Landlord not repairing apartment

ray giraffe

Sorry for the long post, I'm venting my frustration!

I am renting and there are repairs that need to be done.

I have tried ringing the landlord more than a dozen times the past two weeks, managing to get through only twice!

He doesn't respond at all to voicemails. When I manage to get through to him he says "i will ring a guy tomorrow to take a look at it". But he never does.

I have tried emailing him, and i get the same "ring a guy tomorrow" answer. The last email I threatened to stop paying rent if he doesn't fix anything, but he has ignored that.

Looking at previous threads, it looks like I should send a registered letter to him. How does this look?

My address
Date

Landlord's Address

Dear Mr _____,

The following are the repairs which need to be done.

• There is a leak coming from the ceiling adjacent to the window in the living room.

• The handset beside the apartment door does not work. There is no response from it while someone is trying to ring using the keypad downstairs.

• The window in the sitting room does not stay closed.

• The fan in the bathroom does not work.

• The lock on the bathroom door does not turn.

• The lid on the popup bin in the kitchen does not stay closed.

• I have not received a copy of the lease since signing it more than 6 weeks ago. Also I have not seen an inventory of items which is referred to in the lease.

I want these problems resolved by October 17th, 3 weeks from the date of this letter.

In the event the problems are not resolved by then, you will be in breach of your obligations as landlord and accordingly will receive a written Notice of Termination of Tenancy.

I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours Sincerely,

_________________________

djimi

I would reword the line that says "I want these problems resolved by..." and make it sound a bit more formal, but other than that it is spot on. Word it something along the lines of "I expect to have the above issues either resolved or a plan in place for their resolution by October 17th (3 weeks from the date of this letter)". Make the last two lines one paragraph.

Pkiernan

Just move out.

Your LL is not going to become a responsible person because of this letter.

If I were you, I'd give my 30 days notice right away.

TheChizler

I'm with you on everything bar the popup bin...

sethasaurus

Whatever you do, get stuff in writing. emails are good because you get to keep a copy in your 'Sent' folder.
If you post them a letter, keep a copy of it for yourself.

There are a lot of things that landlords are obliged to do. If you have nay trouble, you can go to the PRTB. I haven't had to go that far, luickily as we moved out of our previous flat, just before I would have finally cracked and killed the neighbour and his dog next door, the guy upstairs, the landlord and her family (who would just pop up unannounced in the garden).

We moved into a place which is so peaceful, it's like a different world. The landlord is hopeless and so are her nephews (who were charged with responsibility for the rental), but we never see any of them (not like the previous one that popped her head up at the bedroom window when you were getting dressed and claimed to be picking berries in the garden).

There's a leak that trickles down the kitchen wall when you run the bath upstairs, the cap for the sewage inspection point is missing (open sewer next to the kitchen), but I piled some leftover crap from previous tenants on top to block it.
New landlady won't afford to fix anything unless it's major, so we have to maintain the status quo, which isn't so bad.

Remember, if you're a renter, you won't be living in this place forever anyway.
Sometimes you have to weigh up the fact that almost all landlords are crap and it's better to know what you can compromise on, or at what point you find a new place (which is hard enough too).


EDIT: Oh yeah, also, sometimes I have just fixed things in my rental properties myself because the stress and drama of trying to get a cruddy landlord to take responsibility is just not worth it.

(A landlord can also be fined for not registering the bond money with the PRTB - you should get a letter from them to state that it has been registered).

ray giraffe

djimi wrote: »

I would reword the line that says "I want these problems resolved by..." and make it sound a bit more formal, but other than that it is spot on. Word it something along the lines of "I expect to have the above issues either resolved or a plan in place for their resolution by October 17th (3 weeks from the date of this letter)". Make the last two lines one paragraph.

Thanks djimi for your help in the wording!

sethasaurus wrote: »

Whatever you do, get stuff in writing. emails are good because you get to keep a copy in your 'Sent' folder.
If you post them a letter, keep a copy of it for yourself.

Thanks for your advice seth! Landlords can be a pain!

Question!
Is an email just as good as a letter if it ends up at PTRB?

scudzilla

ray giraffe wrote: »

Thanks djimi for your help in the wording!



Thanks for your advice seth! Landlords can be a pain!

Question!
Is an email just as good as a letter if it ends up at PTRB?

No, he could say that he never checks his email or that it went straight into his Spam folder. A registered letter proves he has received it, if he's not bothered to read it then it's his issue

odds_on

scudzilla wrote: »

No, he could say that he never checks his email or that it went straight into his Spam folder. A registered letter proves he has received it, if he's not bothered to read it then it's his issue

The problem with registered letters is that the landlord can refuse it.

If you can, and it is convenient, put it through his letterbox yourself, either with a dated photo as proof and/or a witness.

As regards terminating the tenancy if the repairs are not completed, this is OK if you actually want to leave; however, if you like the place otherwise and it suits you, I would suggest that you could advise the landlord that you will make a claim with the PRTB for failure to maintain the property to the housing standards required and that you will also be claiming for damages for inconvenience and stress.

Furthermore, You should make him aware that as you have advised him of the issues, you are not liable should the damage become worse ( a water leak in the ceiling may well eventually bring part of it down).

helimachoptor

Agree with the above? Just move as the threat of the move may get him off his ass and doing something

djimi

odds_on wrote: »

The problem with registered letters is that the landlord can refuse it.

If you can, and it is convenient, put it through his letterbox yourself, either with a dated photo as proof and/or a witness.

With a registered letter is the recipient aware of who the sender is when they are presented with it? Surely the LL refusing to sign for a registered letter is in itself proof enough that the letter was sent by the tenant? Whether or not they actually read it is their own business.

BostonB

Pkiernan wrote: »

Just move out.

Your LL is not going to become a responsible person because of this letter.

If I were you, I'd give my 30 days notice right away.

+1. They aren't going to change their spots.

StillWaters

djimi wrote: »

With a registered letter is the recipient aware of who the sender is when they are presented with it? Surely the LL refusing to sign for a registered letter is in itself proof enough that the letter was sent by the tenant? Whether or not they actually read it is their own business.

No, unless there is a return address on the envelope you are not aware who sent it, and no, refusal to sign does not deem it legally received.

It's also a pain, as I for one am never home during the day to sign for letters.

djimi

Ah fair enough; I thought the senders details may be on it, and an actual refusal to sign would signify that they knew who it was from.

sethasaurus

At least, if you keep a written records with date & time:

e.g.
"emailed landlord about x"
"called landlord - no reply. left voicemail about broken pipe"
"landlord promised tradesman would be in tomrorow to fix fault"
"No tradesman"

Then you have something useful.

Nobody misses a txt, an email AND a phone call. That's just a sure sign that they can't be fecked.