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landlord charging for basic repairs in apartments

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landlord charging for basic repairs in apartments

Postby noose4 » Wed Oct 31, 2007 9:23 pm

i live in a former mitchell llama building that still has section 8 people along with market renters, the former mitchell llama people were given a deal where they would stay at current rent with an 8% increase each year until they reach market rent, currently the landlord has started charging tenants for basic repairs, $10 for a clogged sink and other such type charges. my situation in this manner is that last winter i had a window broken, it is the type where there is an inner and outer pane of glass, the window was repaired and the landlord wants to now charge me over 300 dollars for the repair, they are claiming that the window was broken from inside my apartment and they are going so far as having the super of the building lie stating that the outer pane of glass was only cracked when it was in fact broken with a hole in it. i am going crazy over this situation, i refuse to pay and if taken to court i am willing to pay more for a lawyer than pay what they are asking for the repair of the window. any body have any insight or thoughts about this situation?
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Postby jkgal » Thu Nov 01, 2007 9:18 am

Greetings,

Did you read your lease verbiage carefully? Do you have a lease rider which states that basic repairs are to be charged for? If not, maybe point this out to LL and say you'd like to avoid court costs (s/he'll have them for sure), but have a winnable case since there's nothing stated in the lease about such costs. However, I'm definitely not a lawyer, and there may be much more here, as regards your former mitchell lama status, which I know nothing about. I'm coming at your query from the perspective of a RS tenant.
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Postby noose4 » Thu Nov 01, 2007 1:24 pm

jkgal wrote:Greetings,

Did you read your lease verbiage carefully? Do you have a lease rider which states that basic repairs are to be charged for? If not, maybe point this out to LL and say you'd like to avoid court costs (s/he'll have them for sure), but have a winnable case since there's nothing stated in the lease about such costs. However, I'm definitely not a lawyer, and there may be much more here, as regards your former mitchell lama status, which I know nothing about. I'm coming at your query from the perspective of a RS tenant.


we recently had a tenants association meeting where it was pointed out that the landlord charging for repairs is illegal, my situation is that the super of the building is lying about the situation trying to make it look like it was my fault that the window was broken thus putting the responsibility to pay onto me.
noose4
 
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Postby jkgal » Thu Nov 01, 2007 1:58 pm

Greetings,

Do you think the management office even knows the super wants to charge you for these things? Do you think S is trying to make a quick buck? To whom is the super lying - you? Or, is s/he actually communicating with management, which would be unlikely if s/he's trying to get paid under the table. Just a thought. I know, cynical. But, experienced.
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Postby Cranky Tenant » Thu Nov 01, 2007 2:14 pm

Did the super do the repair or did they call a window company? Did you get the name? You might want to check with several window repair services to see how much they normally charge for a similar repair. Modern windows are modular and $300 sounds like an awful lot of money to simply replace the part.
I'm a cranky tenant NOT a cranky lawyer.
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Postby noose4 » Sat Nov 03, 2007 1:31 pm

jkgal wrote:Greetings,

Do you think the management office even knows the super wants to charge you for these things? Do you think S is trying to make a quick buck? To whom is the super lying - you? Or, is s/he actually communicating with management, which would be unlikely if s/he's trying to get paid under the table. Just a thought. I know, cynical. But, experienced.


he is acting on behalf of the management, i spoke with them.
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Postby noose4 » Sat Nov 03, 2007 1:32 pm

Cranky Tenant wrote:Did the super do the repair or did they call a window company? Did you get the name? You might want to check with several window repair services to see how much they normally charge for a similar repair. Modern windows are modular and $300 sounds like an awful lot of money to simply replace the part.


good idea.
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