rental; landlord neglects maintenance requests

[MichaelVD]

What is the name of your state? Virginia (northern)

I rent an single family home and my landlord has neglected to do any single maintenance request I have made since I moved in during October 2003. I have asked her to fix the leaking sink(s), to fix the cracked window...she never does it. I call her up and she acknowledges it and then never follows up. She has not even fixed anything on the "move-in inspection" list; and its been 14 months! Tonight, the refridgerator broke down and I will call her tomorrow. But i've had it...this time, i'm keeping her from running away. I refuse to pay for my own repairman for a rental property. Is there a law against this? If yes, what code number is it? When I talk to her tomorrow, I'm going to force her to fix it and i am planning on using a law code and my lawyers to threaten her to do so.

 

[john123456]

What is the name of your state? Virginia (northern)

I rent an single family home and my landlord has neglected to do any single maintenance request I have made since I moved in during October 2003. I have asked her to fix the leaking sink(s), to fix the cracked window...she never does it. I call her up and she acknowledges it and then never follows up. She has not even fixed anything on the "move-in inspection" list; and its been 14 months! Tonight, the refridgerator broke down and I will call her tomorrow. But i've had it...this time, i'm keeping her from running away. I refuse to pay for my own repairman for a rental property. Is there a law against this? If yes, what code number is it? When I talk to her tomorrow, I'm going to force her to fix it and i am planning on using a law code and my lawyers to threaten her to do so.

What did your attorney tell you when you asked this question?

 

[Who's Liable?]

First of all, stop calling her, that obviously isn't working, secondly you need to create a paper trail that PROVES you have been requesting repairs on your unit... How is a judge to know that you asked her to repair something? Your LL can always deny that you ever called her, and it turns into a he-said she-said argument...

"You should advise the landlord in writing of the specific items needing repair. The letter should state that the landlord has 21 days from the date of receipt to make the repairs. You should consider sending the letter via certified mail so the delivery date is noted. If repairs are still not made, the tenant may place the rent in an escrow account with the General District Court having jurisdiction in that locality. This action is detailed in Section 55-248.27 of the VRLTA.": § 55-248.27. Tenant's assertion; rent escrow." <----- Read this VERY carefully...

The contact information for the appropriate General District Court in your locality is available from the Virginia Supreme Court Web site. You may also wish to check your local telephone directory.

Along with the letter, you need to send them another that states they must give you reasonable notice to enter your unit under § 55-248.10:1. Landlord and tenant remedies for abuse of access. "...If the landlord makes an unlawful entry or a lawful entry in an unreasonable manner or makes repeated demands for entry otherwise lawful but which have the effect of unreasonably harassing the tenant, the tenant may obtain injunctive relief to prevent the recurrence of the conduct, or terminate the rental agreement. In either case, the tenant may recover actual damages and reasonable attorney's fees." Also include in the letter that if they enter your unit without your permission whether you are there or not, you will call the police and charge them with breaking and entering as it is crime... I'm sure a ride in the back of a squad car will wake her up...

Again, send another CRRR letter to her stating that you refuse any and all verbal communications whether it be phone, personal conversation, and she MUSTcontact you by US Postal Mail... This will get you around the he-said, she-said problem again. If she attempts to talk to you in person or phone, simply say: "put it in a letter and goodday" This protects you incase she states that you had a "verbal agreement" Likewise though, any demands you put on her has to be in writing as it will also affect you...

If you get the CRRR letters back(she didn't sign for them) DO NOT OPEN THEM!!! Those letter now become proof that you notified her... Most states deem the letters "delivered" after the 5th day... Keep those letters somewhere safe, like your mom's or something, as you will need to take them to the judge if it gets that far... Even though the LL did not open and read the letter, she still has to abide by them, so if she enters your unit 5 days or later after you sent the letters, you can treat them as if they had been delivered...

Bottom line is you need to create a paper trail to PROVE to the judge that what you said was actually done...

 

[MichaelVD]

what about items needing emergency repair (aka...refridgerator so that food does not spoil and end up eating takeout for a month)? also, I have a "telephone recorder" from radioshack (basically a wiretap), where i can run through to a tape recorder; can I use that instead of mail if I let the landlord know at the start of the telephone conversation ("...please note that this telephone conversation will be recorded in case of further reference...")?

edit -- forgot to mention one thing:
what if we cant talk to the landlord directly? he never left any contact info on the lease, only his name, so I have to contact him through his realtor (which also handles the monthly rent and contract agreement, etc).

 

[MichaelVD]

What did your attorney tell you when you asked this question?

i havn't contacted him yet

 

[Sam111]

Follow Who's Liable's instructions. It must be in writing. I ran into a similar problem and the letter got quick results. Don't forget the part giving them 21 days to repair.

You can also call your local code enforcement office to have an inspection done.

Send the letter to the realtor/property management co.

Read VA LL/Tenant Act

 

[MichaelVD]

Follow Who's Liable's instructions. It must be in writing. I ran into a similar problem and the letter got quick results. Don't forget the part giving them 21 days to repair.

You can also call your local code enforcement office to have an inspection done.

Send the letter to the realtor/property management co.

Read VA LL/Tenant Act

so eating takeout for 1 month?!?! ****!

 

[FarmerJ]

micheal for your own needs go buy a dorm size fridge or a low voltage chilled picnic cooler that has a 110 adapter . bottom line court wont care wether you ate take out for a month or not you have to wait for a reasonable time for the repair to be made once you do your letter .

 

[Who's Liable?]

what about items needing emergency repair (aka...refridgerator so that food does not spoil and end up eating takeout for a month)? also, I have a "telephone recorder" from radioshack (basically a wiretap), where i can run through to a tape recorder; can I use that instead of mail if I let the landlord know at the start of the telephone conversation ("...please note that this telephone conversation will be recorded in case of further reference...")?

edit -- forgot to mention one thing:
what if we cant talk to the landlord directly? he never left any contact info on the lease, only his name, so I have to contact him through his realtor (which also handles the monthly rent and contract agreement, etc).

Emergency situations are ones where life and health are a risk eg; Leaking sewage pipes, broken gas valves, caved in roof, airplane in bathroom etc... Anything that could directly harm your health and bodily injury... A broken fridge is not an emergency...

 

[MichaelVD]

A broken fridge is not an emergency...

i never knew that. i used to live in an apartment and they always classified emergency repair as anything that would cause loss of life or high loss of assets (a refridgerator is about $300 right there).

 

[tabathadolley]

i never knew that. i used to live in an apartment and they always classified emergency repair as anything that would cause loss of life or high loss of assets (a refridgerator is about $300 right there).

I'm not sure if $300 would be considered a "high" loss, but I would think it would be the actual food that would be the lost assets, would it not?

 

[Who's Liable?]

you do not understand what an "asset" is...

 

[tabathadolley]

"you do not understand what an "asset" is"

An asset is a valuable item that someone owns.

 

[Who's Liable?]

Close.... I'm talking about business assets...

In this case, a high loss of assets would be the home itself... The home the tenant is renting is an asset to the LL, because it brings in money... The rent money he is charging is higher(assuming) than the cost of the unit... If the rent the LL is charging is $500.00, and the total cost of the unit is $350.00 after all the property/city/state taxes and any other costs to keep the unit, the LL is making a profit of $150.00 and therefore it is an asset to him...

 

[MichaelVD]

ok...anyways...sent letter, landlord got fridge in today. thanks!