Oh mercy, do I have a nutty fruitcake landlord?

[karriwhel]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas

Just one issue after another with this property I have lived at for a mere one month! This is a duplex where landlord lives next door, which I should have known was a bad idea. The issue first started after signing the lease before I even moved in. The landlord’s realtor specified & assured me that the voluntary HOA fees $650 a year to have access to the pool & lake was included as an amenity as the lease specifies landlord pays (both landlord and I signed). Landlord later says he is NOT a member of the HOA, but I can join if I want to fork over the addition $650! Started off with a bang, but then we verbally agree okay if I use his trash receptacle in place of the HOA fees so I do not have to pay extra for trash pick-up. I thought okay that sounds fair enough we are on good terms, not his fault the realtor was mis-informed. I signed the lease first with the option that when my boyfriend’s house sells (in another town) that we would later add him to the lease, which I have since done (so I believe I am completely in compliance with the lease terms). After I moved in the issues started as the property was clearly not ready to be lived in (plumbing issues, electrical issues, A/C issues, construction issues, etc.) I have constant in-out of workers which has made me uncomfortable (thank goodness for rental insurance!). Landlord shows up at 9am knocking on the door when I am leaving for work, wanting access to the house right then with workers in tow, this has happened several times & he gets a bit nasty if I ask that something be rescheduled so that when I have a conference call from home that is scheduled London time (early my time) that I not have plumbers hacking away in the background! I appreciate his willing to fix issues, but jeez at some point it is a violation of privacy it seems as what “if” I had my sexy items out & needed to put up? Just what if! I cannot walk out my front door without the landlord & his wife sitting in lawn chairs on my front lawn! A/C still not working properly yet landlord seems to think it is “normal” so I am dreading the $500 electric bill I am sure is headed my way shortly. I just got the snarky “well the cable guy must have an authorization form from me saying he can hook-up the cable” okay fine prior approval, please sign the authorization form. Now this issues seems that the storage space on our patio, in our fenced backyard is not for our use & to get our stuff out, because according to him that is "HIS storage & that is not in the lease". Okay fine, you want our two small items out okay, but there is no mention of this in the lease of him using this storage & I would think if this is attached to me, door is on our patio inside OUR fence line….if not specified wouldn’t it be assumed it IS our space to use? Anyhow, he can have the storage even if this means he is going in & out of our fenced back yard onto our patio to use at leisure. Whatever I have bit my tongue so far, but now it appears he is entering our home without prior notice & texting me after the fact saying “okay door screen is put up now” okay so door screen is IN MY BEDROOM off the bedroom balcony!!! Last week it seems he went in to do some painting indoors (which no one even noticed!) without even telling us until the unannouced visit at noon the other day to "check on the paint". I do not want this guy getting comfortable going in & out of our house at will without prior notice as he seems to think this is okay, but I would prefer to get along after all it is only one year lease! Problem with this now is that my boyfriend is about ready to tear his hair out & move! If this gets too crazy, do I have grounds to get the heck out of dodge without losing my $2k that I just gave this guy for deposits? I sincerely am a nice person but about at my wits end as I am a very private person & will go bonkers if he keeps this up! And for the record I have nothing to hid, I don't smoke, don't do drugs, do not have a business being ran out of the unit, nada clean as a whistle, just like my privacy is all. Any thoughts on all the craziness?

 

[Gail in Georgia]

Request that the landlord provide you with 24 hours notice prior to entering the rental unit (keep in mind though that this is going to slow down any repair process). He (and his workers) must also enter at what is considered to be a reasonable time period (i.e., not at 3 am in the morning).

An exception to the 24 hour rule is if you request a repair (or the repair issue is considered to be an emergency); if you request a repair you are granting the landlord permission to address such.

And yes, the landlord/owner must often give permission for the cable person to hook up such since it often means drilling holes in his property.

What does your lease say in terms of the outside storage?

I once had a landlady who lived next door to us. I hated it for the year we remained there. However, this did not give me the legal right to break the lease and move.

Gail

 

[John_DFW]

I would address both the HOA and storage with the realtor.

You can rescind the agreement regarding HOA and trash and should do so in writing if you choose.

I would strongly word that this property was misrepresented on both counts, and any reasonable person would assume the storage was included unless explicitly excluded in the written lease.

Inform the realtor that you think this is breach of contract.

 

[karriwhel]

In regards to Gail's response (which I thank you both for responding!!)

What does your lease say in terms of the outside storage? ~Nothing is mentioned of storage in the lease.

Obviously I would would not care if a stranger busted down my door to put out a fire so I would only expect landlord if available to go in for emergencies.

Two last questions:

So to rescind the agreement, would that mean we would have the right to terminate the lease (just saying if the situation gets crazy hopefully not)? I really do not want to loose all the $$ that goes into moving. I had to pay this guy $2k in refundable deposits (1st month + pet dep) and then had to pay movers $600. This is a lot of money to have to lose so I certainly would love for this all to work out, but if not I would like to know what our options would be & if we terminated lease on such grounds would I still have a leg to stand on in court getting my money back?

Also, is there a law forbidding me to put up a camera in our living room to see if he indeed is coming in/out of our house without warrant after we request that he give us 24hr notice?

Thanks again!!