Landlords... can't live near them, can't shoot them...

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Golddiggie

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Not really a drunken ramble, or mindless mumble, but I don't expect this would fit in any of the other categories...

As some of you may know, my landlord is a total *******. I also suspect he's bipolar since he'll agree to one thing (in the common areas) and then change his mind later. Or maybe he just has no honor (a serious possibility). Having learned that he was a bully during school (at least high school) explains a LOT.

I've been biding my time, waiting to see where I'll be working for the long term (I'm on an open ended contract right now in Quincy, MA) before looking for a new place. Simply put, I have possible jobs in NH and ME that I want to see if they're going to happen before I sign a lease on a new place. Well, now I'm planning to start looking at places in June with the intent of moving either in July or August. I know, not the best months to move, or do lots of outdoor activity, but I've pretty much had enough of him. The clincher, tonight, was when I got home from running errands after work to find he's moved my gas grill (I put a folding table behind it, folded up and against the porch railing, completely out of the way and not visible unless you really LOOK for it) and has put HIS F'ing recyle bin on the front porch. I'm not touching his recycle bin one bit. He's tossed enough of HIS crap into mine over the years.

While at work today I started calling EZ-storage places (or personal storage units) to find out how much for what sizes. I'll be going on Saturday (since they're not open early, or late enough for me to get there during the week) to get an unit. I plan on getting as much of my stuff out of the house and into that as I can (and don't need on a regular basis).

For history, he wasn't this bad when I moved in, back in April of 2001... Yes, I've been here for 11 years. Over the past couple of years he's been getting worse. It's bad enough that this is a one bedroom apartment. Or that I have stuff stored in the basement. Where I was told was my area, which (or course) he has changed around since I moved in. He's now got an metric ass-ton of crap in the basement, and outside of the garage (under an awning that he put up to keep the elements off of it). It's shortened the driveway (I have off-street parking since it's a residential neighborhood) which makes his parking of the LONG 'cargo' van more difficult. Especially when he has his Subaru in the driveway too. Whenever I have someone come over I have to tell them to park in front of the house, basically on the street, so we don't block ******* from getting in/out.

There's more things about him that make me want to take him out into the woods and have a 'hunting accident' with... Even though I would probably get a reward/medal for it, it's not worth the hassle. He's not worth the effort of figuring out what's going through his few brain cells these days.

Anyone else have a total *******/******-bag landlord that they're dealing with (or have had in the past)?? This one is, by far, the worst I've ever had. Well, he's turned into the worst, he wasn't so bad earlier.
 
have sex with his wife- you'll feel better.

She left him years ago... Got the house he built too. Think she was banging his dentist, or something like that. Maybe she got drilled better by him. :eek: lol

He was a contractor for a while, but was way too anal to actually get repeat customers. Especially when he would overbill on his time, since he would remake things just because he's anal about it. Wanting things perfect when trim was going to cover the minor gap anyway.

As for buying his crap... No thanks... I wouldn't want the house after what he's done to it, or rather NOT done to it.

He started to install a sky light in the bathroom several years ago (I forget when exactly). It's in, but it's not finished. To the point where I get a cold draft on my head, in the winter, when on the can.

I'm looking forward to moving out. I'm seriously thinking about telling him exactly what I think of him as I carry the final box/item out... He really should NOT be a landlord to anyone other than a little old lady that goes to bed at 8pm, and the only thing she'll do is bake cookies, and such, for him.

He gets nervous if I run the kitchen faucet for more than about 5 minutes, while doing dishes. He's run up the stairs more than a few times while I've been doing dishes in fact. He also made it so that there's no way for me to brew at home. Now it's looking like he's working his way to prevent me from using MY gas grill too. I'm going to be royally PISSED OFF if he tries to pull that one. It's bad enough that he has crap making it difficult to get to my grill when I want to use it. If he goes that extra step I'm going to rip him a new a-hole...

Oh, did I mention, the paint he used on the bedroom ceiling is peeling off since it wasn't the correct paint to cover what was there first... Yeah, large pieces of paint forever peeling off the ceiling in two large areas.
 
Don't tell him off when you leave. Don't say anything but goodbye. If you need a reference in the future, this guy plays a big role. Unless you just name one of your friends as your landlord for 11 years, then tell him to go eff himself. Then set a little fire in your... nevermind.
 
Oh yeah, I had a landlord (3 years ago) who charged me $250 when I left for a broken freezer door. The issue was that the fridge was from the late 70's to mid 80's. The freezer door was a 10 inches high by about 20 inches wide that was actually inside the refidgerator. You had to open the fridge door then open the tiny freezer door for the tiny freezer that got even smaller because it would ice up weekly and was just a ***** to defrost my whole fridge every week.

I did steal some copper and fishing lures out of his garage to make up for it when he didn't want to hear my argument about the relic I kept my food in.
 
I am confused. Are you sharing a living space with the landlord?

Also, if he told you certain areas were "yours" do you have a copy of the lease, which presumably delineates the living spaces you are entitled to? If so, he is probably in violation of the contract and you can seek compensation.
 
Another revolting twist in this... The jackass has started smoking again. So not only is he an *******, he's smoking cigs. I wouldn't care, IF he didn't smoke where it goes right into MY windows. Worst part is, cig smoke is one of my migraine triggers.

weirdboy, this is a two family house. He has the first floor, I have the second.

I'm just waiting for a the jobs I'm in the running for to go to someone before I move. I'd like to move someplace where it will make the commute to said new company easier/shorter/better. That being said, I'll be moving by the end of August at the latest. Or at least doing my best to make that happen. I am hopeful that one of the jobs I'm in the running for outside of MA happen. If the one in NH does, I'll be able to rent a freakin HOUSE for not much more than I'm paying now (for a 1 bedroom apartment, ~500 sq. ft.)... If the job in Maine happens, I'll be in pretty much the same position there (as in NH)... :D IF I stay in MA, I'll be looking to get either the first floor apartment in a multi-family or rent a house by itself/myself.
 
Trust me,in the native American side of my family,you couldn't kill him for average reasons without becoming an evil person. I've had one or two class A *****bag landlords that deserved at least to get tide to the ol' wippin post. Southern side of the family may likely have done worse. I had to get a restraining order against the last one. He'd pull stupid moves while I was away at work for 5-6 days at a time.
I let the lease run out & move again. Or by my own house. I couldn't take it anymore.
 
Nothing pi$$es off landlords more than a call to the local inspections office, especially if the inspector somehow knows where to look for code violations. ;)
 
Worcester's really nice

IF I get a job where living there makes sense, I'll be looking into it. I'd rather live in a smaller town though (hate cities with a passion). I'm seriously pulling for the jobs in either NH or ME though. I'm ready to leave MA behind... :rockin: I'm a masshole, I'm good at it, I'm just tired of it.
 
Easy to get tired of Mass depending on where you live. We spent a long time getting kids so we're moving them into a better school system. I'm trading my easy highway access, lower taxes and quick shopping. Worcester has a lot of benefits but not best place to raise kids.
 
Well, since it doesn't appear that jobs outside of MA are going to happen, I'm having to limit my search to where the commute to Quincy won't be murder. I checked out one place today in Woburn, but the bedroom(s) were far too small. They called it a two bedroom apartment, but the two rooms really should have been one. Plus, the attic space was not to be used as a bedroom (mention of fire hazard).

Schmegly did the final straw today. I left my window AC unit on today (installed it last night, finally), on economy mode, set to keep the place in the 80-85F range while I was at work. Basically, so that it wasn't an oven when I got home tonight. He called me up, at work, bitching about it. Making veiled threats with me leaving it running while I wasn't home, and wanting me to turn off my technology (computers and such) when not home during the hot days. For one thing, the one system I run has no hard drives in it, and generates very little heat. For another, I access it remotely during the daytime, so I need it running. I also need the items it uses to connect to the internet online during this time too. I got home to find out the jackass had flipped my breakers while I was away. I was so pissed off I was seeing red (the red of him being dismembered by all the people he's pissed off over the years, which is no small number).

As a result, I went to look at the rental in Woburn. Unfortunately, it won't work out for me. But, I have lines on a few more places to look at over the coming days. Either way, I'm out of this place come end of August (if all goes to plan). I have the funds to do this, so I'm doing it. I just need to locate a decent place, where I'll also be able to brew at home. I figure that anyplace that I can have a gas grill shouldn't have any issue with me also using the propane burners a couple of times a month. Especially since the Blichmann burners are so bloody quiet. :D
 
a long time ago i lived in an apt. the land"lady" was a real loser. no maintenance, no action on anything reported, including the second-story catwalk with a sagging floor around the 1 meter hole in the middle. at rent time, we had to take it to her house miles away. she opened the door with curlers in her hair, a drink in 1 hand, and a cigarette in the other hand at 7 in the morning. yep, i know, sounds like an english comedy. not funny living it... when me and my roommate left, we left without notice. when we were clearing out the frig, we took all the expendables you throw away.. eggs, milk, yesterday's coffee grounds from the coffee pot, mayo, etc, and made a fine cocktail of it, cut off the top of a milk jug, dumped it in, and left it under the sink behind the pipes. it was summer...
 
lumpher, that's just nasty... On all counts...

I have told jackass several times about the water drip inside the fridge (from the freezer) which he has yet to do anything about. There's also the partially finished skylight in the bathroom that he started putting in, but never finished inside (cold air blasts my shaved skull in the fall, winter and spring). There's more, but not really worth going into.

I'm going to take the high ground and give notice, once I've located my new place. I'm looking forward to moving in the extreme now. Plus, I plan to contact the housing inspector to report the violations I've been living with these past years. The biggest one, IMO, is the lack of a second (or emergency) exit from the place. If a fire blocked the only exit I have, I'd have to jump out a window to get out.
 
I would have sent all requested in writing copied, dated and certified carrier (i know he lives below you ;)). Hopefully you get out of there soon!
 
I'm aggressively looking for a new place to live. I've sent several emails about places posted just today.

Thing that really urks me (to put it mildly) is he has the nerve to flip the breakers for my part of the house. All over a window AC unit (I bought it a few years back, so it's pretty efficient) That I JUST put into the window Sunday evening. I went through all the heat waves/pops without it. I had enough and decided to be comfortable sleeping for the next few evenings, and not have the place be a sauna when I got home. He takes issue at the AC running when I'm not there. Doesn't matter that it's on economy mode. Since it could push 100 tomorrow, it's going to be on again. Anyone with any decency to them wouldn't begrudge me running the AC these few days. Especially since I didn't run it at all last summer.

I need to check, but I'm pretty sure that he cannot turn off my breakers (legally) like this. If I can get confirmation on that, I'll be filing papers on him as I'm moving out.

I just hope I don't need to use him as a reference for the next place. That would really suck, since I get the feeling he would be nasty just to bugger my chances of going to a better place. He's that petty and small. Hell he even begrudges the next door neighbor paying off his girlfriend's car for her (he's making good money, and she deserves it), as well as replacing his sheitbox vehicle for something new. Doesn't matter that the guy works hard to earn his money. Of course, my landlord no longer works hard for a living, unless you count loading a box truck (Uhaul style) to hawk his crap at the local fairs and such. He went from being a contractor into selling old junk he gets from estate (or yard) sales on ebay and such. I've not seen any of the 'friends' he used to have visit him, around in some time. I suspect that they cannot stand him anymore, just like me.

Soon to be counting the days to when I won't need to deal with this jackass anymore. :D :ban: :rockin:
 
Good luck man, I hope you find a decent place with a decent landlord.

The last place we rented from was a hell hole. The landlord (a company, not just an individual) wouldn't fix ANYTHING in the house. We took pictures of the mold growing in the bathroom from the nasty, broken, groutless tile job they did, and sent them in with a request for it to be fixed. They didn't do anything, so we ended up taking care of the mold ourselves with a ton of bleach, and caulking everything in sight.

The neighbor who lived above us was a major jackass. I don't know what (if anything) he did for a living, but he'd come home at 3-4am, slamming doors, yelling every step up to his 3rd floor loft, turn his stereo on full blast playing Metallica or Janis Joplin, then pass out drunk with the stereo on repeat. We had to call the cops on him about every other week, for over a year. Usually, when they showed up, the keys would still be hanging in the door handle, and the door would be standing wide open. They never did anything about it though. The ONE time that I went up stairs and asked if he could please not blast his stereo when he got home that late my girlfriend and I had to get up at 6:30am for work, he came storming down the stairs after me with a baseball bat threatening to beat me to death, and dented in our apartment door with it. Called the cops, they didn't do anything.

Apparently, at some point, ******* upstairs moved out (we were SOOOO freaking happy, we threw a party). Place went empty for about 3 months. Then one day, I get a call at work from my gf (on a Saturday), that it was "raining" in our bedroom. I rush home, and when I get there, it was literally raining in our bedroom. Water was dripping from all over the ceiling, and running down the ceiling fan and dripping off the light. We attempted to move furniture around so it wouldn't get wet, but by that time it was too late. We couldn't get into the basement to turn off our electric to try to avoid a fire (locked, and only landlord has key), and we couldn't get upstairs to figure out where the water was coming from (no tenant). We called the emergency line for the landlord, but it took them about 5 hours to even call us back. Then another couple hours before someone bothered to show up.

Turns out the water heater upstairs had blown out, and the landlord hadn't bothered to turn off the water. Brilliant.

We filed a claim with the landlord for all our damaged stuff (2 dressers, queen sized bed, an armoire, and a 250 year old, antique chest that was a family heirloom). We got a $300 check in the mail, a month after threatening to take them to court when they refused to pay up. The check was for a new queen sized bed, but only that, because it was the only piece of furniture we had a receipt for.

As for fixing the water issue? They repainted the ceiling, and vacuumed the carpet. That was it. We moved out 2 weeks after we got the check. And then they denied us our security deposit (2 months rent) because there was "water damage in the apartment bedroom"...

Can you believe that ****?
 
Sounds like a court case to me. Renters insurance is a great thing to have too. And it's always a good idea to take lots of photos of ALL your stuff and store it in a safe deposit at a bank so you can prove that you owned stuff, even if it isn't listed with the insurance company. Which reminds me we need to make a list and take photos ourselves.

And I highly doubt your landlord can flip breakers legally. Unless you have a statement in your rental contract that says he can. He is denying your right to a common utility, which could cause expenses in lost food items, or dangerous or deadly to anything/person in the apartment.

I am not generally a retaliatory person, but I do delight in thinking up some nasty things. I love the idea of rotten eggs and or fish stashed in clever areas.

And I am not sure you are aware of them, but Thinkgeek has these things called ANNOYATRONS that you could hide in his apartment that will drive him absolutely bonkers! Just have to figure out how to get them in there. They make beeps and other sounds at random times. He'll be tearing his place apart trying to find them! They are especially fun when you can carve a hollow into the top of a ceiling tile and stick it in there. Even if he checks above the ceiling, they are hard to spot.
 
Yeah, I've had more than my share of horrible landlords too. In each case, when I moved in, the landlord was good, and in each, they sold the building to someone else who was the problem.

In one, the building had a violent junkie and friends that threatened people at all hours, then when people left out of fear, the LL (lawyer) charged 2-3 months rent, payable immediately or be sued. Other highlights were ice in the sink in winter (because heat was "included"), general disrepair.

Bad LL #2 was a "developer" who wanted all the tenants out so she could convert the place to condos. She fired and evicted the super who had been there 30 years, then hired an ex-con (literally) to make the tenants want to leave. Also, magically, all deposits were "not applicable."

Bad LL #3 had an insane amount of rules and used the damage deposit to force tenants to obey rules that they had never agreed to in the lease.

Bad LL #4 played games with the deposit and refused to fix ANYthing.

No more LL's though for me.
 
As a landlord I wholeheartedly support this thread. I inherited a house and the family living there kept up the repairs for the last ~10 years or so but I flew out to check up on it and was aghast. Not at them but at the state of the house which needs repairs more than they are able to afford. The guy living there didn't want to make a big deal since he thought I'd be overwhelmed but he and I made a plan dictating when certain immediate repairs would be made. All told it's going to be around 7000 to fix the place up to where I'm sure they'll be ok. Just because you're a landlord doesn't mean you have to act like one.
 
I had an opportunity to meet a good landlord on Thursday evening. It was nice to see the difference compared with my current on. If the place had been located more in line with where I'm going after jobs it would have been a slam dunk.

Last night (I was in Maine for an IT event) I was introduced to a rep from a hospital in Bangor that is looking for someone with my skills/abilities. They'll be looking to act fast (after this coming week, since he's on vacation right now) so I'm not going to kick off looking more until I've gone through the processes for that role. I could, finally, be getting a perm job in an area where I really want to love. :ban: :rockin:
 
Well, the coward slipped a note under my door tonight... Basically he says from my attitude (he's got some balls, or delusions here) in talking with him, that he thinks I'm not happy there (duuuhhhh) and wants me out in two months. This was after he wanted me to back my vehicle up, AS I parked it (in the spot I park in every day) so he could get his second car out. Meanwhile, he has a monster of a van next to his subaru that he could have moved so that he could get out without me doing anything. He probably could have gotten out if he bothered to park smart (there I go again). Anyway, he called me a c**t, again, and I think he was shocked that I was pissed off at that. I told him (in the driveway, as I was backing up my truck) that if he called me that again there would be trouble.

I have a job interview being scheduled (in this area) for the second half of the week. I've also sent the person up in Bangor another message since he's back from vacation now. If that job doesn't show traction this week, I'll have to assume it's going to take too long.

I'm already sick of how he treats me as a third class citizen. Had I wanted to, I could have moved into a place where I would have been welcomed (it was too close to Boston for my liking, and no lawn, just pavement, and a garden in the back area). I fully expect to be looking at places either in this area come next week, and signing a lease either that week, or the following. Or I'll be getting a place up in the Bangor, ME area. I'm seriously pulling to get up into Maine. I'll gladly leave all the Massholes behind in the process. :D
 
Time to call the inspectors now.

I'm planning on taking the 'high road' for most of the time I'm still at this place. But, I'm now first in line for a duplex being renovated that sounds great. Has gas cooking (super important for me), a walk-out basement, which should work just fine for brewing, and such. Won't be able to see it until later in the week since it's still being worked on. Going to drive by it today to check it out though.

Itching to get into a new place so that I can brew at home. Plus have the freedom to do as I want without worrying about a yakass under me complaining.
 
my worst was the one who stopped making mortgage payments on the house we were renting and lost the home to the bank while we were living in it. although the 9 months of rent free living while it worked it's way through the courts was nice:mug:
 

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