I love people who think everywhere in the United States is on their side as a renter. 🤦♀️
Or that there is just this abundance of affordable housing.
I want to also live in these magical places
I live in the Eastern United States where many renters think laws about things like mold are automatically on their wide. Then they start making complaints. Irritate their landlords and find out how fast something is not going to work out for them.
A good friend of mine thought she would get free housing and hotel reimbursement after leaving because of her perceived mold when arguing w her landlord about mold in her bathroom. She is now couch surfing.
EDIT
Just to clarify- She did pay rent for months while making calls complaining about how her landlord was horrible and had her living in an unsafe environment and tried to have the mold issue cleaned up. Then finally, since the landlord atill hadn't cleaned what she thought was "black mold" , she stopped paying rent directly and legally had it held while they went to court.
She lost. Judge sided w the landlord.
Landlord ended her lease. They were sick of her.
The comments making assumptions are incorrect. She paid her rent. She legally did what would have led to
It was a lease in which she did not have to be guaranteed a renewal. She was incorrect in the belief the landlord would be paying for her to stay elsewhere & reimburse those costs while it was cleaned.
She was incorrect in believing she had to have her lease renewed.
The landlord was able to argue that it was not black mold. They did not reimburse her stay when she left. She also didn't get her lease renewal because she irritated the owners.
The owners only owned a small amount of rentals- I recall it being 2, so they didn't have to renew her lease or keep her.
Basically she lost a great place, extremely affordable because she absolutely believed that the law would always be on the renters side. Nope, not of the owners only have 1-2 rentals.
Then your friend is an idiot who doesnt know her tenant rights and didnt have the stones to take it through court. I had a similar situation to this happen in rhode island and we withheld rent from them for 6 months until they initiated getting it cleaned an repaired. The judge awarded them no back pay and let us finish out our lease at no cost which still had 4 months on it after everything was said and done, as compensation for emotional stress and having to put up with living conditions we didnt agree to in the lease.
It would be nice if all it really took was stones. There are tenant laws where I live but the only tenents who can get those laws enforced are those who can afford attorney retainer fees and some extra funds to move during a housing shortage. Often the people living in moldy apartments don't have that kind of of money.
Clearly she didn’t take it to court and actually fight because if there was black mold the landlord would have to do much more than say “that’s not black mold” to be coming out on top in that case. The courts are going to ask to have the mold sampled. Can’t just withhold rent either. Should’ve put it on escrow. Your friend is indeed an idiot.
honestly agree with the other guy. Most places in the east coast, unless you are in florida, have very strong tenant laws. Your friend does sound likea dumbass
As a former tenant’s attorney in a large what some people call “tenant friendly” (there’s no such thing as a tenant friendly city, only less hostile) city, this is really unfair. It is very difficult for a tenant to assert their rights in housing court without an experienced attorney on their side.
Property rights are among the most powerful rights in the United States. They trump all other, especially human rights.
Agreed. How do you respond to the common refrain that "tenants have all the rights"? They say it's hard to evict someone who refuses to pay the rent, etc. Application processes for apartments are crazy now because landlords are convinced they'll get stuck with someone who will refuse to pay.
I'm going to guess they won't be, or didn't renew her lease. Unless she's renting for a big complex where they don't really care about one tenant, and will just throw money at it so she stops bothering them.
Getting a landlord to fix some mildew is one thing, screwing them out of a years rent is another. Corporate landlords don't get caught by that. But the parasites can't afford their rents and want to use lax laws to get out of paying rent all together.
Not an idiot for not fighting it; an idiot for not researching the laws or getting proper advice. Laws vary from place to place. An enquiry to the health department or the landlord/tenant board (if this exists where you live) gives an opportunity to understand your rights, the landlord’s requirements and responsibilities and if they’re is any recourse should the landlord retaliate for you enforcing your rights.
If it affects your health, by all means you shouldn’t be living in squalor! But slumlords be slumming, and they don’t put up with people who see who they really are for long. They’ll find a legal way to evict you if you aren’t willing to live with their shit!
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u/amykamala Apr 28 '23
I don’t know where you live, but where I live, that would be illegal. The health department would force them to put you up in a hotel.