Reporting an unsafe building?

[420sx]

Originally Posted by foompla

i wouldve stopped paying rent a loonnngg time ago.

Same. Tell him this months rent money went into building repairs. Hand him a receipt as his rent money.

[3rdGenMr2Girl]

gotcha. i just want to make sure the next person doesn't have to deal with this s**t.

[FocusDude]

Call his bluff and move over night... send a formal letter verified USmail stating your concerns. Then call your local township L&I to report the unit like mentioned above.

We previously rented a unit from a well known and prominent company, basically the same thing happened. One summer the roof leaked on to our ceiling causing discoloration as I immediately knew what it was from I called bitched (and knew how they would handle it). They played it off and had guys out all Fall claiming it was all good. Finally during a terrible snow storm the drywall finally absorbed enough water and collapsed down beside us as we lay in bed. We immediately began searching for a new place, mailed the letter and began packing. We left with out paying that months rent, mid contract. The managers were split, some very understanding other amazed we were upset.

This being said if it's been this bad for this long it's absurd to still be there. The landlord has no case in court, and will honestly do nothing until he is forced. Note everything and run-

[FocusDude]

Originally Posted by 3rdGenMr2Girl

gotcha. i just want to make sure the next person doesn't have to deal with this s**t.

Most likely not, well depending. As I understand it all rentals should be inspected by the township prior to a renter entering into a lease/agreement (moving in). Of course there are always ways around it.

[crazysaywhat]

gotta hate scumbags... rent cant be that cheap that you would stay and deal with it...

[J.Ralli]

well as a landlord myself i can say that lawyers are our worst fear, in most events even when the tennant is wrong the court still favors the tennent, just a few months ago i had a guy unable to pay rent and the court still let him stay in the house!! needless to say i never got paid for it and my lawyer is trying to work it out with the city. now i know for a fact that you do not need an inspection prior to moving it unless it is section-8 housing. your best bet is to call a lawyer, preferably a close friend or something who is knowledgeable in the field and see what advice they give you. being that your lease is on a month to month basis, just remember that the landord does have to right to terminate the lease in X amount of days and you are to vacate the premessis. so if he wants to screw you over he can just kick you out. personally i think its time to find a new place, and take down some more ceiling on your way out, we hate when people do that!

[DPancoast]

def seek legal counsel. the more evidence you have the better. BUT be careful because he can kick you out lol...

start looking for a new place now so if **** hits the fan, you'll be ok and not homeless

[jen.]

Better Business Bureau

or if you're going to go the legal route and you can't afford a lawyer there is always small claims court, which last I checked was pretty cheap.

[Bender]

lawyer up!

make lots of copies of your rental agreement and make sure that they are stored off premises in a safe place.

[3rdGenMr2Girl]

thanks for all the advice guys. i found a few places to move, i don't want to stay here. i'm contacting a lawyer and the bbb tomorrow since i have the whole day to work on it.

[J.Ralli]

save your time with the bbb, highly doubt that he has a corporation name to worry about. think about it this way, the places your looking at, are you checking with the bbb first? honestly when my house goes up in a few weeks im not going to care what the bbb has to say about me. if you call a lawyer and your moving out, your not going to get much since there was no personal property damage as well as you never put money out to fix anything and he agreed to pay you for it.

[jpalamar]

Go to the bank, pay your rent to an esgrow account until the fixes are done. When he doesn't get paid he will take action. He also can't evict you if your paying to esgrow. Granted it isn't quite as simple as i just said, but it is very do-able.

I would also report him to the BBB and check out the Attorney Generals office and find out if they will investigate as well.

And if you don't already have it, get renters insurnace before some bad happens and you lose all your stufff from mold, water damage, or the landlord is an ass and trashes it.

By law, he can't just walk in and take your stuff out. He can't lock you out. It has to go to court first and that takes months to do and you would probally win.

Win or not though, it doens't sound like a good place to live and I would start looking for a new place reguarless, but stick it to him in the process :-)

[gdmbat85]

Go to the local city hall or courthouse. They'll have a buildings department. There you can tell them what's up and they'll come inspect it and send him a letter in the mail saying he needs to fix it within a certain amount of time or he'll be fined. I'd also stop paying rent till he fixes it, or pay that escrow. Either way, the chances of him evicting you are very slim. In his perspective, he needs to go through court and such to evict you, which costs him money, and he has to give you 30 days. On top of which, he now has to find a new tenant, and continue to lose money until he does, and hope the new tenant is as good at paying the rent as you are. My uncle is a landlord and he does anything he can to keep a good tenant.

[J.Ralli]

Originally Posted by jpalamar

Go to the bank, pay your rent to an esgrow account until the fixes are done. When he doesn't get paid he will take action. He also can't evict you if your paying to esgrow. Granted it isn't quite as simple as i just said, but it is very do-able.

I would also report him to the BBB and check out the Attorney Generals office and find out if they will investigate as well.

And if you don't already have it, get renters insurnace before some bad happens and you lose all your stufff from mold, water damage, or the landlord is an ass and trashes it.

By law, he can't just walk in and take your stuff out. He can't lock you out. It has to go to court first and that takes months to do and you would probally win.

Win or not though, it doens't sound like a good place to live and I would start looking for a new place reguarless, but stick it to him in the process :-)

its not as easy as it sounds and no he wouldnt lock you out or touch your stuff. its also not that easy to stick it to him like you say, depends on who you know.

Originally Posted by gdmbat85

Go to the local city hall or courthouse. They'll have a buildings department. There you can tell them what's up and they'll come inspect it and send him a letter in the mail saying he needs to fix it within a certain amount of time or he'll be fined. I'd also stop paying rent till he fixes it, or pay that escrow. Either way, the chances of him evicting you are very slim. In his perspective, he needs to go through court and such to evict you, which costs him money, and he has to give you 30 days. On top of which, he now has to find a new tenant, and continue to lose money until he does, and hope the new tenant is as good at paying the rent as you are. My uncle is a landlord and he does anything he can to keep a good tenant.

he does not need to go to court to evict her, its a month to month lease so it can be a weeks notice depending on what she signed on the lease. and sorry to break the news but its easy to find good tennants in west chester especially if you find a student whos main concern is making sure they can have a place to stay for school. honestly tho unless its a health concern, the city will not jump on that right away, they will take their time on it

[Scapegoat]

i'd say falling walls due to water and potentially a ton of mold is a health concern.

if its as bad as jamie says it is... it sounds like someone needs to pay them a visit

[3rdGenMr2Girl]

to give you an idea..

[J.Ralli]

ok my homework is done...


few questions tho

does this landlord have a rental license by the borough? If so....

1000.6 Issuance of initial rental license. Upon receipt of a fully completed application and registration form for an initial rental license for a dwelling unit or a rooming unit and receipt of payment of the applicable rental license fee, the code official shall inspect the dwelling unit or rooming unit to determine if such rooming unit or dwelling unit is in compliance with the applicable provisions of this code, the ordinances of the Borough and the Code of the Borough of West Chester, including, without limitation, the provisions of Chapter 66 of the Code of the Borough of West Chester. In connection with the inspection of a dwelling unit or a rooming unit, the code official is authorized to inspect the interior and exterior of the rooming house in which the rooming unit is located or the building in which the dwelling unit is located. If the code official determines that the rooming unit or dwelling unit is in compliance with the provisions of this code, all other ordinances of the Borough, the Code of the Borough of West Chester, including, without limitation, the provisions of Chapter 66 of the Code of the Borough of West Chester, the code official shall issue a rental license to the owner or responsible local agent. In the event that the code official finds that the rooming unit or dwelling unit is in violation of this code, any ordinance of the Borough or the Code of the Borough of West Chester, including, without limitation, the provisions of Chapter 66 of the Code of the Borough of West Chester, the code official shall not issue the rental license and instead shall issue the necessary notice of violation as provided by this code, any ordinance of the Borough or the Code of the Borough of West Chester, including, without limitation, the provisions of Chapter 66 of the Code of the Borough of West Chester.

[J.Ralli]

his response will be to evict you, he will give you notice to move and being that the lease is over, you get screwed...

Section 1000.16 Defense. When tenants and/or occupants are culpable for violations resulting in assignment of points or a suspension notice, the owner may request a stay of proceedings by providing written evidence of the initiation of and diligent pursuit of eviction proceedings against the culpable tenants and/or occupants. If the tenants and/or occupants are evicted, the owner may request termination of the points assigned or suspension proceedings. If the points or suspension has been stayed but the tenants and/or occupants are not evicted, the points or suspension proceedings can be reinstated by the Borough.

[J.Ralli]

and the person you want to contact is Building & Housing 610-696-1773. orrrrr if you want to waste time call lawyers and the bbb....

[MPowerKai]

Originally Posted by J.Ralli

and the person you want to contact is Building & Housing 610-696-1773. orrrrr if you want to waste time call lawyers and the bbb....

Do what this guy says, sounds like he knows his stuff