Landlord Won’t Listen To Tenant And Fix Stove For $500, Pays $10K Instead
Interview With Author
Ever put a task on the back burner only for it to come back and burn you? Sorry about the puns, but with a story like this, even I can’t contain myself.
Redditor u/_IamAllan_ shared how the only thing he wanted was to live in a safe apartment, but his landlord would not comply with his requests to fix a busted stove for a mere $500. After some back and forth, he became fed up with him and called safety inspectors. Let’s just say the landlord paid a bit more to get the stove fixed after that.
More info: Reddit
Dealing with landlords is always a pain – living under them, you never feel like the man of your own castle
Image credits: Kim Siever (not the actual photo)
The poster was renting and had difficulties reaching the back burners of the stove, as the closer one was broken
Image credits: _IamAllan_
He asked the landlord to fix it, but he did it in a slapdash and dangerous way, so the poster called the inspectors after a few more attempts with the LL
Image credits: _IamAllan_
The inspectors found around 80 violations, fined the landlord for $10k, and OP moved out not long after, as their relationship had soured
Long story short, the beef between the original poster (OP) and the landlord (LL) started when a burner on the stove OP was using broke. It was inconvenient for the poster to use the other burners, citing having “short hands.”
LL repaired the burner with a quick and dirty fix, and it was okay for a couple of years until it started breaking again. OP suggested fixing it, even finding cheap options to do so.
The landlord stubbornly refused, so the poster just called safety inspectors, who found loads of violations and ended up costing the LL $10k.
After this, LL tried harassing the tenant, telling him he was being evicted in 60 days, but OP just moved to a nice studio apartment in 6 weeks on his own.
Bored Panda reached out to the poster of this story, _IamAllan_, for some additional details and they graciously responded.
If you were wondering whether the landlord attempted to get OP to pay for the fines, it turns out that the landlord didn’t, as they were leaving the apartment very soon. The Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) also may have told LL that it wasn’t the tenant’s responsibility.
“Overall, it was about 70% ok, 30% not ok,” Allan said about their relationship with LL overall. They lived above OP and another tenant and weren’t quite aware of their responsibilities, being rude and disrespectful to the tenants.
“He tried to use a piece of paper as a lease, and I demanded a real lease that I found online, filled out, and got him to sign. I had to buy a receipt book, so he’d give me a receipt.”
Image credits: PunkToad (not the actual photo)
He mentions that he should’ve left, but it was nice having a cheap room in a decent location while being on Ontario Works (a financial assistance, benefits and employment assistance program).
The poster believes that a lot of his and LL’s conflicts were caused by a language barrier as LL had bad English, while OP didn’t know Mandarin, his landlord being Chinese. LL had fixed the stove with inadequate gauge wire in 2014, but a year later in 2015 the burner would spark when used. OP refused to let LL “fix” it or let their relative do the job if they weren’t certified.
“I tried to explain the laws,” OP continued, “I don’t think he understood when I warned him about the laws, inspectors etc. OR thought I wouldn’t go through with it.”
At this point, having an annoying landlord at least once in your life seems like some kind of ancestral memory all of us share. They paint over things without mercy, hike up the rent without cause or compassion, and worst of all – they’ll fight tooth and nail not to give you your deposit back.
On the flipside, there are some pretty awful tenants out there who’ll refuse to pay up on time while trashing the place in the process. But what if you’re still dealing with a headache of a landlord? Can you even do something about it?
Casita, who strive to make accommodation for students easy, have some suggestions on what to do if you just can’t find common ground with your landlord.
They emphasize being honest with them, as starting off on the right foot is quite important. You should also be polite and patient, as you’re unlikely to get anywhere otherwise (but your patience should have its limits!).
Image credits: daveynin (not the actual photo)
You should also make sure that you’ve covered all your bases – you’ve paid your rent and looked over your lease. Ensure that you haven’t done and don’t plan to do anything that violates your lease, as that could lead to legal troubles.
Then you should know your rights and the law governing landlord-tenant responsibilities. It’s also important to get things in writing – promises, agreements, rent increases, everything. When you’ve studied up about your case, it may be time to initiate legal action against your landlord.
Search for resources in your local area that would help you with the proceedings – whether it would be filing a formal complaint to the housing board, or something even more serious.
For example, in OP’s case, evicting him after the inspector visit could be considered retaliation and is punishable by law, depending on the lease. If that wasn’t enough, as the landlord and his wife were living above OP, they’d also stomp as hard as they could when walking around, just to spite him.
The poster’s story got more than 5k upvotes and around 150 comments. The comments were joking that LL was just waiting for more legal action by evicting OP, because of the mentioned retaliation. Others’ minds were boggled at why the landlord wouldn’t just fix that darn burner and would allow this to happen.
If you’re thirsty for more stories about trashy landlords, Bored Panda has got your back! Here’s a list of tenants maliciously following landlords’ orders to teach them a lesson and a particularly spicy story about a lady getting her revenge on her landlord for setting up tours without her permission.
Commenters were in support of the poster and laughed at the landlord’s costly blunder
Image credits: Allan Henderson (not the actual photo)
246Kviews
Share on Facebook
Had a landlord that was worse. There are slumlords, and there are slumlords. This guy was a scumlord. He wouldn't repair the leaky roof (which eventually caused the ceiling in my bedroom to violently collapse). He wouldn't repair the central heating (it took an electric fireplace and an electric heater to keep the front area of the house warm). While I was undergoing chemo, he had one of his friends move in with the sole purpose of making the living situation so unbearable that I would be forced to move out (it didn't work). He tried to have the water cut off while I was still in the home, had a realtor in my bedroom taking pictures WITHOUT PRIOR NOTIFICATION, sold the house without my knowledge, attempted to have me vacate the premises within two months, and kept showing up to remove his belongings without giving 24 hours' notice, as required by law. All of this was--and is--illegal in my city. Yeah, they're out there.
Had a landlord that was worse. There are slumlords, and there are slumlords. This guy was a scumlord. He wouldn't repair the leaky roof (which eventually caused the ceiling in my bedroom to violently collapse). He wouldn't repair the central heating (it took an electric fireplace and an electric heater to keep the front area of the house warm). While I was undergoing chemo, he had one of his friends move in with the sole purpose of making the living situation so unbearable that I would be forced to move out (it didn't work). He tried to have the water cut off while I was still in the home, had a realtor in my bedroom taking pictures WITHOUT PRIOR NOTIFICATION, sold the house without my knowledge, attempted to have me vacate the premises within two months, and kept showing up to remove his belongings without giving 24 hours' notice, as required by law. All of this was--and is--illegal in my city. Yeah, they're out there.
86
13