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Sue landlord for 5yrs of code violations

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fishingfool

Guest
I live in Seattle Wa, and have rented from the same landlord for 13yrs. I have lived in the same triplex the whole time, in two different units. In the last seven years I have been dealing with the fact that my wifes sister was married to the landlord for 10 yrs. Because of the family kind of relationship my wife has discoauged me from taking action on serious issues that have now gone from bad to life threatening. I have been in a home with a broken bathroom window for 2yrs, cardboard as a band-aid,a woodstove that is cracked, leaks smoke,and I was told it was cleaned prior to my move in but truth shows no cleaning in 13 years,light fixtures that are burned,cinged, that wont work,racoons,possums in the heating ducts that blow heat into my home,a deck that is so molded and slippery it is unusable, A FOUNDATION THAT IS CRACKING, my whole right side of my unit is sloping so far that i cannot put a lamp,table,on that side of my unit because it will tip over, my ceiling has sunken down over 1foot in 3 months,cracks in the walls,paint falling,mortar breaking up on the chimney and around the woodstove, a fence that is supposed to secure my 2 beagles, but has holes all over when a slight wind blows. My landlord lives a block away from my home and is on site often to look at the yard,talk to a tenant, etc. I have sent letters,made calls,talked in person to my landlord about each of the above problems. Those problems are all over 1 to 5yrs in time of first contact to my landlord. He has been in the home for plumbing fixes,minor appliance fixes,etc many times in this time frame, but just blows me off when i ask about the problems. He is filthy rich from rentals,he knows with 2dogs,4cats, and our financial situation that we cannot afford to move out. With my wifes almost obsessive need to not bother him he just figures I will just give up like usual. I called the city for an inspection the code violations are going to be severe. and i am sure the house is going to be condemned. My house is sinking into the ground and i do not want to die, I see the cracks getting bigger daily, the sloping worse and worse, and I have no choice. This will cause me to have to move out with very little notice if any and we are financialy hurting and the state has no assistance for relocation. I want this ******* who through his neglect has cost me my home and maybe my marriage. I am in shock that to no fault of mine and as a great tenant who pays rent on time for 13 years that a millionare can just say bye,bye, hit the road with no obligation to help us move out. What are my options.. He knew that the house was full of violations when he rented to us. He rented a home that was and is a life threatening hazard, He ignores my repair requests, I cant use my woodstove, overhead lights in 3 rooms, i am paranoid about the collapse of the house all the time, I cant use to many electric outlets at one time for breaker blow outs, the crap that comes of the rodents in my heating ducts blows into my home every time I turn the heat on, my allergies and my wifes have been 100% worse since the day we moved in, the cracked walls and falling paint make it so we dont have people over at all anymore, we fight about the home daily. I am just stressed as hell HELP PLEASE
 


FarmerJ

Senior Member
When your city housing inspections unit does condemn the place ask them for the maxiumum amount of time to relocate . In some places you would be granted up to 30 days on a condemn to vacate , all the other issues you mention you want to sue for allthough they cause you anger and frustration are not things you can sue for , especially since you stayed there so long . Tell your wife to grow up and accept the fact that this is a bad place to live , If your wife leaves you over this kind of stuff instead of really really bad things that most married folks have to deal with then maybe your better of with out her . BTW it doesnt matter that your LL is wealthy or Poor if the place is a hazzard its a hazzard .
 
F

fishingfool

Guest
Respond to Farmerj

Thanks for your reply. In Washigton state I can sue for damages that come from the LL failure to repair items that are vital to my basic tenant rights. A court can determine that for his neglect my 900.00$ rent cost was not the true value of this dwelling. He has breached the Implied warranty of habitability act in our state. He has knowingly rented out 3 units in a triplex that was not safe for tenants to live in. Their are many areas in which this violation can be proven, just the fact that this house had a cracked or weakened foundation resulting in a potential integrity failure is enough to be deemned a hazard therfor not safe to rent. He has breached the weather secure, rodent control,electrical system to be working and maintained, He has failed to clean or maintain a source of heat in my home in over 13 years, and lied about that to me and the prior tenants, this is a severe fire hazars and the fire department requires the woodstove to be cleaned once a year minimum. I could go on but the bottom line is not that i stayed for so long because with low income and 2dogs 3 cats, a smoker, I am unable to afford to move out. The fact is a wealthy (able to afford repairs) LL has knowingly put my life in danger by not compling with Landlord Tenant Act in our state. His neglect has resulted in me having a standard quality of living. I have been deprived of what i was told i would get for $900.00 rental cost and what the law says I am entitled to. I pay rent on time, have never had a complaint against me, I have asked, wrote, followed up on basic requests to repair the things that he is required to do. Why in the hell should i have to spend one penny,minute of time,ounce of stress, or even a thought toward finding a new place to live? Do you think i am not deserving of compensation or assistance to find a new place.?
 

HomeGuru

Senior Member
fishingfool said:
I live in Seattle Wa, and have rented from the same landlord for 13yrs. I have lived in the same triplex the whole time, in two different units. In the last seven years I have been dealing with the fact that my wifes sister was married to the landlord for 10 yrs. Because of the family kind of relationship my wife has discoauged me from taking action on serious issues that have now gone from bad to life threatening. I have been in a home with a broken bathroom window for 2yrs, cardboard as a band-aid,a woodstove that is cracked, leaks smoke,and I was told it was cleaned prior to my move in but truth shows no cleaning in 13 years,light fixtures that are burned,cinged, that wont work,racoons,possums in the heating ducts that blow heat into my home,a deck that is so molded and slippery it is unusable, A FOUNDATION THAT IS CRACKING, my whole right side of my unit is sloping so far that i cannot put a lamp,table,on that side of my unit because it will tip over, my ceiling has sunken down over 1foot in 3 months,cracks in the walls,paint falling,mortar breaking up on the chimney and around the woodstove, a fence that is supposed to secure my 2 beagles, but has holes all over when a slight wind blows. My landlord lives a block away from my home and is on site often to look at the yard,talk to a tenant, etc. I have sent letters,made calls,talked in person to my landlord about each of the above problems. Those problems are all over 1 to 5yrs in time of first contact to my landlord. He has been in the home for plumbing fixes,minor appliance fixes,etc many times in this time frame, but just blows me off when i ask about the problems. He is filthy rich from rentals,he knows with 2dogs,4cats, and our financial situation that we cannot afford to move out. With my wifes almost obsessive need to not bother him he just figures I will just give up like usual. I called the city for an inspection the code violations are going to be severe. and i am sure the house is going to be condemned. My house is sinking into the ground and i do not want to die, I see the cracks getting bigger daily, the sloping worse and worse, and I have no choice. This will cause me to have to move out with very little notice if any and we are financialy hurting and the state has no assistance for relocation. I want this ******* who through his neglect has cost me my home and maybe my marriage. I am in shock that to no fault of mine and as a great tenant who pays rent on time for 13 years that a millionare can just say bye,bye, hit the road with no obligation to help us move out. What are my options.. He knew that the house was full of violations when he rented to us. He rented a home that was and is a life threatening hazard, He ignores my repair requests, I cant use my woodstove, overhead lights in 3 rooms, i am paranoid about the collapse of the house all the time, I cant use to many electric outlets at one time for breaker blow outs, the crap that comes of the rodents in my heating ducts blows into my home every time I turn the heat on, my allergies and my wifes have been 100% worse since the day we moved in, the cracked walls and falling paint make it so we dont have people over at all anymore, we fight about the home daily. I am just stressed as hell HELP PLEASE
**A: and at what year in time did you read the L/T law and sent L certified rrr letters citing the law and requesting remedies?
 
F

fishingfool

Guest
Homeguru

The dates I contacted my landlord vary with different problems. The foundation issuewas to be fxed after we moved in gto this unit about 6yrs ago, I have written,called,left messages as to when the job was going to start. It has gotton so bad that I have to take action. Thye rodents in my vents has been over a year,windows 2-3 years,walls cracking 3wks 3wks ago,lights,and electrical system ongoing for years. I have read the LL tenant act, many times but mostly in the past month or so have i really done research. I know i can take him to small claims court for rent reduction, past rent,and future rent f i can show that this house has defects,hazards that reduce the standard of living he is entitled to give me for my rental amount. I know if can prove he knew that the house was non compliant when he rented to me he is liable to 3xmy rent or damages for my suffering whichever is higher. I know he knew that the house was in major violations he owns over 30 places in the area and lives down the street from me and has been in the house so many times i could not even estimate. It is obvious from outside that the house is sloping down on one side and something is very wrong.
 
N

no lawyer here

Guest
If you go to the site below it will tell you what you need to know about how to properly notify your landlord of repairs and what actions you can take to enforce your rights as a tenent.

www.atg.wa.gov/consumer/lt/textonly.htm


And make sure you send it to him by CRRR so you can prove in court he got it.
 
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F

fishingfool

Guest
Reply

I want to stress the fact I have documented every call, to the landlord regarding repairs. 2) I have made copies of every letter I have sent him and delivered to him by hand.3) I have documented the times he has promised to fix the fence,do the lights,look at the stucture problems etc.The problem is he does not respond to this stuff and I have been able to live with the problems until now. This is a very severe structure concern that is the driving point behind me calling the city for an inspection. I have now made it very probable that the two other tenants, one a single mother, and the other a person who is not in the position to afford a move will be evicted due to the citys findings and condeming the whole house. Why should I bare the guilt of this situation and why should any of us have to spend money we dont have because of the neglect the ll has provided to this house? The relationship with my landlord is some what unique. My wifes sister who lives down the block was married to my LL for ten years, and rents to her also and remains good friends with the guy. My wife is 40yrs old and has rented from him since she first moved out at 18. He allows us to have pets,and very little deposit was required to move in. The LL is over at the house on a somewhat regular basis to do yard stuff and owns the garage thats attatched to my house and it is a shop for him to work on his cars. So I have not only sent letters,made copies,documented conversations etc I have the guy who actualy can see the house and its sloping everytime he drives by. I am furious that a family friend has such little concern for the lives of my wife and his tenants. He is Wrong Not Us.
 
N

no lawyer here

Guest
Re: Reply

fishingfool said:
I want to stress the fact I have documented every call, to the landlord regarding repairs. 2) I have made copies of every letter I have sent him and delivered to him by hand.3) I have documented the times he has promised to fix the fence,do the lights,look at the stucture problems etc.The problem is he does not respond to this stuff and I have been able to live with the problems until now. This is a very severe structure concern that is the driving point behind me calling the city for an inspection. I have now made it very probable that the two other tenants, one a single mother, and the other a person who is not in the position to afford a move will be evicted due to the citys findings and condeming the whole house. Why should I bare the guilt of this situation and why should any of us have to spend money we dont have because of the neglect the ll has provided to this house? The relationship with my landlord is some what unique. My wifes sister who lives down the block was married to my LL for ten years, and rents to her also and remains good friends with the guy. My wife is 40yrs old and has rented from him since she first moved out at 18. He allows us to have pets,and very little deposit was required to move in. The LL is over at the house on a somewhat regular basis to do yard stuff and owns the garage thats attatched to my house and it is a shop for him to work on his cars. So I have not only sent letters,made copies,documented conversations etc I have the guy who actualy can see the house and its sloping everytime he drives by. I am furious that a family friend has such little concern for the lives of my wife and his tenants. He is Wrong Not Us.
A: You have three choices

1: Move

2: Sue him in small claims court.

3: Make the repairs yourself and take it off the rent.

There is no other relief for you.
 
F

fishingfool

Guest
Thanks for your wisdom HOWEVER

Let me ask you a question. Do you think most renters on average with two dogs,4cats on limited income have the realistic option of just moving out? So your option number one is NO OPTION AT ALL

Your option of just paying the repairs myself and deducting are WELLLLLL NOT EVEN WORTH A THOUGHT. Any idea how much it would cost to jack the house up and replace the foudation,pay for rodent folks to get rid of the critters and repair the venting system, replace the entire electrical system in the whole house,fix some windows,demolish and install a new secure fence,powerwash the decks to make them usable again, and so on and so on
option number two NO OPTION

Small claims court huh? Max $4,000 time involved chance of losing judgement,does nothing about relocating assistance, NOT A OPTION.
Here is my thought about the real option.
Have a LL that has collected rent from me and my wife for 13=years without one time being late. A ll who has had 26 years to learn the local laws and to know what happens when you neglect a structual problem for 15 years and realize that the only right thing to do would be to not put further hardship on people who he relys on or his financial security who in good faith have done more than just be legal tenants but GOOD tenants, and with his financial assets provide without the need to be asked the assistance to limit the hassle,damage that will occurr when the house gets condemned Thats a good option dont ya think
 

dequeendistress

Senior Member
Since you do not want to do anything about your situation, ie...to every response you have replied negatively or with a reason why you should not or should not have to carry thru with the suggestion.

What exactly are you asking?
 

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