AboutMike Fortunato Expertise Can answer questions on all aspects of commercial real estate management, including lease administration, eviction issues, financial reporting and budgeting, asset valuation/enhancement, marketing & leasing, and site maintenance and repairs. 20+ years of real estate management.
Experience 20+ years in commercial management. Current own and operate property management company in southern California.
Question We have been renting our home for almost 4 yrs now. 2yrs ago we were promised by the landlords that we will be getting A/C. 2yrs later they have increased our rent twice and we have yet to see our A/C. We have also told them we have a bad case of termites. They keep telling us we don't have termites. About 6 months ago the landlords painted the house and increased our rent again. The painter informed the owners of the termite problem and they still did nothing. Our fence is breaking one slate at a time due to the bad wood. We have also informed them of a possible hot water leak in our bathroom almost 8 days ago. The floor in the bathroom is quite hot to the touch and is now spreading to the bedroom floor. They have yet to send out a plumber and told us to shut the water off. That was told to us Thursday and it is now Monday. We can't just shut our water off, we have 3 children that live here. Over the weekend we awoke to find our garage had been "tagged". We informed them of this and asked if they could please come take care of it. They told us they are on vacation and that they have no idea why we would call them. I am wondering what can we do in order to get our complaints dealt with. We don't call the landlords unless there is an issue we are unable to fix ourselves. Due to the fact we have a termite problem and now a hot water leak, what can we do as tenants to force them to fix things. I know that as a renter at least all of the maintenance work is to be called in and/or completed by the owners. We have no issues with fixing things ourselves, but as a renter I don't think we should have to. We are not going to be responsible for repairs in our home when we don't own it. We are paying way to much ($2375.00 for a 3 bedroom) to have to fix things our selves.
Answer Regardless of the amount of rent you pay, and irrespective of the fact that you don't own the property, the lease should provide the necessary language to determine whether the landlord is responsible for certain maintenance issues, or the tenant. If the landlord is not handling its responsibilities under that lease, you should provide them with a demand notice, in writing, outlining your concerns and include a reasonable deadline by which you feel they should be fixed. It does seem a bit strange that the landlord wouldn't respond to some of these issues, such as termites, since his building could be damaged significantly if the problem isn't tackled. It's in their own best interests to do something (unless they know for sure that termites aren't an issue).
From your description, whereby the rent is being raised periodically, I can only surmise that you are on a month-to-month tenancy. If so, I would strongly urge you to consider finding someplace else to live, given your landlord's responses (or lack thereof). Although moving can be a pain, the frustrations of dealing with a non responsive landlord can be worse.
