Weird, weird, weird landlord behavior.

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I came across a "for rent" sign, called, and subsequently rented from a guy after he agreed to repair some things, or pay for items and I'll repair them. The apartment looked rough upon initial inspection, but appear to be mainly cosmetic things. I figured, ok, I really don't mind doing minor things as long as he pays for the stuff. The day I met him at the apartment to sign the lease he was obsessing about paint touch ups. That the paint was three shades off from the rest of the wall didn't quite make sense to him. I thought this was kind of odd, but since he said I could paint it if I wanted I just didn't question it further. I just thought it was really bizzare that he was worried about touching up the walls with the wrong color, but he didn't seem to be concerned about the leaking faucet and running toilet, which are easy to fix. He was overly nervous throughout the whole transaction, up to and including handing me the keys.

Anyway, I started moving in. The first time I went in at night I noticed roaches. I did a little investigation to find out where they were coming from, which was under the counter, in the counter and from behind the cabinets. I also discovered a damp wall. The kitchen sink wasn't leaking. The bathroom fixtures were on the other side. I noticed a board that was glued to the sheet rock under and behind the kitchen sink. It came right off because the sheet rock was damp. The board was glued to the wall to cover an irregularly shaped hole. I thought this was odd. I went into the bathroom and inspected the area opposite where the kitchen sink is located. A hole in the wall was concealed with that plastic molding that goes up against the wall where it meets the floor. I figured the moisture was a good part of the reason for the roaches. I looked at the upper cabinet and bumped it a bit hard in the process. It was made of particle board and was deteriorating from age, moisture, and I think the roaches were nibbling away at it. The cabinet came off the wall with one hand, no strength at all used to pull it. Of course the roaches panicked.

Well, I thought to myself that I'm going to have to wait till this guy fixes this mess before I can move in. I call him Monday morning, he freaks, asks me what I expect, tells me all his apartments are rented "as is," and makes some comment to the effect that this is why he doesn't like to rent to white people. This clown is a real estate agent too, so he knows there is no "as is" residential leases in California. The roaches were also living in the formica countertop. The particle board material under the formica had deteriorated so bad that they burrowed in there and I really don't think any amount of pesticide would get in there. Besides, there were surface cracks in the countertop. He went on about "cosmetic" issues, and nobody ever complained about roaches in that apartment before, and then tells me roaches are much more of a nuisance that anything else.

He then asks me what was leaking, and how, and then how it could be fixed. Well, since the pipes are in the wall the counter would have to be removed (it wasn't salvageable anyway) to get to the wall. There was a pause, then he yells, "what? You think I'm going to have someone rip out the wall to fix a small leak?" Gee, if that is the only way to fix it, unfortunately that is what needs to be done if there isn't a panel to access the pipes behind the counter.

At this point I figured he can't be reasoned with. I told him I'm not going to live in a place with leaking pipes and roaches running across my utensils. He then interrupts me and asks me to tell him of one case where roaches physically harmed someone. I finally cut him short and told him my stuff will be out Wednesday because the place in not habitable, and I expect to have my money returned, hung up.

I spent the next several days entirely confused by all this. It would cost him around $600-$700 to replace the cabinets with the generic plain white cookie-cutter type cabinets, about $75 for a formica countertop, plus the cost to fix the walls correctly and replace the pipes in the wall, plus new bathtub faucet (I suspect plumping has actually rusted since I noticed rust in the water and on the exterior of other pipes around the duplex). I'm guestimating $1500 to $2000 to take care of these issues.

Well, after talking with several people it became apparent that this guy would rather have this place vacant half the time, have tentants move in, them move out two months later because the place is intolerable, and argue with both tenants and the city building code enforcement over these issues. For some reason he figures this business model is more profitable than spending $2000 and keeping a good long-term tenant and not paying the city a $650 fine twice a year for code violations.

As I was moving out I noticed a mousetrap behind the stove. That explains the irregular hole under the counter. I then took a look at the water heater, since mice love the warm from water heaters. The wrap-around insulation had been torn apart by the mice for nesting and there was about a 1/4 layer of mice dropping on top of the water heater.

Anyway, I got my original cashiers check back. I think this guy really just wants someone that will take the abuse. He was kind of upset about the cabinet that came apart. Not mad, but emotionally upset. Then he kept telling me, "you don't know me, you don't really know who I am or where I came from..."

I took my check, got in my truck, and as I was just about ready to leave I noticed he had a brand new "for rent" sign he was nailing to the tree.

I guess he is going to rent it like that.

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Actually, I used to work for a lawyer that represented both tenants and landlords. I used to rent from a lawyer that represented landlords only. I know several property managers. As a group, both tenants and landlords share the blame for landlord-tenant disputes.

Aside from tenants failing to pay rent and tearing up the place, some are unreasonable about their expectations.

There are a lot, and I mean A LOT of landlords that attempt to weasel and impose their personal beliefs (religious, political, morals) on tenants through a variety of means. It isn't uncommon for landlords to make an issue about someone's boyfriend/girlfriend spending the night, for example. Not living there while not being on the lease, not causing trouble, just spending the night. Believe it or not, there are a fair number landlords that would prefer to go through the hassle of a retalitory eviction process over a tenant demanding that a leaking faucet be repaired. A cheap, easy fix.

I worked for cash fixing stuff in an apartment complex years ago. One manager was perfectly reasonable on everything. The other wanted to take advantage of everything possible, up to the the point of harassing tenants on move out over a small scratch in the paint, even though the tenant was in there for five years. I've seen quite a few posts in this forum about paint as well. I know it is annoying, but paint is about the easiest thing to remedy when prepping a unit for the next tenant. If you are that worried about paint, then write up a clause in the contract that will allow the tenant to paint at their expense. Just make sure you note that they use colors that are easy to hide with another coat of paint. I've done this when renting and it has worked out well.

I've seen fights over maintaining the landscape. A stupid argument on both sides. Don't argue about it. Put a clause in the contract stating they have the option to maintain the landscape, if they don't you have the right to hire someone at their expense.

Animals: I don't know where to start on this. The concern should be damage, not a dislike for dogs or cats. A spay/neuter requirement is reasonable, as is proof of licensing. This eliminates bad behavior on the part of the pet a vast majority of times. People that want to collect dogs aren't going to bother renting if they have to spend the money to license all the dogs they want to keep. A limit on the number of animals is perfectly reasonable. Large dogs and small apartments are a bad combination (dogs need space). In the bigger picture, most people are harder on the property than animals. Really, if you have an otherwise excellent tenant, fighting over an animal is kinda dumb.

I personally had a problem with a landlord that attempted to impose a curfew. I worked late, came home late, and he insisted trouble-makers had to work at night because they couldn't get along with daytime people (I moved out rather than deal with him).

In the neighbourhood I'm in now it is common for landlords to live in the building. Most places only have street parking. There are more than a few landlords that think they can tell the tenants where they can and cannot park on the street.

I can go on forever on this. The bottom line is landlords and tenants are people, and both have their quirks. One group isn't any better than the other.