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****10 pts Please give tennant advice!?
We live in Colorado.
My family and I (I am 18, have younger siblings, and mom and dad) are living in a home that we currently rent. It is a nice home and the rent is really cheap. I have talked to my mom about all the issues I see in the house.
We currently have NO gutters on our house. The landlord decided to put siding on the house, the siding people had to take the gutters off to put the siding on and apperantly disposed of them. So when it rains, ( I come in through the front door) I get dripped on while I am trying to unlock the door. It is like a faucet turned on - a stream of water.
We get mold in the basement. I along with my sister have our beds pushed up against the wall in our rooms because there is really no other place to put them. Whenever we get rain or snow (moisture) the wall facing the outdoors gets mold on it and the carpet gets a little damp. My sister currently has permanent mold spots on her carpet and I on my wall. Occasionally my sister and I get sick from the mold.
The basement window wells typically fill with water and stream in through into the basement. We think we might have fixed it by digging around the windows and putting rocks in, but not sure. The last bed I had had mold growing on it because of the water coming in through the window. I now have a new bed with a mattress protector on it, but am afraid it still might be volnerable to mold.
There are other issues as well, such as the linoleum is coming up, but these issues are not as big as the other ones.
My mom has written several letters explaining the big issues, but nothing ever gets done. It seems like the landlord is just in it for the money. This is just and income property for him.
Please! How do I motivate my mom to do something more than write letters [that just get ignored anyway].
Do we have any rights as tennants? I am just scared we might get evicted or something. We signed a one year lease when we moved in three years ago, but never signed another. There was a verbal agreement that we would just abide by the old lease.
Finally, in the old lease we agreed with the landlord that we would only have one dog, which we also had to pay extra monthly rent for. I recently got a puppy, but never told the landlord. Is this really a bad thing? I kinda feel dishonest, but then again we currently only signed that one year lease when we moved in three years ago.
I know I am venting a little, because we have had quite a bit of rain this year. I am just being nit picky, or is this typical of rental properties? Please give me detailed answers if you can - please don't tell me to just go look it up for the state, give me a link or something at least!
*******10 points for detailed answers*********
**Edit: Ok, landlord. I am assuming you are a landlord? Answer these questions from a landlord point of view?
The basement is a finished basement. There are 3 bedrooms in the basement in which we sleep. Where else would we sleep? We are a family of 5, the only other place to sleep would be on the main floor in the living / dining room.
Wouldn't it make sense that the landlord would want gutters? Once the gutters were gone is when the window wells started flooding since the water wasnt directed away from the house. The mold problem started. Wouldn't that lead to roof problems? So in the end instead of buying gutters isnt it going to cost more $$ in the long run?
Finally, why would we need to pay for carpeting, paint, and landscaping, especially when we told him about the issues early on before they got this bad?
Help me understand your point of view.
4 Answers
- loanmasteroneLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
You have several questions that could be addressed by a local tenant advocate. Since this landlord is not taking the necessary action that your family deem necessary to repair the property.
You might consider repairing the items yourself and taking the repair money out of the rent money. Depending on the state in which you reside you might be required to give the landlord advance notice of your intent to do this. Check with your state laws on doing this.
Some mold cause more health problems than others. Mold may be removed with hot water, vinegar and soap, you would need to vigorously scrub the mold. After that treatment you would need to paint a mold resistant paint over the cleaned are.
If you are having these problems on a consistent bases why do your parents continue to put up with them. Why not just give your landlord the required notice and move to another place, with a landlord that would take care of his property as well as his clients.
I hope this has been of some benefit to you, good luck.
"FIGHT ON"
- LandlordLv 71 decade ago
"We currently have NO gutters on our house." You can't force this, unless your parents want to pay for it and they obtain permission.
"We get mold in the basement. " Stop sleeping in the basement and get allergy medication.
"The basement window wells typically fill with water and stream in through into the basement." it needs a french drain. Again, you should not be sleeping in the basement.
"My mom has written several letters explaining the big issues" You are wanting remodeling, which may not be in the landlords best interest to you. As you point out yourself, he is running a business, not a charity.
"I recently got a puppy" Your family will be evicted and possibly sued for violating the lease with an animal. This might be just what his business needed, from his earnings from the law suit he will be able to do some remodeling. At a minimum your parents need to pay for new carpeting, paint and landscaping. Of course bringing an animal into someone elses property is a "big thing", it is a complete violation of his property rights.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
Sounds like an odd set-up to me...If this dwelling has a Certificate of Occupancy you certainly are within reason to expect the basement to be mold free and dry....I question if some sort of half baked conversion was done without permits.....Two things you mentioned----the rent is cheap and you have no lease....Absent a lease-----the Landlord can ask you to move for any or no reason with proper notice as required by your state.. Granted the repairs should be made-but if you get under his skin-he may simply give notice to move... Personally I would look for a healthier place to live.
Source(s): landlord - Anonymous5 years ago
high school is a real )&%^#)$& but it can be very fun if you have the right friends. One thing I always found annoying is how much time you are forced to spend in each class and with the same people, that is one benefit of college where if you dislike someone in your class you may only seem them twice a week but in high school you would see them 5x a week. Classes should not be very difficult but make sure you do your homework every night and keep up with extra credit and reading. Take honors classes and challenge yourself to be the best you can be. Make friends with everyone or as many people as possible it will come in handy later. Do not party too much or get too involved with boys, sex, drugs, drinking, etc. Later you will realize how small the world the world those people live in is. And don't forget to have fun!
