LANDLORDS!!!!!!

I used to worry about things getting too cold-so I would bring them in the house. Chickens, the goat, once a nice big greensnake...all the dogs...then I would cry my eyes out and worry they were going to freeze to death all night. :cry:
 
Gee, sounds like I would have gone nuts if our last landlord was like your current one. We lived there 6-7 years before buying our current place. The landlord was there maybe 3-4 times TOTAL over all the years. The small problems I just dealt with (like toilet bowl flap). If something required someone to come in to fix, she had me schedule and took $ off rent.

The funny thing is when we moved out they waited 6 months or so and then wanted to keep the security deposit. We had been trying to get for some time as they lost which bank it was it.... After we told them that local law required deposit to be returned in 30 days or tenant could get TRIPLE, we got back. I think it was triple interest not triple deposit, but that part wasn't clear. What they wanted to keep deposit for (paint / carpet) is considered normal wear and tear and not something they can charge for, at least not in MA.
 
Thanks greenthings. Those are some good links. Today we cleaned the floors, did dishes, and cleaned up my daughters room. Tommorrow were gonna finish. It looks alot better. I cant figure out how to get stuff off the sinks, and bathtub. They are white. But they have wierd stains on them. Like they wont come off when you scrub them. I scrub with Mr clean erasers, comet, lysol. It wouldn't come off.
 
Is it a kind of a crusty stain? Or a yellow one? Crusty stuff is calcium build up from hard water. Yellow would be iron. There are specialized products for each one. When we moved in to our last apartment it took forever to clean our tub because the guy who had lived there for six months was recently divorced, very depressed and never ever cleaned anything. The landlord gave us a break on the rent because there was so much cleaning that needed doing. We kept having to put stuff on the tub, and put stuff on the tub till eventually it looked like something I'd actually want to stand in to take a shower....
 
There is a gel bleach ~ clorox that is really good for stains like that. Make sure that you rinse it really really good though. You will have to let it set (covered) for a while, then rinse. It might take more than once. It removes tea stains which are some really hard stains to get out.
 
tharedhead said:
Is it a kind of a crusty stain? Or a yellow one?
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Aack! Yuck! That sounds sorta gross to me red! I know of a few other things that are crusty and/or yellow...but we won't go into that here. :crazytongue: Anyhow, as another poster mentioned, try that gel bleach product. You might also try Clorox bathroom cleaner w/bleach. Bleach can do wonders for stains. Just spray down the tub well and then leave. After an hour or so, return, scrub lightly and rinse thoroughly. However, the bleach smell will be very strong when you return to the bathroom to clean...so don't be breathing in all those bleach fumes or someone will find you passed out in the bathroom, along with those stains. Good luck with that.
 
And while we're coming up with things that can knock you out in the bathroom don't forget-never never never combine bleach and ammonia-that amazingly toxic combination causes a release of chlorine gas, promptly rendering you as dead as a doughnut! Which is just as dead as a doornail, but tastier... :crazytongue:
 
once ya get it all clean you have to stay on top of it. every day its got to be cleaned. after dinner before you do anything else do the dishes. right away. don't let them sit. take each room at a time. Its really not the difficult if you do it everyday. I spend on average an hour a day. that's sweeping, moping, cleaning the bathroom(every single day). dishes, laundry, making beds, etc... you can do it tiff. you will feel so much better once its clean. I feel stressed if the house is even a little messy. unfortunately house work isn't like somethings were you can take a day off. once you do that it gets overwhelming. sounds like that's where you are now. your husband has to help and your daughter is old enough to pick up after herself. they both need to help.


tharedhead said:
And while we're coming up with things that can knock you out in the bathroom don't forget-never never never combine bleach and ammonia-that amazingly toxic combination causes a release of chlorine gas, promptly rendering you as dead as a doughnut! Which is just as dead as a doornail, but tastier... :crazytongue:
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Its really surprising how many people do not know this.
 
Another suggestion for Tiff (as though you don't have enough already here)...do try to talk to someone at your university who can assist students with legal issues. Among other concerns, you might have cause to ask for a refund on the paint job. Didn't you mention lead paint in your place? Seems like landlords are required to do something about that if there are children under 6 years old living in the house. You might claim that it was her responsibility to have your house painted in the first place. In any case, you need to start documenting the things she charges you for along with everything you've already forked out and find out if you're really liable for these expenses. The way things are going, you're never going to see your deposit again. Get someone local and in-the-know on your side!
 
nkb said:
Another suggestion for Tiff (as though you don't have enough already here)...do try to talk to someone at your university who can assist students with legal issues. Among other concerns, you might have cause to ask for a refund on the paint job. Didn't you mention lead paint in your place? Seems like landlords are required to do something about that if there are children under 6 years old living in the house. You might claim that it was her responsibility to have your house painted in the first place. In any case, you need to start documenting the things she charges you for along with everything you've already forked out and find out if you're really liable for these expenses. The way things are going, you're never going to see your deposit again. Get someone local and in-the-know on your side!
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Wow Im surprised you remebered that. Yea the lead paint has never been removed. Its not inside the house, but it is on the outside of the house. She doesn't seem to care about that. Just all the other stuff.
 
I agree with nkb, some of the provisions in your lease (assuming they are even in there), seem a little bit onerous, and perhaps illegal in some states depending on your state's tenant/landlord laws.

I have frankly never heard of a landlord requiring you to pay for painting in the middle of a lease (might depend on how long you have been there, though). It is generally expected that painting will have to be done at the end of the lease.

Also I know it is *required* in some states that landlords give 24 notice of entry, except in emergency conditions, and don't believe that can be waived in a lease, at least in some states.

I would check out your rights, ESPECIALLY with lead paint!!!
 
Weve been there 2 years now. The painting was last year. My daughter had drew permanet marker on the refridgerator, wall in the kitchen, and bathroom. It wasn't that bad, It didn't bother us. And we would have painted it before we left but. She was so set on repainting the house. She kept asking and asking. And I told her no. Theres no way we would do it until we are about to move out. But she went behind my back and told my husband. My husband sleeps in the day, because he works nights. So if you ask him anything in the daytime, hes half asleep. So he was like sure go ahead.
 
I just wanted to say, try Mean Green with Bleach or Scrubbing Bubbles. We have really hard water that leaves green stains on the tub and those two things are the only things that will get it off. They both reek to high heaven but they really do clean the tub well. Try either one of those. Good luck.
 
Tiff hun, Im very honest and it gets me in hit water , PLEASE dont HATE me after this.... The MOTHER side of me talking to you. Plenty of single mothers in 20's CLEAN & take care of babies & work. You know hunnys not helping but financial YOU have to take on the JOB hun. PART of being a womens job. If this lady is a bleach queen like myself and has " power" over you she can call the CPS on you rather its dirty or not and make your LIFE even more HECK.TRUST me its a NITEMARE, Take 10 mins a day to CLEAN. wash something , vacuum ,BLEACH stuff. Magic erraser works MAGIC on babies ART WORK. Ill send you some. You spend 10 minutes on here you can MAKE yourself clean your bATHROOM.We all have have things we HATE to do as WOMEN but HAVE to do. I understand money is tight all over the USA but maybe have MERRY MAIDS come in for a small general cleaning the day b4 cruela devila comes to inspect.It costs 30 to 40 dollars.Depnds on what you have them do.PLEASE please dont HATE me now. Im being honest with you. Put on a RICARD SIMMONS cd and MOVE your B O D Y to the oldies ... :laughing:
 
As far as the painting goes Tif hun Shes hearing its dirty so she comes to inspect and YOU a awesome girl to LET her IN because YOU do NOT have to let her in w/o a 48 to 72 hr notice depend on state.Shes trying to teach YOU hun by making you repaint ( 200.00) whoever does it) rather than evict YOU which can cost YOU and HER lots of MONEY.The home is her investment with her life savings in it.If the home is detroyed shes out 200 thousand. Besides shes very OLD TIF you have to see her SIDE as well.
 
As a landlord myself, I must say that it is very hard to maintain rental property, with all the various people moving in and out. Most renters do not consider the rental as THEIR home to care for, so they don't. But that sort of thinking is wrong. Renters should keep up their rental as IF it were their own place. I certainly would want to if I were renting.

Being cordial and polite to the landlord will go a long way...when and if you want something extra done to the place you live. If you had offered to share the cost of painting the rental, and offered before everyone got upset, perhaps it would have cost you less money. I will bend over backwards to try to accomodate a good tenant, a long-term tenant, just to keep from having to turn over the property again.

Renters should always read their leases/rental agreements BEFORE forking over the deposit on a rental. Once the lease is signed and money paid, the tenant has to follow the rules in the lease. Always ask questions about a part of any lease/agreement you don't understand.
 
I rented from a wonderful couple right after me and Jimmie got married ~ we always paid on time and she just really liked us. We were in the middle of their farm and I can't tell you how many times I had to go and wrangle cows to keep them from getting hit on the road. I would take the phone, call her, and chase cows all at the same time!!! My son thought that it was so funny to look outside and see a cow staring in the window!!

I would have loved to have stayed there, but we couldn't afford the electric bills and she couldn't afford to upgrade to central heat and air. It was hard to leave though!
 
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