frustrated at new landlord!!

amother

Wed, Jun 15 2011, 9:45 pm

We are I'h moving to a new apartment. I asked the landlord before we took the apt if he will bring a cleaning lady to clean the apartment before we move in. He said something like "we'll see how the tenants leave it and then see if a cleaning lady is needed". Then he said "everyone has a different standard of what clean is". We went to see the apt today and most of the apt was ok clean but the kitchen was terrible. The fridge was full of gook and sticky all over. cabinets all sticky... I got so grossed out. The landlord seemed to think the apt was clean ( Im scared to see what his house looks like). Well My husband and I spent 5 hours cleaning it today. Is that fair? Is it the landlords responsibility to give tenants a clean apt? Or is it the tenants prob? Also, the oven in the apt must be older than the landlords great great grandmother. Its all rusty and peeling and very old looking. it also has a safety hazard that happens once in a while. I spoke to him about it and he said he doesnt plan on getting a new one. help, I think we fell into the hands of a cheap cheap guy..

Sweet Valley Gal

Wed, Jun 15 2011, 9:53 pm

In regards to the oven, didnt you notice it was old when you went to check out the new apartment?

I personally think he should have hired a cleaning lady. Its disgusting that it was dirty and not clean.

Did you sign a lease?

As an aside point, in commercial leases (ie a mall with a store that is the tenant) there is a phrase in the lease that says the landlord has to deliver the property in sweep clean condition, meaning he has to clean it...

SplitPea

Wed, Jun 15 2011, 9:57 pm

sadly I learned long ago with bad landlords the ONLY thing that speaks to them is MONEY

Pur current landlord refused ot mow the lawn (it was 3 feet high and we border a nature preserve with snakes!!!!) We had been asking about it EVERY day for 3 weeks.... finally it was the first of the month I left a message "obviously you can't do your job as a landlord so now we won't do ours as a tenet... mow the lawn you get rent!" it was mowed the same day!!!

We have had other similar situations with a gas line broken and other things where we have had to threaten rent...

as far as the stove you did not see it was old before you moved in? Typically people rent apartments "as is" do you have a lease saying what his responsibilities are??

Good luck... another way we delt with another not so horrible landlord in the past was to go the landlords rav and discuss the situation. even threatning to go to their rav works at times...

Sweet Valley Gal

Wed, Jun 15 2011, 10:02 pm

SplitPea wrote:

"obviously you can't do your job as a landlord so now we won't do ours as a tenet... mow the lawn you get rent!"

you used those words?? Thumbs Up

Bh I have the nicest landlord in the world who are nice ehrlich people as well as friends to us. Although a sister of mine has major issues.

They even brought her to a din torah once because of some heating bill issue that was their achrayis and they wanted her to pay.

wtvr

Wed, Jun 15 2011, 10:11 pm

[/quote] As an aside point, in commercial leases (ie a mall with a store that is the tenant) there is a phrase in the lease that says the landlord has to deliver the property in sweep clean condition, meaning he has to clean it...[/quote]

It's the same when you buy a home, it says that it will be left I "sweep clean condition". But I believe that sweep clean means surface clean- no dirt on the floors, but not washing walls or appliances.

When we moved into an apartment in an apartment building, the stove was still covered in the previous tenants' grease.

I don't always send in a cleaning lady between tenants, it does depends on the condition that it was left in. (We have a quick turnover b/c we basically rent to students).

We do have a stipulation on our lease that the apartment must be kept clean, and I reserve the right to inspect it periodically. But that's really because it's in our house, and I don't want it to became a source of insects and rodents.

amother

Wed, Jun 15 2011, 10:13 pm

op here. We dont have an official lease, just an agreement because it is a basement apt which isnt legal. With regard to the oven, I saw it before and disscussed it with him before we took the apt, but we were happy and satisfied with the rest of the apt so it didnt hold us back from taking it. now that were about to move in and Im starting to imagine cooking with that oven, I get so grossed out!

blue eyes

Wed, Jun 15 2011, 11:07 pm

When I moved into my apt it was relatively clean but still took acleaning lady for a couple of hours to dust and wash up. its worth the extra few dollars to get a nice clean looking place. as far as the oven- not all landlords supply with appliances. why dont u purchase your own?

farm

Thu, Jun 16 2011, 10:56 am

If you are moving into an illegal apartment without signing a lease, you are completely at the landlord's mercy. Why would he want to pay for a cleaning crew when he could get away with not doing so? Why would he replace the oven if you will take the apartment with the old oven? You will either have to 1. find another apartment or 2. sign a lease with the stipulations you want (cleaning crew before you move in, new oven, etc), or 3. take it as it is and don't blame him- he has not mislead you and has been honest with you from the start.

shoshina

Thu, Jun 16 2011, 11:06 am

farm wrote:

This. There is a reason that he is renting illegally-- he doesn't *want* the stipulations that come with a legal lease and that means doing things like cleaning, maintenance, repairs, etc. Just wait until something breaks...