Can a landlord refuse to pay utilities if the bill is sent to him because the tenant did not pay?
Not a good idea.In most jurisdictions, a utility company can then place a lien against the property. This is either a mechanics lien, or a perfected lien of some sort. These types of liens are almost always granted.At that point, you may be at eventual risk of your property going to auction to pay the utility bill.The landlords option is to pay the bill.And then it’s a dispute between the landlord and the tenant, rather than a dispute between the utility company and the landlord.The utility company isn’t going to try to go after getting blood from a turnip; if someone is a tenant, and they have no ability to pay the utility bill, and not asset which can be seized as implied collateral, the utility company is not interested in suing the tenant.If a lease requires that a tenant put utilities in their name, then the lease will usually have a clause stating that it’s a lease violation to not pay the utility bills.In other words: if the landlord gets a bill because the tenant is delinquent, then the landlord has cause for eviction due to a lease violation by the tenant.Don;t expect that a tenant that can’t pay their utilities will go easily into they distance: if they can’t pay utilities, they certainly can not come up with first and last months rent on a new place, and they’re going to resist moving.Worse, in some states, it’s illegal to disconnect utilities during certain times of the year, and the landlord is going to keep eating those bills until they are able to evict the tenant, while the tenant continues to use utilities.If you are a small landlord, or a particular property has 1–4 units, you may want to consider rolling utilities into the rent at a fixed rate — i.e. “utilities included”. To offset this, you’d need a “utility excess” clause in the lease, as a agreed upon means by which the rent may be increased.If you don’t know how to write leases yourself, a landlord association in your area will likely be able to help you out for free, or for a small fee.
Landlord refuses to call exterminator?
We just moved in to our new house about 3 weeks ago. I was excited because we had been living at my mothers for 2 months because we had moved from another state. So all the excitment feelings went away and 3 weeks later Im depressed, anxious, and frustrated because the house we are renting and just moved into has a huge insect infestation the landlord " forgot" to tell us about. It makes me so angry. We have centipedes, carpet beetles and larvae, pinchers, springtail bugs, gnats, spiders big and small, lady bugs, click beetles, moths, silverfish, and stink bugs. As soon as the sun goes down my husband who works night shift goes to work and the insect activity starts. They're everywhere! In the kitchen, crawling on the children and I while we are trying to watch t.v. I mean it's horrible. We basically go to bed with the spiders and gnats hanging on the ceiling right above us and now that I found a carpet beetle in my daughters bed Im scared the kids might get bug bites. I try to do laundry and centipedes are jumping out of the dirty laundry, taking a shower with stink bugs flying around, bugs are just crawling all over our new couches so we can't even sit and enjoy them, I cant sleep I cant eat, the kids are terrified to go to bed at night it's horrible and I can't live like this. I've bought 3 different kinds of insect spray and that didn't help, there's black dots appearing on my basement walls I don't know what that is? I told my husband about it and he just tells me to relax, that i am overreacting, and I don't think I am. I watch our children sleep at night meanwhile trying to kill as many bugs as I can and go to work exhausted, sleepy, and stressed-out. I called an exterminating company and they said since we are renting they need the landlord to call them. My lease doesn't say anything about pests or exterminating services so my husband calls the landlord and he refuses to call an exterminator even though we said we would pay for it!!! I don't get it? This house is becoming a hell hole for for us, I just can't do this anymore and it's not fair.
Do I have to notify landlord about calling bed bugs exterminator in New York?
Usually not but you should check your lease for a restrictive clause. If you do not notify your landlord and use a non approved exterminator they may refuse to reimburse you for he extermination.Also, in NYC if you apartment has story of bedbug infestation then you are enitled ta bedbug rider upon signing the lease. You can also recover damages or obtain a rent abatement for unremediated bedbug condition. Call 311 and get an HPD inspector out to write up bedbug violations as as often as possible.
How do I write a letter to my landlord to tell them I demand to only pay partial rent, because I am having to pay an exterminator?
Assuming you called an exterminator because your landlord failed to address a problem you reported, attach a cordial note to your rent check stating that you paid “X” amount to an exterminator, and include a copy of the receipt for the payment you made.If your payment is accepted, you’re fine.If not, your check may be returned with a note stating that the landlord will only accept full payment with no offsets or deductions against the rent (as stated in the lease).
Is it okay for a party of four to pay landlord separately?
Actually what the landlord "prefers" in terms of payment is irrelevant. What is written on the lease is important. If the lease states four checks, then you must provide 4 checks, if it says one, he has the right to reject 4. However, if he asked for one, perhaps he has some wacky reason for this, though paimy with 4 may be easier for you and (modestly) harder for him, I would not risk getting the landlord mad at you for not following his instructions, you are going to be with him for a while you do not want to be an an awkward situation with him.Do what he wants, not what is required. Unless that is a burden for you, then talk to the landlord to see if you can get an exception.
My landlord requires that I declaw my cat?
http://network.bestfriends.org/celebrate... just seen this, it's worth a look http://catscratchguard.com/ have a look here, it looks good to me The key word is "now", if you're already living there and have a lease they can't force you to have your cat declawed, the cat is your property and they have no jurisdiction over the cat. They may refuse to renew the lease if you don't comply but to be honest if that's the condition for living there then maybe you'd be better off starting to look for somewhere else, cheap and great neighbourhood it might be but what about the cat? Otherwise if there are a few tenants affected by this new draconian rule, and more importantly their cats because it's the cats who will suffer, you could get together and stand firm and refuse to mutilate your cats. But there seems to be a bit of conflict here because at first you say you've been against declawing but then gradually words like furniture scratched up and discipline start creeping in so I'm wondering if this isn't a convenient get out for you to after all get your cat declawed? there is NO humane way of declawing because the whole concept of declawing is INhumane, how could amputating the third bone with claw attached of each toe ever be anything but abuse whether done with bone cutters, guillotine or laser? Here is some info about laser declawing http://www.janskids.com/LaserDeclaw.html
Can we sue our landlord for bed bugs?
(We live in Minnesota). So when we first moved into our apartment I got bites up and down my legs. I didn't know what they were and my roommates didn't get them and eventually I stopped getting them. So a couple months later I started to get big itchy welts all over my body. I couldn't figure out what they were so I thought I was allergic to something and they were hives. After a month of continuous welts all over my body I found a bed bug on my pillow. I talked to the landlord and they immediately sent out a pest control guy who determined we did not have bed bugs. The landlord made us pay $100 to determine we did not have them(we were pissed). A month later I got bites all over my back and found another bed bug on my bed. ( none of my roommates were experiencing this). We told them we were not paying for it anymore. So they sent out an exterminator, and the landlords just sent us a bill for $1200. We are going to talk to the landlords this morning. In our lease we signed it says we have to pay for any fees to get rid of pests. But we did not bring them in, and the landlords are at fault. We refuse to pay.Can we sue? Anything we can say to defend ourselves? Thank you for the help!
Can the landlord get into my apartment by shoes?
A2AFirst, the notification:Generally there’s a notification requirement in local law that sets a default period of time for notification for non-emergency maintenance.Typically, there will be language in the lease specifying the amount of time for notice prior to non-emergency maintenance. My leases typically specify 24 hours.For emergency maintenance, they do not need to notify you.Second, the shoes:The only case where I’m aware that this was ever awarded damages was a case in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. I’m not aware of this being tested in a U.S. court.The case in Brampton was a Muslim man who asked the landlord to not enter the bedroom wearing shoes, because this was their prayer space (it is required, under the religion, for the purposes of cleanliness of body, breath, and clothes).The problem in the U.S. is that there are specific regulations regarding protective footwear for workmen in law.Specifically, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) sets rather strict requirements in protective apparel when doing any kind of task. Most times, this requires steel-toed boots.I believe, legally, in the U.S., that this would override your religious (or personal) preferences. I do not believe such a suit would be won in the U.S..The compromise solution — which I believe is acceptable, in the religion, as well — is to supply disposable protective booties near the door, and to request that the landlord/workmen wear them over their shoes/boots when performing non-emergency maintenance.For the Landlord, the request should be made in writing to the office, or if being delivered to a landlord on a small property, in person and/or via registered mail.In sum, this serves the purpose of preventing dirt entering the prayer space, and transferring to your body or clothes via transfer.I also believe that, legally, you’d be required to supply the booties, rather than expecting your landlord to do so.If you are allowed by your lease to do so, you may wish to post a sign on your door on the day of the maintenance informing the workmen of the presence of the box of booties, just inside the door.Hope that helps.
In California, a landlord is charging a tenant in an apartment for bedbug eradication. Is this legal?
New legislature passed in California requires landlords and tenants to work together in preventing infestations. Starting on January 1, July 1, and January 1, 2018, landlords must not show or offer for rent any unit known to or suspected of having bed bugs. All new tenants must receive notification of bed bug inspection and the signs of a bed bug infestation. Tenants also must receive instructions on who to report a suspected infestation to and their rights if a landlord refuses to comply with the new legislation.Landlords cannot retaliate against a tenant for reporting a suspected infestation. Such retaliation includes raising rents or refusing to allow tenant services once available to him or her. A landlord must prove the infestation was caused by a tenant before attempting to charge the tenant for extermination. This goes for any insect or rodent infestation. Insects can come through cracks or gaps around a units windows, structural frames, or drains.The new legislation will help keep infestations to a minimum by imposing penalties on landlords who ignore or retaliate against tenants for reporting infestations. It will also alleviate tenants fears of retaliation for reporting infestations.While other habitability issues can be blamed on tenants, infestations can happen in the cleanest units.California Landlord-Tenant Law is Crawling with New Statutes About Bed Bugs | Lexologyhttps://www.american-apartment-o...