We rent, problems with rental, questions - what to do?

shabbatiscoming

Tue, Sep 10 2013, 5:17 pm

We have been renting a house in our yishuv for the past two years. Already in the middle of last year we knew that we could not stay in this rental as it was literally falling apart (it is a relatively old house that was never ever kept up by any of the previous renters - the owners never actually lived in the house) and so we looked in the yishuv for another available rental. We found one that was supposed to be ready in august and then in november. The people who are renting where we are going to move to are building a house and it is taking longer than expected (big surprise).
The BIG problem is that every few weeks and months, something else breaks, falls apart or something like that happens and we have to deal with these things. We want to get the heck out of this house already. We are waiting patiently (not really - we are on shpilkes to leave). We want to tell our landlords that the minute the rental is available we want out of the lease as this house is falling apart and we dont feel that this house is livable.
Is that fair? Or do you think we really have to continue to pay rent if we leave (because of the state of the house?) I dont think they will find renters to take our place and I dont actually think they should. I think they should fix everything that needs fixing first, but these landlords are young and a bit clueless.

What do you think?

Last edited by shabbatiscoming on Wed, Sep 11 2013, 6:19 am; edited 1 time in total

amother

Tue, Sep 10 2013, 5:30 pm

greenfire wrote:

is there a way you can hold the monies for the things that landlord is not fixing ... like an escrow account of sorts ... this way he knows you have an issue with the house breaking and you're not paying rent for the dump

We have not been paying for the big things that have broken, leaked, fallen apart. The amounts have been taken off of a months rent. Is that what you meant?

This still does not answer my question though of leaving without finishing the year long lease.

SplitPea

Tue, Sep 10 2013, 6:03 pm

In your lease does it give tenants rights and landlords responsibility? If so my recommendation is to hold them to the lease. In NYC (I know America is different) there is a concept of warranty of habitability. If the place is unliveable they don't collect rent. During sandy this came into play for a lot of us. If you have a lease it should say what the landlord is required to maintain and fix. If they are not then its THEM breaking the lease and not you.

Barbara

Tue, Sep 10 2013, 7:39 pm

amother wrote:

greenfire wrote:

In the US, you can (under some circumstances) establish an escrow account, and pay your rent into that account until the landlord performs necessary repairs. It stops the landlord from claiming that you're not paying rent. Sometimes. In the US. Not legal advice. Only sometimes. Only in the US.

I think what you really need to know is what you have to do to break the lease without having to pay any more money to the landlord, when your lease is up. First, read your lease. It may have your answer there. It may give you ideas, such as putting the landlord on notice of problems (in writing) that they're responsible for, and documenting that they're not fixed. But I think you're probably going to have to speak to a real estate attorney or agent, or at least a friend who is familiar with Israeli real estate law. (Which is not me.)

Good luck.

shabbatiscoming

Wed, Sep 11 2013, 6:16 am

SplitPea wrote:

Every time something breaks, leaks, whatever, WE get it fixed (the landlord always says "I dont know anyone here yet, I cant find the correct worker for that problem, you find them and we will pay for it") and then the landlord takes it off of the next month's rent. But thats not my point. Its just that every few days, weeks or so, its something else and it is making our lives crazy.
The terrible thing is, is that we can not move out yet as the new rental that we will be moving in to is not available yet. Exploding anger

shalhevet

Wed, Sep 11 2013, 6:46 am

I think you are not being fair, because you want the best of both worlds.

You don't want to give notice, like saying, 'we don't want to stay in this house another day, so we are leaving in 30 days' (assuming you could do that) because you only want to move out when you have an alternative. So you want the landlord to lose out, while you keep all your options open.

When is your lease up? Also, if you renewed it even once after moving in, you don't have a moral or probably legal leg to stand on, because why didn't you leave then?

ima m

Wed, Sep 11 2013, 6:47 am

I'm not a lawyer but if there is no get out clause in your lease and they are fixing (paying for it to be fixed) everything on your request I dont think you can move out and not pay. It seems like they are sticking to there side of the contract to which you signed. I'm sorry it is not the answer you were probably looking for but it seems that way to me. You could suggest sub leting it out but again I think that is there discretion

shabbatiscoming

Wed, Sep 11 2013, 6:47 am

shalhevet wrote:

OK, so lets say that we would have a place to move into tomorrow. What then? I know legally what we are allowed as per our lease, but what of the house haveing been falling apart forever already. Does that not help us in the matter at all?

shabbatiscoming

Wed, Sep 11 2013, 6:48 am

ima m wrote:

We thought about subletting, but we would not wish this house on anyone, really.