LPT: Try to catch your landlord doing tours with potential new tenants and mention things they refuse to fix or improve.
Every single time whatever I needed fixed was done within the week!
Every single time whatever I needed fixed was done within the week!
You're lucky you didn't get evicted instead.
Most landlord types take the Lord part too far, and their fragile egos see any disagreement or conflict as personal assaults to their divinity.
I wish these "owners" would try lol
Unless you live in some redneck shit hole, you still have some rights if you pay rent in more civilized parts of the country.
New York City is the land of owners, and while there a ton of pro-tenant laws on the books, the reality is that they aren't worth the paper they are printed on if they won't ever be enforced in a way that isn't a burden to the tenant. So maybe your ignorant comment of "redneck shit holes" should be examined, and contextualized.
Try getting enforcing any tenant rights in the South...
At least in some parts of the country, you can go to the court and get a judge who will look at the facts and law.
This can be very effective, but pissing off your landleech is not without its risks.
More generally I might suggest learning your rights. If you live in the US, I might suggest Nolo Press’ website and books. Depending on where you live, you may be able to fully or partially withhold rent for failures to repair.
I don’t have much personal experience with this, but getting to know your co-tenants may also be useful. If you take this idea far enough, you may even be able to work as a bloc: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenants_union
I was really tempted to do this whenever I was grabbing coffee at the leasing office (my rent pays for that machine, I'm using it as much as I can), and there are potential tenants waiting in the receiving area. I unfortunately didn't have the balls to talk to them while the employees are sitting within earshot.
It's the employees/landlord that you're supposed to be talking to, not the prospective tenants.
You see them with prospective tenants and bring up the leaky roof, or bad ac, in the prospective tenants hearing. It puts the landlord in a bad light, right when they're trying to show only the good.
Ah right, I misread the post. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I didn't really have any major issues back then and the only thing I didn't like was the expensive rent and refusal to negotiate. Either way, I was already on my way out from that complex.