How do I address this with my landlord?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
It's my first time renting from an actual person after living for 10 years in buildings managed by big companies so please chime in with your opinion.
We just moved in and during the walk through I had with a representative of the real state company managing the property I pointed out te things I saw like damage to the molding, stains and nail holes on the walls, stains on the carpet and mold on the glass of the front loading washing machine. The previous family cooked ethnic food so the smell is all over the house. So strong I got nauseated when we first entered the house. The representative called me picky in a "nice" and my real state agent jumped to defend me saying people like me make great tenants because we tend to leave the home better than we found. My agent was shocked to see the state of the home and I was too. It was not painted. There are marks on the walls and today afte spending 2 days in the home I see much more than what we wrote down. There are missing curtain rods, finials and some curtains were left behind. There's glue spots on the counters probably from for corner guards. There are baby proofing latches on every single door and drawer in the kitchen !! There are food splatters on the walls in the kitchen, hand marks and food smear on the cabinets, the washing machine smells disgusting and now all my towels smell mold (even though I ran a cleaning cycle with chlorine and let it dry open overnight). The backyard has furniture left over, the POD the previous tenant used is still sitting outside our driveway blocking one of our parking spots and there are cracks on several walls. I'm used to entering a new apartment smelling like paint, new carpets, etc. isn't it the way a home should be too? The lease agreement was so detailed (asking us to request written authorization before hanging anything on the walls for example) I thought the home would be impecable. Am I being too picky? |
Anonymous
| You're not being too picky. Is that really your only question about this situation? |
Anonymous
| Make a list of everything that is broken (non-functional) and present to the landlord to fix. I'm not sure LL will do anything about someone else's old curtains and babyproofing. Things you are able to take care of easily/inexpensively you probably should as a trade off for getting some of the larger items handled. You did take possession of the place, so you're at a little bit of a disadvantage when it comes to the cosmetics and the smell. What are the terms of your lease? What happens if you just move? |
Anonymous
|
Honestly I can't just move out. Our kids are so distraught with our move that I can manage staying here but I'm really shocked to see the situation of this home. Such a shame because it looked gorgeous on the pictures. I did walk in while the other family was living here but I expected the place would be at least painted.
I'm open to suggestions on how to address this issue with the real state company since we're not dealing with the land lord at all. Should I just write an email saying I've noticed some other things? I'm extremely upset with the fact that I'll have to scrub the walls, the cabinets and clean the washer before using it. How do I even word this? So embarrassing!!! |
Anonymous
Well, I wanted to know if it's normal to rent a home and my have it freshly painted, carpets steamed, etc. I'm used to buildings and I never had such issues. The apartments always look brand new when we walk in. Are homes supposed to be like this too? When I mentioned the walls - it's neon green!!! - the real state agent for the LL looked at me and said "this is not your home, you know? You can't have it all your way." (the lease said if we paint we must return it to the original color - I noticed it when I first visited the property but I thought the tenant would paint it back, it was a playroom and now I'm left with a neon green nursery!!!! Anyway, thank you so far for the helpful input. |
Anonymous
|
At some point did someone tell you that the home would be cleaned during turnover?
Or is it in the lease? Use that, because it obviously isn't clean. |
Anonymous
|
What does your agent say? Does s/he have leverage with the real estate company, ie you need to fix the situation or I won't bring you any more clients?
Sadly you are at a disadvantage here having taken possession. Make a list of what you want done and send to the real estate company. Start chipping away at low-hanging fruit: call Goodwill to have them pick up patio furniture. Call the pod people and tell them they need to come get their pod. Take down curtains and rods and toss. Put up your own, etc. Hire someone to come in and do a deep cleaning. It sounds like this is a tough time for your family - and no this shouldn't be your responsibility, and you shoukd definitely check LL/tenant laws in your area and try to get some of this taken care of, but I think you also need to do what you can to make the place a home. Good luck, OP. You can do this! |
Anonymous
|
As a landlord I think you are vastly too picky. In a tight rental market when I have lots of people interested- I do less. (like painting) So if you rented it without any discussion of repainting- no it is not going to be repainted.
Similarly with the baby proofing stuff- it was there, and the neon green walls. Honestly- the only things on your list that strike me as legitimate are 1- the leftover POD 2- possibly the backyard furniture 3-possibly the washing machine. Those are the three things I would raise with the landlord. Honestly- if you sent me a list like you put out here (marks on the walls, walls are neon green, baby proofing on the cabinets, etc) I would be fairly skeptical of everything else you are saying. |
Anonymous
|
Long time renter (who recently bought). I would not rent from this landlord. My last landlord had the house spotless and the floors refinished. They had great pride in the rental unit and I lived there for 7 years. I had a great relationship with them. I was never late with my rent and everything that ever broke (which was rare) was fixed within 24 hours.
I would not want to rent from the poster above!! |
Anonymous
I'm a landlord and we repaint between tenants and have the places professionally cleaned. As part of the repaint, we have the marks cleaned or painted and holes in walls repaired. No carpeting in our properties, but the floors are thoroughly cleaned. I think this is the bare minimum and even in a very tight rental market I provide this to my new tenants as a matter of course. For one thing, I do not want new tenants moving into a home that is messy and unclean because I want them to take great care of the properties. OP - this new landlord sounds cheap and neglectful. Unfortunately, it doesn't bode well in terms of how they'll respond to future issues, IMO. If landlord isn't going to invest a minimum in getting the place up to par between tenants, then they're probably going to stall or take short cuts when it comes to other repairs. |
Anonymous
| Landlord will fix what's broken, but is not obligated to fix things that are not aestethically pleasing to you. |
Anonymous
| It doesn't sound like the problem is that things aren't aesthetically pleasing, it sounds like the problem is that the apartment is filthy. |
Anonymous
|
You should expect what you are paying for. IF this is in a nice building neighborhood and you are paying premium rent, you should have a clean, freshly painted place. If it's a lower rent area, then lower your expectations.
A former landlord who painted between renters in my Fairlington Townhouse. |
Anonymous
|
Thank you so much for the input.
We're not in DC area but if we were I'd say we're renting a 2700sqft town home in north Arlington. All the other homes in our street are gorgeous on the outside and this pod thing is such an eye sore!!! I bet the neighbors are furious!!! I hope they don't think it's mine. |
Anonymous
| I don't quite understand how you rented this house without looking at it first. |