Do I have a right to be upset

amother

Thu, Mar 05 2009, 7:49 pm

Here's the situation:
We're renting an apt and took out a three year lease with heat included in the rent. We're living here for two years, giving us another year on the lease. For the past two years, we've been having big problems with our heat. It's always freezing in our apt. At night the steam gets shut, in the morning its shut, its basically on during the day, when both dh and I work and we're not home. We're constantly telling our landlord of this problem but we might as well talk to the wall. We bought ourselves a heater and although it helps something, it's still doesnt warm the apt up enough in the cold winter days/nights. Now that we b''h had a baby, dh went to the landlord and told him that we froze for two years but now he's gona have to do something because there's a baby involved; we can't have him be that cold. The landlord admitted to dh that there's a problem with warming up this apt. (where was he till now??? Rolling Eyes

)and came up with an idea that he'll install a new heating system, we'll control the heat and pay for it. Dh said ok, but since we're still in the three years of our lease and heat should be included, we think it's only fair to either get a "discount" in the rent for the last year, or they should pay for our heat for the last year. Our landlord didn't agree, and said if we don't want he'll install the new heating system only next year when the three years are up and we'll renew the lease without heat included. DH said that's not an option because we can't have our baby be that cold, when it was just us two adults was one thing, a baby is a diff. story. So we had the new system installed, are paying for our own heat, plus the original amount of rent that we agreed on when we moved in.
My question here is: is this right according to your opinion? Am I being ridiculous for being really mad?

mummiedearest

Thu, Mar 05 2009, 8:05 pm

talk to a lawyer. as a landlord, he is required to provide you with working heat. he should pay you for the last two years. you can sue this guy. if he had to install a new system, that's his problem.

for future reference, the way to get a landlord to fix things is to tell him "this is your responsibility. we will not pay rent until you fix the heat." and stick to it. eviction is a very lengthy process. the landlord will fix it pretty quickly, and you won't be charged extra. no, you shouldn't be paying the heating costs. you have a contract. seriously, talk to a lawyer.

ganizzy

Thu, Mar 05 2009, 8:55 pm

when I didnt get heat, I took off of rent and I called 311 (in ny). I bought heaters - which didnt do much but I subtracted that cost as well as the extra electricity from my monthly rent. and I wrote a note telling the ladlord that. heat is expensive and u shouldnt have to pay for s/t that wasnt agreed on especially after 2 yrs of freezing - I know the feeling

chanahlady

Sun, Mar 15 2009, 1:09 pm

The city where you live might have regulations that specify the temperature in the house. For example, in NYC if it's below 55 degrees F outside during the day during winter months, the landlord must heat the house to at least 68 degrees F. Also, because your landlord is not providing heat as stipulated in the lease, that is a breach of contract. You should not be paying for heat if the landlord specifically said he would pay. That's unfair to you. You're right to be furious. Take it to the city or to a lawyer.