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We have been renting an apt in a private home for 5 years. We have always paid out rent on time, never bounced a check, landlord never had to ask for a check: Thank GD we are in contract to purchase a home and should be moving in 3 months. Recently our landlord told us its best that we part ways,(they are very difficult people we have to walk on egg shells around them. I notified them we are leaving in a few months, the responce I received was well then I’m raising ur rent, to which I refused. My landlord told me if we arnt out in 30 days he if filing an eviction notice (out of spite) I told him if you want to play like that, last months check is the last u will be getting from me. Am I wrong?
Speak to your/a Rov
it’ll take him months (and cost him tons) to try to evict you. by time anything happens, youll have left on your own long before.
I thought one called TLC would act differently.
Is that normal????????
No, but that doesn’t excuse withholding rent now. Ask a posek.
TLC, they do not have the right to raise your rent. Well the have the right to do whatever they want but you do not have to pay it. YOU just have to pay what you have been paying till you leave. YES, you DO have to pay it and don’t have the right to withhold the rent. They can still start eviction proceedings but it will not effect you, it will just cost them legal and/or filing fees. If you get a notice of eviction you can inform the landlord that you will not allow him to show the apartment because of the notice.
Do you know why he told you it would be best if you part ways? Did he hear from someone else that you bought a house? If that is a possibility then I would not play hardball with a grouch and I would be nice and show the apartment at reasonable hours as long as it is convenient to you an your spouse. If it is not a possibility and he is just plain nasty you have a choice of showing the apartment and giving the prospective tenant your name and phone number so if they have any questions they can call you. If you do this one time, he will not bring another couple up while you still live there.
If what he is doing is breaching the contract(Which he probably is) You have full right legally and min halacha to withhold the rent money. There’s no need for a lawyer even. If you have any friends who understand how to read business contracts, have them look it over and let you know if it’s a breach in the contract. Good luck.
Really, these are not big issues, try to look at each other with an ayin tov, see the good points, (isn’t nice he wants to say hello to you and not just be a cold mailbox transaction, maybe you were due for an increase anyway and he had let it go, so now when he feels he is going to lose money, he feels the threat – believe me after mortgage, taxes, repairs, vacancies, etc, landlords are not raking it in) and let this go – you can handle for 3 months, if you can’t, then explain to him how much you appreciate all he’s done, would he please overlook the raise as it would be a hardship-do you have security, you can let that pay for one and a half months. Approach this as you would want to be dealt with, and pat yourself on the back!
if your lease is up and you are on a month to month,he has a right to raise your rent- but aries suggestion is a good one- he won’t bother you if you give prospective tenants your number.
hatzlacha!
Aries – Why does he not have to pay the increase of the rent?
If you don’t have a lease you pay what you paid before. Lets say that your lease is coming due and the landlord raises your rent. You do not accept the raise and you choose to move out. You are entitled to a reasonable amount of time to find another apartment but you still have to pay rent until you find that apartment. That doesn’t meant that you have to be on the street the minute the lease is up. He has to give you sufficient time to find a similar and/or accommodating apartment according to your family’s needs that you can afford. That is why trying to evict a tenant takes so long. In the mean time you don’t have to pay the raise you didn’t accept but you still have to pay the rent you were paying till now. That is what the court will tell you. In fact this could take years if he in fact tries to evict you. Since in this case the OP already has a place to move to it is not a problem worth more than a couple of months and he should be menthlich and pay the rent minus the security deposit.
he told me in not a mench bec I don’t bring the garbage to the curb LOL my response….that’s what I pay u for.
How much do you pay him to take out your garbage? I don’t think that’s included in most rental agreements.
daas – most renters use the owners outside garbage bins (with his permission by renting the property). so the owner is responsible to bring the garbages to the curbside, not the renter.
When I rented, I took out my own garbage. What would you do if the landlord didn’t live there? If he lives there and you share garbage bins, I could see it, although it would still be mentchlich to share the responsibilities.
Unless a landlord specifically tells a tenant “this is your can and you are responsible for it” the tenant is not responsible to move the cans.
As tbt said, ask your Rov.
You need to consult BOTH a posek with yadin yadin semichah, AND a landlord-tenant lawyer. NOW. Good luck!
“If he lives there and you share garbage bins, I could see it, although it would still be mentchlich to share the responsibilities.”
yes, it would be mentschlach… our tenants are half our ages, have almost twice as much garbage as us, & never put the cans to the curb, nor bring them back. :/
aries,
Is that the law?
Yes, I had to look into it when we were close to evicting a tenant of my mothers. And when WE didn’t accept a raise we also paid the old rent until we moved. The same with my daughter. In addition, you can use your security deposit which you are told when you rent your apartment is your “last month’s rent”. Never ever trust your landlord to return it to you.
TLC, it really doesn’t pay to fight with them. YOU and I are both lucky that we had the landlords we had because it pushed us to buy our own homes B”H. When we are too comfortable with our landlords we get lazy and push that step off for too long. It is like baby birds leaving the nest. Believe it or not they did us a favor although it is not a comfortable situation. My daughter’s landlady made her nuts but she wound up in her own house as well. As much as we dislike them and are frustrated by them it is a brocha in disguise. So do the right thing for yourself and your wife. Be mentchlech because that is how the two of you were brought up and that is how you want to role model for your own children.
You are leaving after all. You are the proud owners of your own home. YOU are the winners in the end and they are the ones with the revolving tenants. They will always lose. So as I said if they get nasty you don’t have to show the apartment. If they play nice in the sandbox, why not. But if you really feel that people should know the truth about them you are in a dilemma that you should discuss with your Rav because you really can’t be motzeh shem rah, on the other hand you don’t want others to fall into the trap you feel you were in. So what do you do. You can tell the landlord if he brings anyone up you will be happy to show the apartment at your own convenience but you will not lie if you are asked any questions. Or you can do as I mentioned before and give the prospect your name and number. If asked you should only say it is not easy living with difficult people. The apartment is great, the neighbors are great. But you should know you will have to fix everything on your own, they won’t do anything for you. Know that before you sign the lease. If you are looking to be in this location and you love the apartment and that’s all that counts go for it. It is like having an absentee landlord when you need something, but he is always around when he wants something. If you are not specific and you don’t say anything nasty I think that would be alright.
Do you have a lease? If not, he can raise it any amount he wants, and you can opt to leave (as you already said you are). If you have a lease, he can do nothing at all. If he tries to evict you, you will be out long before the eviction could take place, and it will cost HIM. Do not withhold rent. That puts you in a legal bind. You can tell him to apply the money he took as security when you signed the lease, to the last month’s rent.
if you dont have a lease, and are on month-to-month, the landlord can unilaterally declare he is raising your rent any amount he wants, effectively immediately tomorrow (when the new month begins)?
When ever something breaks even and old rusty sink pipe that is obviously not my fault, I just brink and pay for my own giy to fix
Now THAT you should be able to deduct from rent (but of course ask a shaila first; there are many variables).
Yes he can, but you don’t have to accept it therefor you basically remain at the old rate until you move out.
“Yes he can, but you don’t have to accept it therefor you basically remain at the old rate until you move out.”
So how much time do you have to move out, and still pay the old rate, if the landlord unilaterally declares the rent increase (at whatever rate he wants) to be effective immediately (beginning next month)?
Each case is different and the OP should ask a shailah. The people posting here are just expressing their personal opinions. They aren’t experts. You aren’t even allowed to take legal action without permission from Bais Din. But if you want you can ask a lawyer right now, just in case the Bais Din will give you permission later on to seek relief in Court.
An eviction can take years. That doesn’t mean that you can just thumb your nose at your landlord and do whatever you want. You have to actually actively look for another apartment or work something out with your landlord if you don’t want to move, some kind of compromise. You don’t just get to ignore him and do whatever you want, that wouldn’t be mentchlich. So if you really do want to move for instance and you want to be mentchlich with your landlord let him know that you are actively seeking an apartment. If you don’t want to be pressured, tell him you will give him something in a raise if he will give you a one year lease and that you will keep looking to move in that time but he will have to let you out of the lease without consequences when you find the apartment. Let him know that you will give him notice as soon as you find the apartment and that you will let him show the apartment as soon as that happens.
TLC, i’m curious why your rov said you can withhold the rent, if he agrees it is due to the landlord. do you know his halachic reasoning?
Withholding the rent will only cause more friction and will only cause more bad attitude from your landlord. Do you really need him to be motzi shem rah on you. Do you really need him to tell the neighbors that you are NOT paying your rent? Is that really necessary? How does that help you or help your situation? You know your are using the property and you know he is due the rent except for the last month which you already paid for and for that you should give him a note saying you are using your security deposit or you have already paid your last month rent when you moved in. What he does is not in your control and really won’t effect you because if you look at the scenario, if you were called to court and the judge told he that your landlord wants you out, and you showed him the title or contract on your new house that would be the end of it. The judge would tell him, you are moving and he will just have to wait.
So again, why stoop to his level. Be a mentch and be matzliach that is what’s most important.
When you fix something in your own apartment you fix it for your OWN benefit and for your own use and not for your landlord’s benefit and use. If it is NOT nailed to the walls or it will not ruin the walls you can take it with you such as carpet, window treatments, etc. However, if it will do damage, you can’t take it. And no you can’t deduct it from your weight.
aries,
Earlier, TLC referred to a “rusty sink pipe” that needed to be replaced. If the “improvements” made were repairs to fixtures (plumbing, etc.) which are part of the rental, and are therefore the landlord’s responsibility to repair, it’s reasonable to think that a rov would allow that to be deducted from the rent. If the improvements were luxuries, then it’s not so simple.
If your lease says “as is” then that’s what it means. Many landlords put it in the lease. Anything that is visible (not within the walls) is your responsibility. There are many landlords who wont change a broken fridge or even stove. It is all in the game they play to keep from spending money. There is many a tenant moving with their own Fridge.
If you ask a Rav you should get the psak in writing. He will probably ask you why you didn’t take it off the rent immediately when it happened which is a good question and shayach and he would probably want to see the receipt for the work. It would probably have been acceptable to take it off when it happened and the landlord wouldn’t have had too much to say about it at the time. Taking it off the rent when you leave might be a different issue.
Of course you should ask a Rov, but I would think you should just continue paying the same rent you have been paying and mail it to him with a USPS receipt.
If you are leaving in three months, I wouldn’t worry at all about eviction.
TLC; I can see the root of your problem. You fail to realize (Due to your own nature or upbringing.) that beside being a tenant you are also a neighbor. And you must strive to be good neighbors. (It cuts both ways.) I had a hunch that your interpersonal problems didn’t just start out of thin air. When you tell your neighbor/landlord that you expect him to shlep your trash, you’re automatically showing that you expect him (for the rent money) to be your servant. And when you kvetch about the stairs not being cleaned, I would tell you that taking a shovel and cleaning for a change wouldn’t floor you. I rent an apartment, too. I rented all my married life. B”H we never had an issue about taking out the garbage or clearing the snow. Yes. I did have an argument with my landlord. He wanted to shlep my trash and I said NO. Try not to have an attitude that things are coming to you for paying the rent.
Metro, I believe his attitude comes from his frustration, but I agree with you. It our job to always be mentchlech no matter what especially when dealing with people older than we are.
aries2756; I agree with you that when a landlord refuses to do his/her duty and gives the tenant a hard time about doing repairs that are indisputably his obligation, it’s very frustrating. At the same time it shows stupidity on the part of the landlord. B”H I haven’t encountered this problem. Partly because unless it is a serious structural repair, my landlord won’t even hear about it. I’m not judging about this particular case but speaking in general. The fastest way for good relations bet. landlord and tenant to deteriorate is when the tenant is in the landlord’s face every Second (or Third) day kvetching about relatively minor repairs. If the tenant is not handy, he can hire someone to do the repair. Rather than bug the landlord.
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