Landlords who just don't get it

[MadMike]

Speaking of landlords, I'm not real happy with mine right now because they won't allow me to write personal checks for rent ever again, because I bounced my rent check back in November.

For one bounced check??? Damn!

It happens even to the best of us once in awhile. People do make mistakes. I think I've bounced two checks in my lifetime, which unfortunately were both rent checks, but not at the same place. The one was toward the end of 1990, and the other I think was in 1997 or so. Both times, I simply miscalculated.

But on the bright side, it looks like I haven't bounced a check in roughly 10 years now (knock on wood.)

[KellyHabersham]

Well, it may or may not have something to do with the fact that I'm on a month-to-month lease, and I definitel shouldn't have been so overdrawn in my bank account in the first place. But yeah, I do think that's kind of harsh considering that it was the first time that had ever happened with rent.....had a few checks bounce for other things, but not often.

[Sofar]

At least y'all have landlords what aren't criminally stupid. Our house has ancient wiring, it actually predates the house. This style of wiring was obsolete when the house was built some ninety years ago. We have no grounded outlets. So we tell our landlord, "We need grounded electricity. We have a lot of sensitive computer equipment that won't survive a power surge." And she says, "What's grounded electricity?" We had to explain it to her, and she still thinks an upgrade would be a waste of money. Not only that, but when we moved in we found that the house had no circuit breakers, (which are now required by the city,) only an old fuse box. Inside, we found that every fuse but one had been replaced by a copper wire, thoroughly defeating its purpose.

[Banrion]

Sofar: Call the housing department and/or fire department in your area for an inspection. If it is that far out of code, you could have grounds to stop paying rent until it's fixed.

[Andara Bledin]

At least y'all have landlords what aren't criminally stupid. Our house has ancient wiring, it actually predates the house. This style of wiring was obsolete when the house was built some ninety years ago. We have no grounded outlets.

We rented a place once that had no ground wires. We actually put in a ground and reworked some of the outlets so we could run our computers. The wiring in our last place was more modern, but the way it was done was awful. It was obviously designed before there were much in the way of electronics in the kitchen.

^-.-^

[protege]

The wiring in our last place was more modern, but the way it was done was awful. It was obviously designed before there were much in the way of electronics in the kitchen.

Several outlets in my house were like that. A few had been converted to 3-prong (grounded) outlets, but most weren't. Nearly all of them have since been swapped...since many of the older ones weren't wired correctly. At least one had been wired backwards, and one wasn't even grounded Gotta love 6-pack engineering at its finest!

[KellyHabersham]

True it is that my landlord isn't criminally stupid, just that the least complicated way for me to get money orders is from the bank, and I never know when I'm going to get a teller who gives me a hard time if I can't immediately show picture ID, don't have my bank account number memorized,....etc.

[Catwoman2965]

Oh i've had a couple real winners for landlords - my second apt, in a house, with 3 other apts. Third floor, which had been converted from an attic into an apt. My landlord was cheap, cheap in that he wouldn't spend a penny on any repairs but was a do-it-yourselfer...

Which, in some cases, was fine. He could re-wire a light, etc. and do basic maintenance and repairs, but would rather fix something 900 times, not necessarily the right way, than spend the small amount of money to fix it.

Two incidents come to mind - one year, late summer, i notice bees in my apt. So i call him...to make a long story short, he finds a nest UNDER the siding, in the front of the house. Now, its not outside, where you can see it, but underneath. So he decides he can take care of it, drills a hole, puts in a bomb, and lets it rip. Fine, it kills the bees, however, it also scatters them into the wall voids! where they remain for about the next 3 weeks - leaving my kitchen unusable. And i would call him every day and say "Frank, there are more bees, i killed x number today" - his response was "well, i sat in your kitchen for half an hour today, and saw none" - well, yes, if you are there DURING THE DAY - when the bees are out, you won't see any! But come back at dusk, and they all come home.

According to several exterminators WE the tenants called, what he should have done was call someone, who would use a powder, which the bees take back to the nest, and when they touch it, they will all die. Total cost: about $150. But no, he hated spending any money - as a result, the house is practically falling apart. i think he thinks when he goes to sell, based on the location he will get quite a bit for it. maybe if it was in good shape, but since he won't do any repairs other than what's absolutely necessary, he is in for a rude awakening!

[protege]

But no, he hated spending any money - as a result, the house is practically falling apart. i think he thinks when he goes to sell, based on the location he will get quite a bit for it. maybe if it was in good shape, but since he won't do any repairs other than what's absolutely necessary, he is in for a rude awakening!

Quite a few people think like that. For example, when I was house shopping, there were several properties in my price range...and they were all dumps. The worst one was on a dead-end street, and the owner was letting it fall apart.

From the outside, it didn't appear too bad. but, once inside, you could tell that they weren't taking care of it. Walking through that place was pretty bad--you could feel the floorboards moving. There were rooms with no lights, but holes in the ceiling, and wires where they were; nasty stained carpet; peeling paint everywhere, puddles on the (carpeted) basement floor, and just junk all over the place.

Outside, the yard wasn't much better--rusty patio furniture, car parts, and a beat-up A/C unit. Oh, and the front steps would wobble if you stepped on them.

The owner of that shack wasn't willing to negotiate--at the time, you'd have to dump about $30,000 (roughly a third of the asking price!) into it just to make it *liveable* Needless to say, I didn't bother trying to get more info on that one.

[Sofar]

There were rooms with no lights, but holes in the ceiling, and wires where they were; nasty stained carpet; peeling paint everywhere, puddles on the (carpeted) basement floor, and just junk all over the place.

I never understood why landlords are always covering things in carpet. It only serves to immortilize spills. I hate carpet.

Several outlets in my house were like that. A few had been converted to 3-prong (grounded) outlets, but most weren't.

A lot of older two-prong outlets are also grounded, grounded electricty has been the standard for a while. Older grounded appliances have not a three prong plug but two prongs and a little wire. Tuck the wire under the screw in the middle of the outlet plate, that connects it to the grounding wire. Unfortunately, we checked and ours aren't connected to anything.

[Catwoman2965]

Reminds me of my first apt; converted second floor of a house, but cheap, and all utils included. Little did i know until after i moved in that each room had exactly ONE outlet...all against the inside walls. kitchen had two, but the fridge took one, and the second one was above the kitchen sink.

So i alternated the coffee maker, etc. in the one remaining outlet, and my a/c in the bedroom - since the window was on the opposite wall, had a heavy duty extension cord, which went under my bed. I'm lucky the house didn't catch on fire (although my 94 year old landlady forgetting to turn the stove off almost did several times) She was the reason i finally moved; unfortunately she was losing it mentally, and sadly, passed away about 6 mos after i left.

[blas]

I feel so lucky.

There are no less than 3 outlets in every room, except for 2 in the kitchen and 1 in the bathroom.

There are two cable outlets in the living room and one of the bedrooms. There's one cable outlet in my bedroom. And they ALL work!

At the ghetto apartment, only the cable outlet in the livingroom and the one in roomate's room worked.