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Lets start over

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whiggs

Member
Hello all,
Lets do this over. I will be sure to make clear right off the bat that you should read the post in its entirety before responding to the question, as having to repeat myself because one doesn't read the post is the equivalent of repeating myself when someone is not listening during a verbal conversation, which is considered by most (if not all) modern civilizations to be extremely rude (which I thought went without saying). So, I am trying to determine what the best course of action to take in my situation is. I live in Conyers, Ga and rent a house from a private individual. I have lived here for 3 years, and for those 3 years, have had no problems. However, recently, several things have happened recently which are the fault of the Home owners association for the community rather than the landlord himself, but are, nonetheless, frustrating me and negatively impacting my use of the unit. Such issues include being accosted by other peoples' dogs that are not properly restrained whenever I take my dogs on a walk, which has resulted in me, no joke, having to purchase and take pepper spray to defend myself. Another issue is that the HOA frequently (like once a week) turns off water to the entire community without notice for multiple hours while they perform maintenance on the water distribution system (hoa provides water to my the community). This can be incredibly frustrating when I, for example, have a job interview I am scheduled for, but have to frantically reschedule last minute because I can't take a shower and was not informed the water would be out. These are all problems with the hoa, not the landlord, I recognize this. However, in order to address the shortcomings of the communities hoa (and take whatever legal action I can), I have asked my landlord for a copy of the home owners association rules and regulations to see if there is some way I can hold this body accountability for completely failing in their mission statement of making the community a "safe and pleasant place to live." However, my request went ignored. I texted the landlord on a daily basis asking for the rules and regulations and was repeatedly ignored for about a week before I had had enough and sent the landlord a text basically stating "Ok, I have had enough. I am not paying you a single penny more in rent until I get a copy of those rules and regulations." To which he absolutely lost his mind: calling my desire to live in safety with quality services "crazy" and telling me "you can take your demands and just move out." I was honestly kind of surprised at this reaction, as I would not think that asking for the rules and regulations of the hoa (to which I pay monthly hoa fees mind you) which governs the community that I am living in would be too much to ask. So, now my landlord is contributing to the problem. My question is, given my situation, what do I do? I have read the georgia landlord/tenant handbook, and it appears that not paying rent would not be a good idea, as not paying rent gives the landlord more leeway in their ability to evict me from the property. But how should I proceed? Should I just not pay rent and explain how the landlord will not provide me the hoa rules and regulations at the eviction hearing? Should I be proactive and take my landlord to court first? How would I go about starting that process? Any information would be appreciated. Thanks.
What is the name of your state?
 


PayrollHRGuy

Senior Member
The Landlord has done nothing under GA law that would allow you not to pay rent.

If you don't like that answer please feel free to contact a lawyer.
 

not2cleverRed

Obvious Observer
Lei's do this over with white space and less unnecessary commentary.

State: GA (Conyers).
I have rented rent a house from a private individual for 3 years in a community with an HOA.

Recently , I have been having problems with being accosted by other peoples' dogs that are not properly restrained when taking my dogs on a walk.
I have started to take pepper spray with me when walking my dogs to defend myself.

The HOA has (~ once a week) turned off water to the entire community without notice for multiple hours while they perform maintenance on the water distribution system (HOA provides water to my the community).

In order to address the shortcomings of the community's HOA (and take whatever legal action I can), I have asked my landlord for a copy of the HOA rules and regulations (CC&Rs). My request went ignored.

I texted the landlord on a daily basis asking for the rules and regulations and was repeatedly ignored for about a week before I sent the landlord a text basically stating "I am not paying you a single penny more in rent until I get a copy of those rules and regulations."

My landlord responded that I was "crazy", telling me "you can take your demands and just move out."

My question: given my situation, what do I do? I have read the Georgia landlord/tenant handbook, and it appears that not paying rent would not be a good idea, as not paying rent gives the landlord more leeway in their ability to evict me from the property. But how should I proceed? Should I just not pay rent and explain how the landlord will not provide me the HOA rules and regulations at the eviction hearing? Should I be proactive and take my landlord to court first? How would I go about starting that process? Any information would be appreciated. Thanks.
Do not withhold rent. Doing so gives the landlord grounds for eviction. And no, the judge is not going to be sympathetic, because your actions are not reasonable.

The landlord is not responsible for the behavior of other people's dogs. If you are being attacked by dogs, report it to police and make a complaint to the HOA about the irresponsible owners.

The landlord is not responsible for the water being turned off. And the HOA is trying to do maintenance, so your complaint sounds petty.

Sending daily requests for CC&Rs sounding like pretty annoying behavior.

I suggest you pay rent when rent is due, and move when your lease is up. Consult your lease to determine how much notice is required for non-renewal.
 

Mass_Shyster

Senior Member
Helloall,Letsdothisover.Iwillbesuretomakeclearrightoffthebatthatyoushouldreadthepostinitsentiretybeforerespondingtothequestion,ashavingtorepeatmyselfbecauseonedoesn'treadthepostistheequivalentofrepeatingmyselfwhensomeoneisnotlisteningduringaverbalconversation,whichisconsideredbymost(ifnotall)moderncivilizationstobeextremelyrude(whichIthoughtwentwithoutsaying).So,Iamtryingtodeterminewhatthebestcourseofactiontotakeinmysituationis.IliveinConyers,Gaandrentahousefromaprivateindividual.Ihavelivedherefor3years,andforthose3years,havehadnoproblems.However,recently,severalthingshavehappenedrecentlywhicharethefaultoftheHomeownersassociationforthecommunityratherthanthelandlordhimself,butare,nonetheless,frustratingmeandnegativelyimpactingmyuseoftheunit.Suchissuesincludebeingaccostedbyotherpeoples'dogsthatarenotproperlyrestrainedwheneverItakemydogsonawalk,whichhasresultedinme,nojoke,havingtopurchaseandtakepepperspraytodefendmyself.AnotherissueisthattheHOAfrequently(likeonceaweek)turnsoffwatertotheentirecommunitywithoutnoticeformultiplehourswhiletheyperformmaintenanceonthewaterdistributionsystem(hoaprovideswatertomythecommunity).ThiscanbeincrediblyfrustratingwhenI,forexample,haveajobinterviewIamscheduledfor,buthavetofranticallyreschedulelastminutebecauseIcan'ttakeashowerandwasnotinformedthewaterwouldbeout.Theseareallproblemswiththehoa,notthelandlord,Irecognizethis.However,inordertoaddresstheshortcomingsofthecommunitieshoa(andtakewhateverlegalactionIcan),IhaveaskedmylandlordforacopyofthehomeownersassociationrulesandregulationstoseeifthereissomewayIcanholdthisbodyaccountabilityforcompletelyfailingintheirmissionstatementofmakingthecommunitya"safeandpleasantplacetolive."However,myrequestwentignored.ItextedthelandlordonadailybasisaskingfortherulesandregulationsandwasrepeatedlyignoredforaboutaweekbeforeIhadhadenoughandsentthelandlordatextbasicallystating"Ok,Ihavehadenough.IamnotpayingyouasinglepennymoreinrentuntilIgetacopyofthoserulesandregulations."Towhichheabsolutelylosthismind:callingmydesiretoliveinsafetywithqualityservices"crazy"andtellingme"youcantakeyourdemandsandjustmoveout."Iwashonestlykindofsurprisedatthisreaction,asIwouldnotthinkthataskingfortherulesandregulationsofthehoa(towhichIpaymonthlyhoafeesmindyou)whichgovernsthecommunitythatIamlivinginwouldbetoomuchtoask.So,nowmylandlordiscontributingtotheproblem.Myquestionis,givenmysituation,whatdoIdo?Ihavereadthegeorgialandlord/tenanthandbook,anditappearsthatnotpayingrentwouldnotbeagoodidea,asnotpayingrentgivesthelandlordmoreleewayintheirabilitytoevictmefromtheproperty.ButhowshouldIproceed?ShouldIjustnotpayrentandexplainhowthelandlordwillnotprovidemethehoarulesandregulationsattheevictionhearing?ShouldIbeproactiveandtakemylandlordtocourtfirst?HowwouldIgoaboutstartingthatprocess?Anyinformationwouldbeappreciated.Thanks.
Your block of test is almost impossible to read.
 

Eekamouse

Senior Member
Hello all,
Lets do this over. I will be sure to make clear right off the bat that you should read the post in its entirety before responding to the question, as having to repeat myself because one doesn't read the post is the equivalent of repeating myself when someone is not listening during a verbal conversation, which is considered by most (if not all) modern civilizations to be extremely rude (which I thought went without saying). So, I am trying to determine what the best course of action to take in my situation is. I live in Conyers, Ga and rent a house from a private individual. I have lived here for 3 years, and for those 3 years, have had no problems. However, recently, several things have happened recently which are the fault of the Home owners association for the community rather than the landlord himself, but are, nonetheless, frustrating me and negatively impacting my use of the unit. Such issues include being accosted by other peoples' dogs that are not properly restrained whenever I take my dogs on a walk, which has resulted in me, no joke, having to purchase and take pepper spray to defend myself. Another issue is that the HOA frequently (like once a week) turns off water to the entire community without notice for multiple hours while they perform maintenance on the water distribution system (hoa provides water to my the community). This can be incredibly frustrating when I, for example, have a job interview I am scheduled for, but have to frantically reschedule last minute because I can't take a shower and was not informed the water would be out. These are all problems with the hoa, not the landlord, I recognize this. However, in order to address the shortcomings of the communities hoa (and take whatever legal action I can), I have asked my landlord for a copy of the home owners association rules and regulations to see if there is some way I can hold this body accountability for completely failing in their mission statement of making the community a "safe and pleasant place to live." However, my request went ignored. I texted the landlord on a daily basis asking for the rules and regulations and was repeatedly ignored for about a week before I had had enough and sent the landlord a text basically stating "Ok, I have had enough. I am not paying you a single penny more in rent until I get a copy of those rules and regulations." To which he absolutely lost his mind: calling my desire to live in safety with quality services "crazy" and telling me "you can take your demands and just move out." I was honestly kind of surprised at this reaction, as I would not think that asking for the rules and regulations of the hoa (to which I pay monthly hoa fees mind you) which governs the community that I am living in would be too much to ask. So, now my landlord is contributing to the problem. My question is, given my situation, what do I do? I have read the georgia landlord/tenant handbook, and it appears that not paying rent would not be a good idea, as not paying rent gives the landlord more leeway in their ability to evict me from the property. But how should I proceed? Should I just not pay rent and explain how the landlord will not provide me the hoa rules and regulations at the eviction hearing? Should I be proactive and take my landlord to court first? How would I go about starting that process? Any information would be appreciated. Thanks.
What is the name of your state?
Why haven't you gone to the HOA and asked for a copy of the rules and regs?
 

Gail in Georgia

Senior Member
As a Georgia landlord myself, you need to understand that simply withholding rent WILL lead to an eviction for you.

And you have absolutely no legal reason to take your landlord to court first.

Georgia does allow a tenant to withhold rent AND place it in an escrow account with the court until a repair issue is resolved. However, the things you are complaining about do not fit the category of "repair issues".

What type of lease do you have? Are you on a yearly lease or on a "tenancy at will" (i.e., a month to month lease). If the latter please be aware that this lease can be terminated by your landlord with a 60 day notice from them. No reason for the termination need be provided. If you are unhappy with this situation you may terminate such a lease with a 30 day notice.

I hope this clears this matter up a bit.

Gail
 

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