Hello, i was wondering about the specifications on my right as a tenant living in southern california if a landlord takes days/weeks/months to make on my demands for repairs to the apartment i am paying rent on.

I have read that if the landlord doesn't make repairs I can then take a risk and have my repairs fixed by a contracted business of my choosing to make the needed repairs I have been asking for and then with permission from a goverment agency in charge of housing to ask to withhold paying the rent for that month or two because of the landlord's refusal to make repairs.

Therefore the landlord cannot unfairly raise the rent nor evict me on the basis that i refused to pay because I had permission from the goverment angecy in charge of housing (theoreticly) is this correct?

The reason I am asking about this question is due to my landlord doing just that, taking days/weeks/months even to make repairs, case in point to fix a leaking ceiling during the rain that didn't get fixed for months which caused the ceiling stuff to drop to the floor and decay the wood holding the apartment in which when they finally came around to fixing it, only plastored the ceiling which i may add did a horrible job on and doing nothing with the decayed wood.

I am fed up with my landlord and I am very close to reporting him to the authorities because now my electric is causing my power to go out and has already blown out 4 outlets and have lost power completely just 1 hour ago to my room, the restroom, and the kitchen, the living room and my brothers room are not afected by the power outages occuring, anyways thats my reason for asking, my apologies for the long rant.

hope i may get some answers to this, any help will be most appreciated.

This is a forum exclusively for landlords. If you are that unhappy, why don't you find a better place and leave?

Ah I see...

Well since I'm assuming you yourself are a landlord and did not provide any useful info to my question, who better to ask then landlord(s) themselves on the topic.

I did not need to read a reply on finding another place nor be told that this is an exclusive forum. I mean I Hope there aren't many careless landlords who do this type of thing to their tenants especially to those who has paid their rent on time for years and caused no problems whatsoever only to be treated in such a manner as not providing repair work and waiting very long to get around to it.

It's like saying to me "I do not care because I do not live there" or/and "it'll cost me money" a tenants got rights too especially from landlords not fullfilling their lease agreement. Tenants aren't the only ones who can do bad to the landlord, landlords themselves do this bs as well, two-way sword with no handle.

I'm looking for info still on my question and any USEFUL help will be greatly appreciated.

"I'm looking for info still on my question and any USEFUL help will be greatly appreciated."

I would quit doing business with your landlord and move or buy my own place. James, there are plenty of tenant advocate sites that will give you advice on how to get at your landlord. But it probably won't be here.

Don't take the move or buy advice as curt; that is exactly what I do when dealing with any company, entity or person I do business with that does not perform to my expectations, I stop doing business with them. What I don't do is try to obtain "rights" against the person, entity or company to get my way.

You have to pay rent into a escrow account set up with the court. Before you do that there are procedures you need to follow. Go here and get the correct info.

www.videojug.com/user/USEX0009/

I have viewed 97% of her videos and have found only 2 things that she was not correct on. Feel free to point other tenants to these videos. We would rather you have correct info than pass mis-information among each other/ tenants.

I support the anti-drama in rentals movement.

LOL

Josh Long Beach CA Landlord

.

James,

I will be nice.

Landlording is a business. A job. Most landlords will take good care of their property because it is an investment in which they have tied up all their money. Some landlords do not. Soon they are out of business.

This is a landlord site where landlords help each other with every day problems. Now if your landlord came on and asked advice on how to fix his roof, everyone would chime in with free help.

This is not a site to tell tenants about their RIGHTS. But I will do so. You have the right to give notice and move to a place where a landlord will appreciate you.

You may have the right to withhold rent or make repairs through the court. But if you do that, you will just create a horrid relationship with your landlord and any future landlords that would rent to you and few would. Have you thought about the fact that maybe your landlord could not afford a new roof and was saving up money.

the first two comments were helpful up until that last one...

"If you've been paying rent "for years," you may want to take a fresh look at how your managing your own success in life instead of wasting time persuing rights against a landlord...on a landlord site no less."

What's with the added cheapness, very rude and insulting - first being helpful then in closing a cheap shot as if it's insinuating that anybody, me especially paying rent for years is to have an outlook on my success in life because I do not own a home. Small perspective honestly, no one's got any right to say nonesense comments like that, I've read many advice on this site and it's almost the same, a take no prisoner, protect yourself mentality. On the tenant advocate site, first of this is my first time looking for any such info between a landlord and a tenant, tonight has been the very first time i been on this site and because I'm a tenant and not a landlord should not exclude me. All i asked for was advice, nothing more and since this is a landlord site makes it even more ideal for me at least at first i thought would help getting some answers.

thanks Josh, Ellie for the helpful advice.

To Josh, this isn't drama at all, trollers i dislike and it seems to be some trend on every forum site no matter the content, which doesn't help at all other then to be insulting and causing trouble.

To Ellie no i did not know if my landlord was saving money to fix it, i even asked and he just did not answer.

I'm unaware of any tenat site as i explained on my last post this is my first time looking for any any on this matter.

thanks Josh, Ellie for the helpful advice.

To Josh, this isn't drama at all, trollers i dislike and it seems to be some trend on every forum site no matter the content, which doesn't help at all other then to be insulting and causing trouble.

To Ellie no i did not know if my landlord was saving money to fix it, i even asked and he just did not answer.

I'm unaware of any tenat site as i explained on my last post this is my first time looking for any any on this matter.

the first two comments were helpful up until that last one...

"If you've been paying rent "for years," you may want to take a fresh look at how your managing your own success in life instead of wasting time persuing rights against a landlord...on a landlord site no less."

What's with the added cheapness, very rude and insulting - first being helpful then in closing a cheap shot as if it's insinuating that anybody, me especially paying rent for years is to have an outlook on my success in life because I do not own a home. Small perspective honestly, no one's got any right to say nonesense comments like that, I've read many advice on this site and it's almost the same, a take no prisoner, protect yourself mentality. On the tenant advocate site, first of this is my first time looking for any such info between a landlord and a tenant, tonight has been the very first time i been on this site and because I'm a tenant and not a landlord should not exclude me. All i asked for was advice, nothing more and since this is a landlord site makes it even more ideal for me at least at first i thought would help getting some answers.

thanks Josh, Ellie for the helpful advice.

To Josh, this isn't drama at all, trollers i dislike and it seems to be some trend on every forum site no matter the content, which doesn't help at all other then to be insulting and causing trouble.

To Ellie no i did not know if my landlord was saving money to fix it, i even asked and he just did not answer.

I'm unaware of any tenat site as i explained on my last post this is my first time looking for any any on this matter.

thanks Josh, Ellie for the helpful advice.

To Josh, this isn't drama at all, trollers i dislike and it seems to be some trend on every forum site no matter the content, which doesn't help at all other then to be insulting and causing trouble.

To Ellie no i did not know if my landlord was saving money to fix it, i even asked and he just did not answer.

I'm unaware of any tenat site as i explained on my last post this is my first time looking for any any on this matter.

James, just to expand on what Ellie said:

You're not going to rent from this guy forever. Some day you'll apply to rent from someone else and they'll call him.

You do NOT want him to be able to say that you didn't pay full rent (yes, it was withheld for repairs, but his story will simply be that you didn't pay).

Perhaps you could work something out where he gives you an approved list of contractors and lets you call them if something breaks?

"What's with the added cheapness, very rude and insulting - first being helpful then in closing a cheap shot as if it's insinuating that anybody, me especially paying rent for years is to have an outlook on my success in life because I do not own a home"

Unfortunately James, the above "is" a reflection of your current status in life. Here you come to a Landlord site to get info on how to penalize a Landlord. You're willing to go to extremes to try to gain rights instead of making your own way to homeownership or simply moving to a better place.

James, I know exactly how you feel. Way back in the old days, I was a tenant too. In my very first apartment, the handyman was cleaning out the shower drain upstairs and punctured the drain line. The ceiling collapsed all over my computer, answering machine... The landlords did not want to take any responsibility for it. They did not even want to fix the kitchen floor either, which was so rotten that I had to put boards down to keep from falling through the lino. After the ceiling collapsed, I yelled & screamed to get them to fix both. They probably did an ok job of it, considering it from a distance, but it frustrated the heck out of me at the time. So, I gave them notice and moved. I found a wonderful apartment nearby, that if I hadn't lost my job not long after, I would love to still be living in it.

My 4th apartment had bad gutters. Again, though I told the leasing office about it, they ignored me, and a while later the ceiling collapsed on my tv. This time I had renters insurance, so my stuff was covered. Since I was moving anyway, I informed them, and left to move into my new house.

My point with this uncharachteristically long post is that life is too short. Don't spend your valuable time fighting with your landlord. Give notice, move on, move out. Next time, with the next landlord, make sure you inform them of major problems in writing. We aren't superheros, and sometimes, while juggling everything else we do, we might forget something you tell us in the middle of a conversation. It happens. No LL is perfect, no House is perfect.

Steve in FL was also correct. We see life differently on this forum than many people do. You see us as LL's, probably all money-grubbing and rich. I see most of us as people who have done things you could never imagine, cleaned things that would leave you yakking, built things that would make your heart ache, only to see it torn up, sharpied over, kicked in, and destroyed. Then we pick it up and do it again. Many of us don't have lots of money. Some of us have lived well below the poverty level, praying that we don't have to beg money from our families. We do this business to make money, yes. But it's a lot harder business than you could ever imagine sitting at a desk. That's why we tell new LL's to protect themselves.

James - Just my two cents. It sounds like you might have a slumlord. The landlords on this site have no use for slumlords and we all try to do the right thing - hence the reason for this site.

Your landlord should respond to your concerns in a timely manner.

You state that he patched the ceiling and left the rotted wood. Perhaps he plans to re-roof and that is when the rotted wood would be replaced. If you have no power to the elec. outlets, he should be looking into that. I don't blame you for losing patience. Your complaints sound legitimate compared to some tenants who "nitpick" over minor things. But in all honesty, if he is a bad landlord I would find a better place to live as most landlords try to keep their

good tenants by being good landlords.

Here are the rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords in CT and probably the same in your state of California.

The landlord's responsibilities follow the tenant's list.

THE TENANT is required to do the following:

Pay the rent on time. If the rent is not paid by midnight of the ninth day after the day it is due(for yearly or month-to-month tenancies) or midnight of the fourth day after it is due (for week-to-week tenancies), the landlord may start legal proceedings to evict the tenant.

Keep the apartment and the surrounding areas clean and in good condition. (For example,garbage should not be piled up or left around,but should be disposed of promptly.)

Keep noise to a level that will not disturb your neighbors.

Repair any damage occurring to the apartment through the fault of the tenant, family members or guests. If there is major damage, the tenant should notify the landlord at once.

Notify the landlord immediately if the apartment needs repairs through no fault of the tenant. Give the landlord permission, on advance notice,to enter the apartment at reasonable times to inspect the place or to make any necessary repairs.

Notify the landlord of any extended absence

from the apartment so he or she can keep an eye on things.

When moving out, give the landlord proper

advance notice, be sure that the apartment is in the same condition as when the tenant moved in and return the key to the landlord promptly.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE LANDLORD

The landlord is required to provide:

1. a clean apartment when the tenant moves in; 2. clean common areas (hallways, stairs, yards, entryways);n well-lit hallways and entryways; and, properly working plumbing and heating (both hot and cold running water).

In addition, the following may be required by state and local housing, health and fire codes:

1. properly repaired and safe stairways, porches, floors, ceilings and walls;

3. good locks on the doors to the apartment;

4. safe fire exits from the building;

5. two electrical outlets in each room;

6. viewing devices on doors that open onto a hall way (in some communities);

7. extermination service if the apartment is infested with pests or rodents; and

8. a smoke detector that is in working order.

You need to educate yourself. Opinions you get on the web may or may not be worth much and withholding rent is serious business with serious consequences for you.

The California Department of Consumer Affairs is a good place to start: w w w .dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/index.shtml

Nolo also puts out a good guide for tenants and the $20 or so dollars it costs would be an excellent investment.

it IS possible to get a BAD LL..That being said, you , as a tenant, have the right to leave at the end of your lease and find a better place to live and a better LL.

If this is TRULY how the LL operates his/her business..they wont be LL's for very long.

Good luck to you.

I think this is a troll posting by one of our former regulars, personally.

In the off chance it is a real post, Move if you don't like the place.

You have problems because you have a chip on your shoulder. You didn't just ask how you could get your landlord to make repairs more quickly to alleviate future damage like normal people do.

You asked things like what do to if a landlord takes days/weeks/months to make on MY DEMANDS for repairs to the apartment i am paying rent on. Did you ever try asking instead of demanding?

Then you want to know if you can prevent the Landlord from "UNFAIRLY RAISING THE RENT ON ME or evicting me" because you reported him to your local government agency. Let me tell you what will happen if you report him. Instead of dealing with you privately, he will get an inspection of his property and all sorts of things will likely be found "not to code". Perfectly acceptable things as well as whatever your primary issue is (you don't say), because this is how government works, to justify its existence.

Then, you will get notice from the Landlord to vacate because he now has been ordered to make all these repairs, and unless they are very minor, repairs are easier to make when a house is vacant. If they are minor, you look like a jerk for reporting them. If they are not, he will fix whatever it is and then you will go at the first opportunity.

Why don't you just write a letter with NONbelligerent language, requesting that the XXX be repaired and reiterating that you have requested this before and could he fix it at his earliest convenience?

I had a tenant who "issued demands" regularly for THREE YEARS and my place was in perfect condition, completely maintained at all times. Nothing ever suited this guy. I got complaint letters from him monthly with the rent check (which was always on time - until he lost his job and stiffed me - which is the ONLY reason I put up with him). He had all sorts of "special requirements", once requesting that I hire a lawn service to cut the grass around the trees because they "had roots". Um, yeah. Large trees have roots and all the OTHER tenants who have lived there managed just fine.

Never again. The new tenant loves everything about the place and is grateful for whatever I do for him, so guess what....he will be getting a larger gift card at Christmas than the other guy ever did. The other guy never once said thank you. I'll only be renting to the "attitude of gratitude" kind of person from now on.

I apologize for the spam that somehow happend and for this long post so anyways,

To StevenColorado [CO]: He is cheap from the stuff i have seen, just yesterday i saw 2 of his hired workers fixing the ceiling of the parking lot (there's a ramp that goes down and u enter the rest of the complex that way) for the i dunno 10th time? and ya ur right i wont be paying rent forever and the next guy/girl i rent from WILL hear on my history from the last landlord i was with with proof so my current landlord wont have much to stand on.

To Steve [FL]: get a life and on why i dont move? everyone has their reasons on why they haven't/have yet to move, ur a nobody to ask about that nor an examination on my life, to bored with your own life to put ur 2 cents on others?

To Elia [IN]: Ya i feel u there on several of ur posts but i do not think of LL's as "money-grubbing and rich" as u stated, i do not care about that at all, what i care about is fulfilling their part of the agreement, my word means alot to me and i have kept it for years with my LL. I dont think about the constant things that need repeairs in my apartment, my life is happy but when i see those problems rise up, i say something on it to my LL. i completely understand the notion of protecting urself first then the rest follows suit, but from many of these posters are pretty mean spirited getting cheap thrills off this post is pretty sad. My friend is a landlord from another apartment complex and he maintains it very well, alot of his tenants call him by name, and man thats respect but im not into doing any such business in anything on this, landlord and all. sorry :/

To RV [CT]): i have given him this site to see it for himself, wether he's gone here or not, i do not know. He hasn't done anything to those woods still but its still covered up by the stuff his workers put in place of it. thanks for the responsibilities for tenants and landlords, i done my end of that deal, but not the landlord which is why i have posted in the first place.

To SDlandlord [CA]): I've only read where i would need special permission from the gorverment agency IF there came a time where i needed a repair badly thus would ask for that permission to withold on paying the rent for that month or 2 depending on the cost of the repair, and im aware of the risk but the law says i cannot be penalized the goverment see's i need the permission to go ahead with such actions the LL would be breaking the law if he evicted me.

To bj [TN]): Im aware there's bad on both sides and ya i can move but i got my reasons and i do believe in people can change and as of yesterday it has, my LL came to fix my electric with a REAL electrician and got it fixed, now i dont have to worry about my pc getting fried by the power outages and my other electrical possessions altho my light bulb in my fridge blew out cuz of it.

To rcn [NH]): ur math is not good, and obviously i know my rights.

To Nancy [IN]): I'm a real poster and i'm not some former member. You taking what i wrote in text on this post too literally as if i haven't already done it in the first place, You should imagine then asses not ridicule, u must have had only bad tenants or something to say things like that, how do u believe demanding becomes a resort? after asking multiple times and thru time and frustration does the word demand come to being. IF you read correctly and followed up with my reason on why i would ask the things i said, you would know and not make me into the enemy or something as u are placing me, if i got permission from the goverment he cant evict me, is in th elaw and thats only in a matter where things kept turning bad to worse and thats where i was at when i original posted, read. Once more do u not believe i have done that? i have personally written a letter to him, he even asked me to make him a list of the things i needed repairs on himself, did the things get fixed? not all. was the worked satisfactory? nope, with a plastored ceiling and it keeps leaking, a replaced bathtub where the corner by the tub has no tiles where it use to be, pest infestation where i had to get rid of them myself and are now non-existent with my own $. Ah, the reason of you yourself being belligerent, thats your tenant, not me don't compare 1 bad tenant to the next, that tenant clearly frustrated you, now u can see how i have been when the repairs i need come to being.

Anyways, my electric gotten fixed thats the good news so i am not looking into doing what i originally thought about when i first asked, the LL has clearly noticed i need the things i asked turned to demand now and at the moment fixing the tiles by the bathtub so things are ok i guess, but still doesn't explain why they are still fixing the same spot in the ceiling in the parking lot, we'll see... to some of the mean spirited posters, have something to be more happy about and something to occupy your time and have fun doing it, there's good in us all, well most of us anyways have a good life everyone.

"ur a nobody to ask about that nor an examination on my life, to bored with your own life to put ur 2 cents on others?"

So what if the landlord is repairing the same thing over and over again in the parking lot? It's his building he can do what he wants. You don't have any right nor any reason to say a thing about it. It's none of your business.

You go all your repairs done. If they covered up rotting wood so what? Is your problem solved?

At least for the moment? The missing tiles is not a big thing. It's appearance only depending on where they are. Even with tiles off the area can be water tight. If in a area that doesn't get wet it's zero problem.

I don't know where you are getting this stuff.

"I've only read where i would need special permission from the gorverment agency IF there came a time where i needed a repair badly thus would ask for that permission to withold on paying the rent for that month or 2 depending on the cost of the repair,"

The court system does not work that way. You can only put your rent money into a excrow account. You must pay your rent money to the court every month until things are resolved. After you have followed a set procedure which is in the videos I posted for you.

You cannot deduct & repair anything that is more than one months rent, under the deduct and repair clause of CA law. You cannot dictate how a repair is done only the city inspector can dictate that.

You must give your LL written notice of repairs. He doesn't have to repair all of your requests only those that the law says he must.