
 


Hot Topic

Senior Member
You can probably move out of the place without penalty.

What did the city building inspector say when you contacted him or her about the problems? Did you take pictures of the fallen ceiling fixture or anything else? I hope you kept copies of the letters you sent the landlord via certified mail, return requested on the many issues you describe to us. Sounds like the place should have been condemned.
 

BL

Senior Member
What was your question(s) ?

http://www.oag.state.ny.us/bureaus/real_estate_finance/pdfs/tenants_rights_guide.pdf

I could go through your post and comment on each problem you had , but I won't .

The refrigerator : The only obligation the LL had was to replace it , and it was in a timely manner .

The main sewage line backup . You paid for it and took it out of rent .

All the rest of habitual conditions should have been brought to the attention of the Code Enforcement Office ( IF ) the LL ignored your repair request , except the LL did repair .

Now go read the LL/tenant law from the link I provided .

You as a tenant can not legally use a SD in place of rent due , or you face eviction .
 

Elise S

Junior Member
Lease Issues

I did deduct the plumbers cost from the rent, but the landlord showed up at my home at 11:00pm unannounced screaming at me that I had to pay at least half even though it was clear in the plumber's bill that this problem was NOT my doing. I was forced to write her a check for $350.00. The main line was NEVER cleaned out in the 60 plus years in has been built. I had no choice but to pay it or the plumber was not leaving my home at 3:30am. The landlord was unresponsive to my calls, voice mails and text messages. The water could not be run in the house, no showers, or flushing of toilets until this problem was fixed ASAP. How do you do that with 3 children in the house??? She never responded to any of my calls, or texts until she received the rent with the deduction. She has blamed me for every incident that has gone wrong it the house, please note, that she had these items fixed after I sent her 3 written requests over 2 months time. Then she expected me to allow her access for these repairs with one days notice and expected me to allow the repair men in the house on a weekday when I nor she would be there. We agreed on a Saturday, they showed up at the set time, she was over 3 hours late to meet them and they could not do anything without her going through all the items in the house that needed to be repaired.
 
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Mrs. D

Member
Your situation is, I'm sure, upsetting, but it could get worse if you don't do this the right way. As previously mentioned, have you called code enforcement about these problems? If you call code enforcement and she doesn't fix the problems in a timely manner, you can ask a court to have your lease voided. However, these things take time and require processes, and a month is probably not long enough to get out of the place if you haven't previously called the code office.

If you decide to just not pay rent for December ("live out your deposit" as you say) and then move out in January, you'll likely (a) be formally evicted, which will show on your public records history and make getting rentals or credit a real bear; (b) have a money judgment entered against you for December's rent as well as rent for any time between when you leave and when your LL is able to re-rent the apartment; and (c) weaken any case you have right now to, for example, get your $350.00 you paid for the plumber back.

My point is that, while I agree you're in a bad situation, trying to get out of it quickly and without following the proper legal steps will make it absolute hell and probably cost you more in money and frustration than you would save moving into this new, better, cheaper place. If you've called the code enforcement office before, call them back and have them cite your LL for failing to make required repairs. That would be a big step to getting out of your lease. If you haven't called the code enforcement office, then get on the phone tomorrow and get them over there. The chances of you getting out of your lease before February 15 if you haven't yet contacted the code office are low, but it doesn't hurt to try, and it also improves your case to both get back moneys you paid for necessary repairs and get your whole deposit back.
 

BL

Senior Member
I had to pay at least half even though it was clear in the plumber's bill that this problem was NOT my doing. I was forced to write her a check for $350.00.

It turns out that the main line had backup going back 20 years or so, old paper towels (black), soap build up in the pipes, etc and they had to do major pumping, they even had to pull the toilet out and pump it out in the opposite direction to clear it. This cost me $700. I deducted it from my rent with a copy of the bill with the company's explanation of why this backup happened (no fault of mine). She refused to pay for this. She showed up unaccounced with her boyfried screaming at me that i had to pay 1/2.
Get your story straight .

You couldn't have been " forced " to pay the 1/2 .

Written request is the proper way to request repairs , if verbal request go unanswered , if not an emergency .

In the two months if these were Immediate health hazards , the code enforcement should have been called .

You can be evicted for non payment of rent .

You can go to small claims court to Petition for your $350.00 back , or counter sue , if the LL sues you for damages .
 
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Gail in Georgia

Senior Member
To be quite honest, your entire posting appears to be an attempt to justify breaking the lease simply to get a less expensive apartment.

When I read your litany of repair issues, one thing seemed to stand out; you notified your landlord and these repairs were made within the legal time frame for your state. The boiler that died was replaced, the house trap that backed up was snaked out by a plumber, the washing machine pipe that leaked was replaced, the refrigerator that died was replaced, the foundation was fixed, an exterminator was call in, etc. etc..

The point is that items in a rental (as in a home owners house) will break, wear down, need repair. You are, after all, living in a 60 year old house. The issue is not that these things took place but whether or not the landlord responded to their requests on time.

Unfortunately she wasn't home at your beck and call on a Saturday night at 10 pm when the plumbing issue arose and you waited less than an hour before taking it upon yourself to call a plumber.

IF you break this lease and your landlord sues you for this, your claim that she was unresponsive to your calls, voice mails and text messages will not hold up in court, based on the own information that you've posted here. Frankly, your own posting indicates exactly the opposite; she was quite reponsive to your requests for repairs.

Gail
 

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