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Hi,
Quick question, I am about to move. Reason ? A flood came,
ruined all the carpets and the building caretaker said the landlord
was on vacation for a while, and couldn't do anything. Children are
in the house, smells of sewage from the flood. In addition, a rather
large rat has been spotted, rummaging through closet boxes, landlords
'front man' put traps all over, never came back to check, we've had a
bad smell since.
I currently owe about $800 on rent, it's crossing my mind that -
for all the complete negligence on my landlords behalf to come through
and fix and address these health issues, I'm tempted to move my
belongings, and never speak to them again. Granted, they have $600
from me in security deposit, which I'm sure they will hang onto either
way, not that I've damaged the apartment, but - the word in town is -
the landlord is a slumlord.
Not only do I have to pay for a borderline unlivable place, but,
can I keep this months rent as well and say to hell with this scumbag
? Don't get me wrong, I've honored ALL my leases with landlords in
the past, I've been here 1.5 years, month to month at this point.
Other issues include, although it didn't say non-smoking, I get my
x-heroine addicts second hand smoke day in and day out, so does the
rest of the building, and they landlord won't address it.
Bottom line, I was wondering if anyone knew, if this scumbag comes
after me for the remaining $, do I have any legal grounds to say:
Regarding the Rat, traps, and exterminator were called, never
checked. <- considering the rat has been through my boxes and I've
seen it, must I pay for this kind of environment ?
Regarding Hurricaine Ivan, which flooded out the entire town, must I
pay for the apartment considering I've been living in a mold infested
basement apartment ? Left to 'hang' for over 1 month before the
landlords could be contacted ?
No kidding, this landlord, is known around town for 20 yrs + as a
complete scumbag, I didn't realize this until I rented. It's not
been entirely bad short of the mass second hand smoke from my
neighbor, as they landlord has all the heating/air conditioning ducts
mixed up and interconnected between the apartments. I'd not post
with this meditation, unless they had some wake up call coming.
So, am I clear of any debt likely in the eyes of the law for landlord
tenant law in Pennsylvania ? Would a judge say, oh ? you were
flooded out, and they didn't do anything, even though MOST people in
town threw out their carpets, AND the professional cleaners they sent
over - finally - said - no use in cleaning, must replace, no, you
don't have pay for that ?
Is it tolerated that a rat can be on premise and never followed up on
as to just what happened with all those traps ?
I keep thinking, ok, I rent so I don't have to deal with this crap, if
I owned, it'd be me responsible to take care of all of this.
What's the playing field going to look like ?
I'd like to just walk away from this entire nightmare, however, I am
leary they will attempt to sue me. I keep thinking, they HAVE to
know they're scumbags (most don't though), and they HAVE to know they
skimped on replacing carpeting in a basement apartment that flooded.
I'll put it this way, the first week I moved in, birds were living in
the bathroom, I got bird mites, found out at the emergency room what
they were, was due to the landlord not hooking up a seal for air
exhaust to prevent the birds from coming in, did I get an apology?
no, did I get an ER bill covered, no, hell, I didn't know what was
wrong, bitten all over, maddening.
Any thoughts are appreciated. I mainly want to know if I have any
defensive grounds to hopefully result in their lawyer aaying 'no
client, don't sue this one, they can come back on us with a
considerable amount of screwups on your behalf '
I'd reallly like to have peace of mind, and just walk on this one.
renter - PA
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Hi,
Quick question, I am about to move. Reason ? A flood came,
ruined all the carpets and the building caretaker said the landlord
was on vacation for a while, and couldn't do anything. Children are
in the house, smells of sewage from the flood. In addition, a rather
large rat has been spotted, rummaging through closet boxes, landlords
'front man' put traps all over, never came back to check, we've had a
bad smell since.
What's the playing field going to look like ?
I'd like to just walk away from this entire nightmare, however, I am
leary they will attempt to sue me. I keep thinking, they HAVE to
know they're scumbags (most don't though), and they HAVE to know they
skimped on replacing carpeting in a basement apartment that flooded.
I'll put it this way, the first week I moved in, birds were living in
the bathroom, I got bird mites, found out at the emergency room what
they were, was due to the landlord not hooking up a seal for air
exhaust to prevent the birds from coming in, did I get an apology?
no, did I get an ER bill covered, no, hell, I didn't know what was
wrong, bitten all over, maddening.
You ask a lot of questions for a relatively simple issue and I'm just
going to give you a quick answer. It sounds like your apartment
doesn't meet the standard for "implied warranty of habitability" that
all landlords MUST meet and all tenants CANNOT waive. Therefore, you
are off the hook for the $800 in rent. In addition, the landlord must
return the $600 deposit to you, assuming you were always on time with
your rent and didn't damage the place personally (you are not liable
for what Ivan did). Interpretations do vary somewhat for state to
state but a place with birds living in the bathroom has got to be well
below standard for satisfying the implied warranty of habitability.
You will probably have to sue the landlord to get the deposit back
(start by writing a letter requesting it back) if he's as much as a
lowlife as you say but the law is on your side here. You were on a
month-to-month lease and furthermore, the apartment's lack of
habitability does not require you to give 30 days notice.
---Chris J. Disclaimer: no attorney-client relationship exists here
and posting is in the matter of general legal advice only. Persons
are advised to contact their own attorney.
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Any thoughts are appreciated. I mainly want to know if I have any
defensive grounds to hopefully result in their lawyer aaying 'no
client, don't sue this one, they can come back on us with a
considerable amount of screwups on your behalf '
I'd reallly like to have peace of mind, and just walk on this one.
renter - PA
Do a google search on "constructive eviction" - should give you more
info than you need. If you have documented your complaints to the
"scumbag" make sure to keep all of your records. If you have not, send
him a letter immediately highlighting all of the defects in the
property.
Good luck,
David
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