HOME Line Organizer, Eric Hauge, submitted a terrific opinion article to MinnPost (or click for PDF version) on needed prevention of disastrous living conditions that result from landlord negligence. City governments are taking serious action against landlords who fail to address major repairs and infestations, allowing their buildings and tenants’ living conditions to fall into squalor. By the time local governments take action, however, the question at hand is whether tenants are better off living in unsafe or unhealthy conditions, or are they better off displaced (leaving those most vulnerable in danger of homelessness). The answer Hauge asserts is that it should not come down to dire straits, but rather, there are other more preventative tools already available to local governments, and that legislation allowing tenants to screen prospective landlords should be passed. Preventing the situation from getting this bad would save money, time, and difficulties for all parties involved.
What else should tenants know?
Tenants who find themselves living in a building that has either been condemned by a city, or whose landlord’s license has been revoked, may not be obligated to pay rent. If the home has been condemned, the tenant may also request in writing to have their full security deposit returned to them within 5 days. Collecting this deposit could take some work a tenant’s part, however, possibly by taking the landlord to conciliation court. Because each situation is different, it is best for tenants to consult with an attorney (at HOME Line, Legal Aid, or other legal counsel) before deciding to withhold rent.
What else can tenants do?
Share with us your thoughts how screening your landlord before signing your lease would have helped you make a more informed (or different) decision about where you chose to live, or where you will choose to live next.
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I wish I had been able to screen my landlord. I’d have saved a year of frustration and about fifteen thousand dollars. Every penny of rent was a waste, I was stuck doing major repairs in a house that ended up being condemned. I could not “just move” like people who haven’t moved in a while think. I had to sue for essential services and by the time I got them my landlord did a retaliative eviction, which he got away with because his cousin was the judge. it was a nightmare and I am still not over it. I live in a town I can’t stand, now, and I’m afraid to leave because I have a good, ethical landlord. Slumlords are the rule rather than the exception, lately, it seems. I had a real doozy, and I know they aren’t ALL that bad…but telling the difference isn’t always easy. That’s why we need a screening service for tenants to check out landlords! Turns out my landlord was a super fraudster, perjurer, had been sued numerous times, and the IRS went after him big-time. If they can check out our credit, what about us? Meanwhile, this lying creep has my social security number, bank account…everything. He’s SUCH a lowlife, and so vindictive that for the longest time I was afraid of him. No one should have go through that, and pay to go through it!