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View Full Version : Kill my landlord, kill my landlord


QueenAdrock
06-25-2007, 09:29 AM
C-I-L-L MY LANDLORD! Seriously, what a skeezeball. Get a load of this.

A pipe burst in my house May 20, a pipe he had been "meaning to replace" for a couple months. The entire bottom of the house was flooded in 6 inches of water - this includes a den (pool table + tv + couches), and 2 bedrooms that people are living in. Everyone in the house has to evacuate for two days (had to shut off the water to fix it), and then we come back and my two downstairs roommates are out of a place to live for A MONTH. He doesn't put in carpet or tiling until a month later! So we demand a rent credit.

He calls us and says $500 off, because there were two bedrooms downstairs that were unusable, but one of those people could move up to the guest bedroom for the month. So he's only going to take off $500 for the ONE bedroom because of that, they definitely had nowhere to live. He's not even taking into account that we couldn't use the den AT ALL, nor the fact that every single person in the house was evacuated for 2 days (which is about $100 in rent). Oh, plus, we're paying 3x the electric bill because he wanted to try to salvage the carpets at first, and plugged in industrial dryers which blew night and day for 5 days straight. We're not charging him for that because we're in charge of electric, but that's still VERY shitty, esp. since we ended up throwing away the carpets.

Also, he's charging us for other miscellaneous repairs. We have written in our contract that we pay $60 of each repair - he's making us pay for the sliding back door he replaced (with a door that DOESN'T FIT and was free from his house), a light fixture, and he replaced a flap thingee in all of the toilets when a) we only told him it was one toilet that was running and b) that one flap should have cost $15. So even if he charges us for 3, it shouldn't be more than $45.

I'm not even sure legally what he's allowed to demand and what we're allowed to demand, but everything I'm demanding seems reasonable. Receipts for the repairs he did and justification, money off for the den that was unusable, money off for the bedrooms that were unusable and how long they were unusable. I'm so ready to yell at him though. :mad:(n)

QueenAdrock
06-25-2007, 09:38 AM
Hurray! I was thinking flaming dog poo, but kneecaps are much better.

MC Moot
06-25-2007, 09:40 AM
MOLD!....black spores = black lungs...beware!......:eek:....do you have a "landlords/tenants association" entity where you live?

QueenAdrock
06-25-2007, 09:50 AM
That would be awesome if his hair caught on fire at the same time LOLOLOL

abcdefz
06-25-2007, 10:03 AM
do you have a "landlords/tenants association" entity where you live?




Yeah -- there's got to be something.

Where do you live, Queen?

QueenAdrock
06-25-2007, 10:53 AM
I have no idea...I certainly haven't heard of such a thing. What is it?

I live in Gaithersburg, MD, right outside of DC. But only for the next month. So it's too little too late, at this point. :(

abcdefz
06-25-2007, 10:59 AM
...does this help?



17. Whom can I consult about a landlord/tenant issue?
If you're living in Montgomery County, the county's Division of Consumer Affairs has its own landlord/tenant office and publishes its own landlord/tenant handbook. The office is located at 100 Maryland Road in Rockville, and can be reached at (301) 217-7373.

In addition, the Community Development Office in the City of Rockville has a staffer who can answer landlord/tenant questions, but for city residents only. The office can be reached at (301) 309-3240.


18. How do I contact the Consumer Protection office?

* The Maryland Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division complaint line is (410) 528-8662; the D.C.-area number is (310) 470-7534.
* Health complaints can be phoned in to (410) 528-1840. Both complaint lines are available at 9 in the morning, Monday to Friday.


The main complaint line closes at 3 p.m., the Health line at 4:30 p.m.






...but, anyway, most areas have free services to help resolve tenant/landlord problems. Maybe call your library, if these don't help.

MC Moot
06-25-2007, 11:04 AM
Up here the association acts as an arbitrator/adjudicator in Landlord/Tenant dispute with regards to the eviction process, retention or return of damage deposits, rent increases, rules and regulations with regards to inhabitable living standards,etc,etc.....it’s a great thing and resolves the majority of disputes without the need for civil suits in an manner that is amicable and usually agreeable to both party’s......it's worked for me from both perspectives.....(y)

MC Moot
06-25-2007, 11:06 AM
... Maybe call your library, if these don't help.

Excellent advice,Librarians have alllll that info......(y)

QueenAdrock
06-25-2007, 11:12 AM
I work in a library and I don't have that info. :(

It kinda helps, thanks. We're city of Gaithersburg and I know things are slightly different here. I can look it up.

abcdefz
06-25-2007, 11:15 AM
Excellent advice,Librarians have alllll that info......(y)


Our local library even has lawyers once a week who give free advices to people for a few hours for stuff like this.

MC Moot
06-25-2007, 11:21 AM
Our local library even has lawyers once a week who give free advices to people for a few hours for stuff like this.

Same,we have an organizatiuon called "legal aid" which is comprised of law students getting some pro bono experience while providing counsel to low income clients,ours even has accountants that assist in tax returns for immigrants or people with special challenges or social barriers.....(y)

abcdefz
06-25-2007, 11:22 AM
God bless non-profit agencies, man. Sometimes the system actually works. :)

MC Moot
06-25-2007, 11:25 AM
God bless non-profit agencies, man. Sometimes the system actually works. :)

^Thanks for making my day.....it's a sentiment rarely heard.....:cool:

QueenAdrock
06-25-2007, 11:33 AM
I called the city of Gaithersburg dude who handles landlord/tenant complaints. I'm going to explain to him everything and see how we're protected legally.

abcdefz
06-25-2007, 11:38 AM
Good deal!

The landlord might be counting on the fact that you're leaving to try to take advantage of things. Do it right. (y)

QueenAdrock
06-25-2007, 12:03 PM
He doesn't know that we're leaving yet. We have to tell him mid-July. If he refuses our negotiations, we're telling him tonight.