The Other Shoe Has Dropped

Some of y'all may recall that among my myriads of difficulty was that
the landlord was selling the apartment building. He did, and after a
couple of months with nothing from the new landlord (not even an
introductory note), today in the mail I got a lease.

Now, I have been on month-to-month for *years*. Why should I have to
sign a lease? And it is the most restrictive, punitive to tenants lease
I have ever read.

And the worst part? He requires a $250 pet deposit, and $10 extra rent
a month *for each pet*!

If I wasn't on pain meds, I'd get drunk tonight. I don't know what I am
going to do :-(

Ginger-lyn
in tears

Ginger-lyn wrote:
Some of y'all may recall that among my myriads of difficulty was that
the landlord was selling the apartment building. He did, and after a
couple of months with nothing from the new landlord (not even an
introductory note), today in the mail I got a lease.

Now, I have been on month-to-month for *years*. Why should I have to
sign a lease? And it is the most restrictive, punitive to tenants
lease I have ever read.

And the worst part? He requires a $250 pet deposit, and $10 extra
rent a month *for each pet*!

If I wasn't on pain meds, I'd get drunk tonight. I don't know what I
am going to do :-(

Ginger-lyn
in tears

Oh lord. Purrs for your nerves and for an easy and quick solution to this
problem are on the way.

Jill

"Ginger-lyn" wrote in message
link.net...
Some of y'all may recall that among my myriads of difficulty was that the
landlord was selling the apartment building. He did, and after a couple
of months with nothing from the new landlord (not even an introductory
note), today in the mail I got a lease.

Now, I have been on month-to-month for *years*. Why should I have to sign
a lease? And it is the most restrictive, punitive to tenants lease I have
ever read.

And the worst part? He requires a $250 pet deposit, and $10 extra rent a
month *for each pet*!

If I wasn't on pain meds, I'd get drunk tonight. I don't know what I am
going to do :-(

Ginger-lyn
in tears

Ginger You may want to review the tenant land lord laws in your area. Also
since you are month to month you many want to look for a new place. I am
sorry you are going thru this.

Some of y'all may recall that among my myriads of difficulty was that
the landlord was selling the apartment building. He did, and after a
couple of months with nothing from the new landlord (not even an
introductory note), today in the mail I got a lease.
Now, I have been on month-to-month for *years*. Why should I have to
sign a lease? And it is the most restrictive, punitive to tenants lease
I have ever read.
And the worst part? He requires a $250 pet deposit, and $10 extra rent
a month *for each pet*!

Maybe you don't have to sign it. Over here sitting tenants have rights
that can't be nullified by a change of ownership, there may be something
like that where you are. Is there a citizens' advice bureau (what we
call it - a public agency to tell people what their rights are) in your
area?

Meanwhile, *don't* sign it.

Requiring a new deposit from a sitting tenant would be a criminal
offence here. It's called extortion.

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ==============
Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760
http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975
stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557

"Ginger-lyn" wrote in message
link.net...
Some of y'all may recall that among my myriads of difficulty was that the
landlord was selling the apartment building. He did, and after a couple
of months with nothing from the new landlord (not even an introductory
note), today in the mail I got a lease.

Now, I have been on month-to-month for *years*. Why should I have to sign
a lease? And it is the most restrictive, punitive to tenants lease I have
ever read.

And the worst part? He requires a $250 pet deposit, and $10 extra rent a
month *for each pet*!

If I wasn't on pain meds, I'd get drunk tonight. I don't know what I am
going to do :-(


How will he know how many pets you have? Can he come into your house and
check? If not, in your situation I would lie. Tell him you have two cats.
Or move if you can.
This is when I am glad I own my house.
Try not to panic. Is the 250 a one off or every month?

Tweed

Jack Campin - bogus address wrote:

Some of y'all may recall that among my myriads of difficulty was that
the landlord was selling the apartment building. He did, and after a
couple of months with nothing from the new landlord (not even an
introductory note), today in the mail I got a lease.
Now, I have been on month-to-month for *years*. Why should I have to
sign a lease? And it is the most restrictive, punitive to tenants lease
I have ever read.
And the worst part? He requires a $250 pet deposit, and $10 extra rent
a month *for each pet*!

Maybe you don't have to sign it. Over here sitting tenants have rights
that can't be nullified by a change of ownership, there may be something
like that where you are. Is there a citizens' advice bureau (what we
call it - a public agency to tell people what their rights are) in your
area?

This goes by city in the US. Some cities - getting fewer by the year -
have what we call "rent control", a set of restrictions on landlords
over rent increases, evictions, etc. In cities with rent control, there
is an official rent control board, where she could address complaints
such as this. But in those cities without it (which is the vast majority),
there may be a grass-roots organization (ie, not a gov't agency) that
has researched local tenancy laws and can advise tenants of their rights.
Since Ginger-Lyn lives in a city, there is likely some sort tenants-
advocacy group there, but I don't know.

I think it's good advice, whatever it's called. Ginger-Lyn, do you
have any advocates you can ask about your rights? This seems extremely
unfair.

Joyce

Christina Websell wrote:
"Ginger-lyn" wrote in message
link.net...
Some of y'all may recall that among my myriads of difficulty was
that the landlord was selling the apartment building. He did, and
after a couple of months with nothing from the new landlord (not
even an introductory note), today in the mail I got a lease.

Now, I have been on month-to-month for *years*. Why should I have
to sign a lease? And it is the most restrictive, punitive to
tenants lease I have ever read.

And the worst part? He requires a $250 pet deposit, and $10 extra
rent a month *for each pet*!

If I wasn't on pain meds, I'd get drunk tonight. I don't know what
I am going to do :-(


How will he know how many pets you have? Can he come into your house
and check? If not, in your situation I would lie. Tell him you have
two cats. Or move if you can.
This is when I am glad I own my house.
Try not to panic. Is the 250 a one off or every month?

Tweed

The $250 is a one time thing, then $10 per month per cat (and there is often
a limit regarding the number of cats). And yes, landlords can enter your
dwelling as can any of their maintenance staff.

Jill

On 17 May 2007 00:34:43 GMT, yodeled:

Jack Campin - bogus address wrote:

Some of y'all may recall that among my myriads of difficulty was that
the landlord was selling the apartment building. He did, and after a
couple of months with nothing from the new landlord (not even an
introductory note), today in the mail I got a lease.
Now, I have been on month-to-month for *years*. Why should I have to
sign a lease? And it is the most restrictive, punitive to tenants lease
I have ever read.
And the worst part? He requires a $250 pet deposit, and $10 extra rent
a month *for each pet*!

Maybe you don't have to sign it. Over here sitting tenants have rights
that can't be nullified by a change of ownership, there may be something
like that where you are. Is there a citizens' advice bureau (what we
call it - a public agency to tell people what their rights are) in your
area?

This goes by city in the US. Some cities - getting fewer by the year -
have what we call "rent control", a set of restrictions on landlords
over rent increases, evictions, etc. In cities with rent control, there
is an official rent control board, where she could address complaints
such as this. But in those cities without it (which is the vast majority),
there may be a grass-roots organization (ie, not a gov't agency) that
has researched local tenancy laws and can advise tenants of their rights.
Since Ginger-Lyn lives in a city, there is likely some sort tenants-
advocacy group there, but I don't know.

I think it's good advice, whatever it's called. Ginger-Lyn, do you
have any advocates you can ask about your rights? This seems extremely
unfair.


Piggybacking here because this is just what I was going to say. Purrs
for your nerves and a quick solution.




Joyce

Theresa
Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh

Make Levees, Not War

Cheryl Perkins wrote:
jmcquown wrote:

The $250 is a one time thing, then $10 per month per cat (and there
is often a limit regarding the number of cats). And yes, landlords
can enter your dwelling as can any of their maintenance staff.

This is an example of something that varies from place to place -
which is why she should consult whichever local authority or
non-profit group advises tenants on what the local law is.

Good point, although where I live the landlord must *always* have a current
key. Granted, they can't come barging in in the middle of the night just
because they feel like it but they must be able to access the premises.

My last apartment was upstairs (never again! LOL). The adjoining neighbors
had gone away for the weekend or something when the tenants below them
complained about water leaking through their ceiling. The landlord *had* to
be able to get in without their prior permission to ascertain what the
problem was in order to have it repaired.

Under *my* local law, the right of a landlord (never mind maintenance
staff!) to enter rented premises is extremely limited - there must be
an emergency, or the tenant must have abandoned the property, or
notice of termination must have been given, with both reasonable
notice given to the tenant (4-24 hours, depending on the situation)
and entry made at a reasonable hour to show the property to a new
tenant or buyer.

Fortunately the apartment where I live is usually good about sending notices
of routine scheduled maintenance. However, every three months or so the
maintenance guy will knock on the door to change the heating/air conditioner
filter and replace the smoke alarm batteries and test the fire extinguisher
without any notice. Only more complex maintenance requires advance notice.
When I was working I'd often come home to find a pink "receipt" sitting on
my kitchen counter outlining the work they'd done in my absence.

We also don't often seem to have pet deposits or pet rent, or didn't,
last time I was looking for a place to rent. Landlords seemed to
either forbid pets altogether or allow them without additional fees.
Sometimes, they limited the kind of pet by size or type or number.

Here IF they allow pets there is always a pet deposit but not always a
monthly pet rent in addition. The deposit covers potential damage by pets
and is non-refundable in all cases.

Housing rules and customs seem to vary considerably by region.

This is true. And I agree Ginger-Lyn should find out what the local laws
are. Having said that, she's apparently been very lucky with her
month-to-month tenancy with her prior landlord. Where I live, if you go
month-to-month the landlord has every right to raise the rent *every single
month* the tenant stays there. For this reason alone (again, where I live)
it only makes good sense to sign a 6 or 12 month lease.

I don't like the fact that this new landlord is suddenly requiring a pet
deposit. It's not like he went through and replaced all the carpeting,
flooring, etc. and now has to worry about damages to new items he put in
place.

Jill

"Ginger-lyn" wrote in message
link.net...
Some of y'all may recall that among my myriads of difficulty was that the
landlord was selling the apartment building. He did, and after a couple
of months with nothing from the new landlord (not even an introductory
note), today in the mail I got a lease.

Now, I have been on month-to-month for *years*. Why should I have to sign
a lease? And it is the most restrictive, punitive to tenants lease I have
ever read.

And the worst part? He requires a $250 pet deposit, and $10 extra rent a
month *for each pet*!

If I wasn't on pain meds, I'd get drunk tonight. I don't know what I am
going to do :-(

I know I've replied in this thread already but your situation is worrying me
and I've been thinking.
Is there such a thing as housing provided by the local council, authority or
whatever you call it in the USA? rather than private landlords?
If so, could you apply for it?
Over here council and housing associations usually allow pets whereas
private landlords are much more stringent and often ban children too.
I've never heard of any sort of pet deposit or pet rent here. It sounds like
a rip-off to me. A deposit is often required when moving in to a privately
rented property to cover any damage that might be done, but that applies to
everyone, not just pet owners.
I am livid on your behalf, Ginger-Lyn, you've had enough to put up with
recently without this.

Tweed