The wireless Internet connection at Ari’s new apartment isn’t very useful. Neither is his landlord, or the support tech who’s supposed to troubleshoot this kind of stuff.
landlords
Landlord Asks Mother To Pay "Early Termination Fee" After Son Fails To Honor Lease By Dying
By 4.26.09
Debbie Eckert cleaned out her son’s apartment after he died in a February fight, but the landlord, CCRT Properties of Brookfield Wisconsin, thinks she should pay several months rent and an early termination fee. The Wisconsin Department of Consumer Protection says that CCRT can pursue the 24-year-old teacher’s estate, but that they have no right to heartlessly badger his mother.
Four Unexpected Situations Where Bad Credit Hurts
By 2.15.09
If you aren’t planning on getting a big loan in the next couple of years, you probably shouldn’t be worried about your credit score right? Wrong.
Landlords Drop Demands For Murdered Woman To Pay Back Rent
By 2.6.09
The landlords that sent a demand for unpaid rent and citing “insufficient notice to vacate” to the estate of a mother who was murdered in a Christmas kill-spree say they will not go after the rest of the rent after all. They say the request for payment was just the management company’s standard procedure and they didn’t know the woman was a murder-victim.
Landlord Orders Ex-Husband To Pay Murdered Wife's Rent
By 2.5.09
The ex-husband of a woman who was murdered at a Christmas party along with 8 other people has been ordered by her landlord to pay her rent. The landlord says she gave insufficient notice to vacate the premises, and broke her lease. Apparently they require 60 days notice before being shot dead by your sister’s ex-husband in a Santa suit.
Fannie Mae Lets Renters Stay
By 12.15.08
Good news for renters who’ve been dutifully paying their rent while their landlords failed to make the mortgages, and were facing eviction as a result: Fannie Mae will sign new leases with them. [NYT]
When Your Landlord Won't Refund Your Security Deposit
By 12.9.08
What do you do if you were a perfectly fine renter, left the place in great shape, but your landlord won’t refund your security deposit?
How "Serial Evictees" Game A System Meant To Protect Renters From Abuse
By 8.14.08
There’s nothing we dislike more than people who scam a system put in place to protect vulnerable consumers from abuse, but the sad fact is that they do exist. SF Weekly has an article that tracks the exploits of a serial evictee, a “renter” who leases apartments with no intention of paying rent, and then games the system in order to stay rent free for as long as possible.
The Worst Landlords In The World
By 4.28.08
Suffice to say, landlords aren’t allowed to do those sort of things just to get you to skedaddle. What’s the worst landlord you ever had and how did you deal with them?
Landlord's Crappy Boiler Costs Us Big Time
By 4.25.08
Marcie writes:
I live in a 750 square foot apartment in Brooklyn, NY. Per the lease agreement, my roommate and I signed to pay the heat separate from the rent. The first gas bill we received was $750, and the following gas bill was roughly the same amount. We knew that the price of gas was expensive, but for two people who make great pains to use the heat only when absolutely necessary, and occasionally use the stove to boil a pot of water, this seemed ridiculous. For all of 2007, we owe roughly $2000 in gas costs.
After Weekend Controversy, Wisconsin Landlord Releases Man From Lease On Murder Scene Apartment
By 4.15.08
This morning, WKOW in Madison, Wisconsin, reported that Wisconsin Management Company had refused to let a University of Wisconsin student out of a lease a year and a half early. What was surprising about the story was that the man had found his fiancée murdered in the apartment last week. Even worse, the company wouldn’t confirm that it would replace the carpet or re-paint the walls until it had completed “further investigation” of the situation. Before we posted the story this evening, the management company had posted a press release on its website saying the whole thing was a misunderstanding and the lease has been dissolved. Download the press release here (PDF), or read it below.
When Roommates Attack: How Can I Get Out Of My "Lease Break" Fee?
By 2.26.08
Reader Steve’s little sister has a problem. She keeps getting attacked by her roommate. She called the police and now there are charges against the roommate. The psycho roommate’s parents say that they will only pay the “lease break” fee if she finds a way to get the charges against the roommate dropped.
Answers To NYC Renters' Questions
By 1.30.08
How do you get your landlord to require the upstairs neighbors to put down carpets? A lawyer who “has practiced in the landlord-tenant arena for more than two decades” has been answering these sorts of questions on the New York Times’ “City Room” blog. The advice he gives, while helpful and specific, is mostly based on what we imagine are NYC-specific problems and cites New York statutes, but it still might be helpful for renters elsewhere with similar problems.
Slumlord Dermot Company Finally Installs Boiler
By 1.2.08
Huzzah! Dan’s quest to not live in an icecube has succeeded. He writes:
The boiler’s been replaced and I’ve had consistent heat and hot water since xmas. Now i just have this unholy clanking coming from the steam pipe every morning b/t 3 and 5 am which jolts me from my bed in fear that its about to explode and take me with it. The super says hopefully it will get resolved this week.
Slumlord Dermot Company Installs New Boiler (For Four Days And Counting)
By 12.21.07
On Monday, I returned home from work to discover an unexpected message from the city building inspector tucked under my door, stating that he had come to check on my heat and hot water, but that, since I wasn’t home, he’d check things out in a neighboring apartment.
Maybe Landlord Will Fix Ceiling After It Collapses?
By 12.6.07
After ripping down the almost collapsed ceiling and the neighbor’s kitchen floor, the guy discovered at least three different leaks, all converging on my ceiling.
Landlord-Tenant Law For Every State
By 12.4.07
Here’s a big list with links to landlord-tenant statutes by state. Know your rights. Good for renters to bookmark in case you’re ever in a dispute with your landlord, or just because you’re a smart person who likes to have useful information relevant to your life on hand.
