Rent accommodation from landlord
There has been a leak from the pipelines that go through our bathroom (sink/toilet) and the floor above us and the water was gushing down in the garage. The landlord has asked us to empty our second bedroom because a wall may needed to be torn to do construction on the pipelines. So the second bedroom, which we had turned into a huge closet has been emptied and all the clothes are now hanging in our dining room and the main sleeping bedroom as well as part of our living room. That was 3 weeks ago. My landlord was trying to get new plumbers because the previous ones were flaky and didn't show up for work.... The new plumber came and did construction on the unit above us for 3 days this week, but no work on ours. Until Friday night, our bathroom was flooded from water backup through the sink. Yesterday morning, the plumbing crew came and spent all day trying to figure out what was going on. (No access to bathroom) Last night, we had a toilet and shower. The crew worked all day today (No access to bathroom all day) And just now, at 8:15 pm the crew left without completing the construction. We have no access to toilet, sink, or shower. I emailed the landlord asking to accommodate us for the night at a nearby hotel that allows dogs. Our only choices are (Westin: $240 +tax) downtown and Motel6 ($57) nearby. I'm certain, even if it is not explicitly stated on our contract that he should accommodate us. So I emailed him our request to stay at Motel 6 overnight because our daily rent is around $60. Other than that, are we able to ask for any rent compensation? Can we refuse to pay rent for the duration of this construction? Can we get some sort of compensation for not being able to use one of the bedroom per his request? Should I seek legal advice? I'm afraid that legal fees may end up being more expensive than talking to our landlord directly. Please help. I'm confused as to how to go about this. |
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| Do you know your landloard? I am from the Cincinnati area. Let me check at work tomorrow on what your rights might be. We have a couple of teachers with law degrees. Go figure. I will post something tomorrow evening if you don't find out anything before then. You can always call Legal Aid. They usually know those kind of things and it won't cost you anything. |
| I am not a lawyer, so I won't chime in on the advisability of withholding rent. I will offer this, however. It was recommended to us once that, if you do decide to withhold rent, it is best to put your rent in some kind of escrow account so you can prove that you had your rent monies available on time (as per your rental agreement), and that it was not simply withheld and spent on something else in the meantime. Good luck! Sounds like a tricky situation. |
| There should be some sort of tenant assistance program in your town. If you aren't on good terms with the landlord, call the health department. |
| Thank you for such great advice. I will check out legal aids. We have a pretty good relationship with our landlord. He is prompt about getting back to us and at least tries to accommodate us. I do not want to demand unreasonable requests and certainly do not want to get into a legal battle. I just wanted to know what my rights are and what is rightfully demandable because he will not offer it to us unless we ask him. Apparently our upstairs neighbors weren't accommodated last night and they crashed at their friends' places. Hopefully this will be done tomorrow but just in case it's prolonged i wanted to be prepared. Thank you  |
| You can google OH tenant rights and there are some sights that will tell you your legal rights. I'd always start with the landlord first. He may not even know that the repair folks left you in that predicament. Besides the email you could call him also, not everyone checks their email frequently. If your state is like here, there may be an Ohio Legal aid if you prefer to speak to a person. When I googled the OH tenant rights it looks like an Ombudsman's office may oversee something? If that's the case you can call them and seek some information as well and an Ombudsman shouldn't cost you any money. It could be your landlord is as upset by the situation as you are. Good luck I hope you get some accomodation. |
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