How do I address this with my landlord?
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Anonymous
My agent took me to see the house while there were people still living there and we liked the place. The smell was overwhelming but she told me that with deep carpet cleaning the smell would go away. Our next visit was the walkthrough to take posession of the house. That was when the landlord's agent called me picky. In between we received the lease document read it and signed it. The document was so specific in its details that it asked us to get authorization before putting nails on the wall, had specific of lawn care etc. So I assumed that the house would be impeccable like every apartment I have been renting in the past 10 years. What was my mistake then. I only took possession because my kids were a wreck staying in a hotel for 2 weeks. |
Anonymous
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The detail level of the lease is because they used a standard lease -- it's in all of them.
For small items that are cosmetic, you need to mark them up and email them, as items which were there when you moved in = not your damage when you move out. Take photos if possible. Fresh paint or carpet cleaning is not to be expected unless it was agreed upon ahead of time. I have a rental house, and it would cost me 1-2 months' worth of rent to get it repainted. No way I'd be doing that unless it was agreed upon. Basically if you took possession, then the condition is generally tough to dispute. You can only go after functional items that are not working, like if the washing machine is broken, etc. That said, as a landlord, I do agree to some minor things even if not stipulated berfore-hand, just to have a good relationship. On the carpets, if you can show they have evidence of mold, that's a reason for landlord to replace/remediate since mold is a health hazard. |
Anonymous
| Is it reasonable to offer to paint the walls and request to not be obligated to return to the "original" color? |
Anonymous
Yes, if you agree on the paint color. I let a tenant do this once since it was a win-win basically. I think I even paid for the paint and he did the labor. |
Anonymous
Oy, you sound like my former slumlord. OP, where are you renting? I ask because certain towns have rules about tenant-landlord relations, such as how often a residence needs to be repainted. But landlords may not follow them because they assume you're ignorant. Case in point- in takoma Park, where I used to rent, rental properties are supposed to be painted every 5 years. When I moved in, the apartment had supposedly been painted a year earlier (when the previous tenant moved in). I rented there for 5 years. When I was moving out, an acquaintance was interested in renting the apt and asked landlord what would be done to the apt between tenants. He tried to say that the apt was just painted two years ago. My acquaintance relayed this to me and I assured them that nope, apt had not been painted while I was living there, so they took it back up with landlord. Once confronted with the evidence, landlord gave in and painted. |
Anonymous
| I think you should take this up with your agent and have him or her fix the problem. All of the clean-up items should have been negotiated before you moved in and documented and photographed. I've walked into dumps and asked if the landlord was gong to replaced the battered smelly foul carpeting and the manager said "no" so I walked. If he had said yes, then it should be done prior to moving in. Your agent should have pointed out what was acceptable and what wasn't and documented it and ensured that everything was satisfactory when you moved in. Now you have the problem that you are in so they can say either you did the damage or you are trying to find fault to reduce the monthly fee or to break the leas. Unless you had a firm understand about what the LL was going to do, you have a problem, but I would lay it at the agent's feet and she what they can do. That's their role - I'm sure they are getting a fee from you or from the LL so make them earn it. |
Anonymous
+1. Also questioning why you rented there to begin with. You're were clearly displeased upon seeing the place, so why'd you rent. Now you want to bait and switch and make demands on the landlord. If more people would not move in to crappy places, landlords would have to improve things because they wouldn't have any tenants. Not sure why this is so difficult to understand. Sounds like common sense to me. |
Anonymous
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Wow, I'm glad you're not my tenant. How hard is it to remove baby latches? It's a used house OP. It isn't going to be perfect.
I agree with the PP who said the only things you should take up with your landlord are the POD, the washer and anything that belonged to the former tenants. Although I would call the POD people today and tell them to get the thing off my property today before I torch it. As for cleanliness, suck it up and clean it to your satisfaction. I'm guessing no one else can. Tell the landlord you're painting over the green, but be prepared to have the cost of repainting taken out of your deposit. If the washer smell persists, that's another issue you can take up with the landlord. If he balks, buy a new one (same model) and take the cost off your rent. (Offer to do that.) |
Anonymous
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Ugh. I'm about to make a comment here that isn't very nice, but I'm willing to bet, based on a ton of years in real estate, that I could nail down exactly who the landlord and his/her agent are in terms of ethnic group. And unfortunately, that changes the rules as far as what people and other landlords are recommending here because I don't think this landlord is going to fix anything. And for their agent to tell you you're picky? I'm an agent and if any agent said that to one of my clients, I'd slap the agent and probably lose my license.
Sorry. Anyway, I'm concerned about one thing you said that stands out - the moldy towels. OP, is it possible this house has mold in it? I think it would be wise to get a mold inspection, you'll have to pay but it won't be that expensive. I'm sorry to say if the house has mold, you will have to move. It could be a danger for yourself and your kids. |
Anonymous
Are you kidding? I would never fathom handing over the keys to our condo tenants if it was in that condition. We repainted, hired someone to do a deep clean of the entire place, made sure all of the appliances were in working order... everything I assumed you should do as a landlord. This is terrible - but the problem I'm seeing is that OP is already in the unit. I would have never moved in like that in the first place so he's got the upper hand here. I'm sorry you're going through this, OP. |
Anonymous
quite honestly this was my thought to. I really think this is part of the problem. I guess I am just highly suspicious of a tenant who moves in 'assuming' all kinds of things that were never discussed were going to be done. I've had a tenant like you, no 'picky' tenants don't make great tenants b/c they take great care of the place- they make PITA tenants. Particularly if you are talking about an 'older' house that the tenant somehow expects to miraculously be made like new construction. |
Anonymous
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Brand new landlord here, and our house is also being managed. We just bought the house from previous owners of 30+ years. Here's what we did (paid someone to do):
Redid hardwood floors upstairs Had 80% of the house repainted Had deck powerwashed and we repainted it Installed new attic insulation (though would've been just fine as-is) Removed remnants of asbestos-containing mastic in corner of basement, sealed it and repainted it Had house professionally cleaned, and since at the end of it I wasn't pleased with it, went in and redid some spots myself. So, long story short, no, I don't think you're being picky. And my house is in a desirable close-in area, so yeah, there was demand. I just didn't take advantage of it. I didn't care for how previous owners left the house, I thought it reflected really poorly on them and on the life they must've led there, and was not going to have new tenants move in ready to enjoy our house with grease stains all around the kitchen vent. Seriously. |
Anonymous
Okay, troll! You're caught. Go back to your bridge. No way your a new landlord! |
Anonymous
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OP here. I'm speechless. We just went to put our trash in the trash cans and they're full. There's trash all around them and I can't actually get to them. The latches of the back doors are broken as is the latch to access the backyard from the outside.
This is unbelievable. In 10 years as a renter I never once had a dime deducted from my deposits. Based on all your input I'm writing an email to the agent right now. This house was built in 1990 and renovated in 2008. The LL bought it in 1988 for 200K. The houses around us are worth 400k on average. Honestly I expected more from them. Thank you so much. |
Anonymous
| If you walked in to a filthy place that was worn down, why would you rent it? That's what I don't get. Why wouldn't you point out what you felt was wrong upon first walking in and get input from the landlord right then and there? I don't get renting a crap hole and then bitching that you've 'rented a crap hole', but now expect a palace. What's wrong with people? Yeah, maybe the landlord is an a-hole or whatever, but you knew that from the get-go when you saw how bad a shape the unit was in. So, you're not such an A-plus-er yourself. And for you to have kids. Hope you use better common sense with life's other important decisions. |