A problem in my life.

[tarvos 6]

Dont know where exactly to start, so I will just give some background information, then probably jump around a little, and hopefully you will figure this out.

So I live in this crappy aprtment that has leaks in the roof, rusty bath tub, broken refridgerator, checkered tile floor, and a windows that cant be opened. Im living here with 2 of my best friends. We have a steady flow of visitors, and generally have at least one person crashing on the living room floor.

The problem is that I, being the name on the old lease that was not renewed, recieved an electric bill for 414 dollars. The last months was about 320. They generally average at round about 120. The water bill wasnt as high, but was definately higher. It said we used 17000 gallons, and the month before was 14100. I then checked under the house, and bam, a leak. I then concluded it was my water heater, seeing as it would be running up both of these bills.

I contacted the landlord. He is a foreign guy from lebanon or someplace. He has told me before that he doesnt spend money on our building so he can keep the prices low. He replaced our water heater and the pipes immediatley next to it, which had gunk and rust build up from over 50 years of use. The pipe was about a quarter round, and had a hole for water to go through that was less than a pencil size around.

So he fixed the problem, but I am still stuck with these bills. So I wrote a letter which I provided with my rent payment. It stated, more or less, That I would deduct from the rent payment the amount in excess billing, which was caused by a leak that wasnt my fault and/or my responsibility. I had done calculations and was very fair about the amount. There is also a tool on the power companies website which estimates your next months bill amount from past billing history, and my total was 20 dollars more than that. So I was very fair about it.

I also said that the next bill I recieved would have an excess charge due to the leak, since it was fixed in the middle of the billing period. So I would be deducting from the next months rent payment that amount which was excessively charged on the bills.

They replied by kicking us out, and giving us 30 days to vacate the premises. Is isnt bad timing, since I am deciding community college isnt my deal, and wanting to move to a totally new city. Im am really mad at this whole situation, as we had a really nice group of people in my building. We would all drink on the front steps and play poker and turn music loud and have block parties and skate and surf and pretty much everything.

I dont know what direction I want my life to go, I just want my job to force me to be active. Im very lazy, and need a job that can motivate me to travel and enjoy life outside of my building and group of friends.

Sorry for the long ass rant and rave, but thanks for letting me vent. Im so mad im laughing right now. Thats when you know youve psycho mode.

I will check this tommorrow morning, but for now, its all sparks and mich ultras and whatever else my neighbors bought.

[Buster]

Well I really dont know what to say.. There are times when sapy word do not help...and just make thing worst... so I guess I really even shouldnt be posting right now...

[stryker]

Go see Pursuit of Happyness.

Good luck finding a new place and a job that rocks.

[Lonely Tylenol]

Either file a small claims suit against the landlord (for excess billing and damages done) or move away. If you're going to file the suit, make sure you've got a case or you'll just end up losing more money.

Ultimately, the landlord sounds like a jackass, but you shouldn't have to deal with him. Besides, sounds like there are many better places to live, no offense. :)

[tarvos 6]

Ive seen that movie. My dad, had me and my brother, and we went through times where we rented an old welding warehouse and lived in it. The bathroom didnt work, so we walked across the highway to the gas station. Hes the best dad in the world, and was almost the exact same guy in that movie, but he didnt end up rich.

[Buster]

Ive seen that movie. My dad, had me and my brother, and we went through times where we rented an old welding warehouse and lived in it. The bathroom didnt work, so we walked across the highway to the gas station. Hes the best dad in the world, and was almost the exact same guy in that movie, but he didnt end up rich.

NOOOOOOOOO!!!! You just spoiled the movie....T-T

[TeXaS LoNgHoRnS]

Well...im glad that im still in my sophmore year of high school, and still living at home

[tarvos 6]

Stay in highschool. It hits you hard when your on top of the world as a senior, then BAM, you gotta start life. It hit me hard, and im still knocked out.

[stryker]

he didn't ruin anything Buster, he's talking about his own life. If you didn't know that the guy gets rich in the end then you are borderline clueless.

[Jaymee_]

If I were you I would consult a lawyer. In most cases the first consultation is free and then you can find out if you have a case or not. If you win the court case the landlord will be required to pay your legal fees.

What this man did to you is not fair. I empathize with your situation.

[AlabamaBoy]

Move to alabama :p everything is cheap, everyone is tan, and everyone talks in funny accents [me included so iv been told]

[Buster]

If you didn't know that the guy gets rich in the end then you are borderline clueless.


I have known nothing about the movie beside the part that the guy has a hard life...But now I know it all...

[stryker]

The real life guy has been interviewed on TV multiple times where he explains the whole thing. And all movies are predictable these days.

[Buster]

The real life guy has been interviewed on TV multiple times where he explains the whole thing. And all movies are predictable these days.

Yea I know And I have liked most of Will Smiths Movies so I wanted to see this no spoils even if they came from Will himself... So I did not watch it...

But Who cares? This is tarvos 6 thread.. And I sound really petty right now... sorry tarvos 6.

[R G]

Dont know where exactly to start, so I will just give some background information, then probably jump around a little, and hopefully you will figure this out.

So I live in this crappy aprtment that has leaks in the roof, rusty bath tub, broken refridgerator, checkered tile floor, and a windows that cant be opened. Im living here with 2 of my best friends. We have a steady flow of visitors, and generally have at least one person crashing on the living room floor.

If you wanted the place fixed then you should have sent a letter to the landlord certified mail to have the place repaired....especially the leaky roof...since it would be in his best interest to have this repaired to prevent further damage to the structure. If he did not respond in 30 days you tell him that you will have it repaired and will deduct the amount from his rent. The biggest problem with that though is that you really should have a valid lease on the building to "have a leg to stand on".

The problem is that I, being the name on the old lease that was not renewed, recieved an electric bill for 414 dollars. The last months was about 320. They generally average at round about 120. The water bill wasnt as high, but was definately higher. It said we used 17000 gallons, and the month before was 14100. I then checked under the house, and bam, a leak. I then concluded it was my water heater, seeing as it would be running up both of these bills.

Not sure if I understand...Is the person on the lease living in the apartment at all? If not then the good news is that you are not legally responsible for any of the utility bills. It would be a rotten thing to do, but the utility company would have to hunt down the person who the utilities are listed.

I would also recommend you talk to the water company about the issue and often they will take off the sewer amount of the water bill, assuming sewer and water are on your water bill. This alone would cut your water bill by more than half in most cases. They will ask for a copy of the repair bill or some receipts from a home repair store usually, but they usually do this especially when your water usage is generally the same from month to month.

I contacted the landlord. He is a foreign guy from lebanon or someplace. He has told me before that he doesnt spend money on our building so he can keep the prices low. He replaced our water heater and the pipes immediatley next to it, which had gunk and rust build up from over 50 years of use. The pipe was about a quarter round, and had a hole for water to go through that was less than a pencil size around.

So he fixed the problem, but I am still stuck with these bills. So I wrote a letter which I provided with my rent payment. It stated, more or less, That I would deduct from the rent payment the amount in excess billing, which was caused by a leak that wasnt my fault and/or my responsibility. I had done calculations and was very fair about the amount. There is also a tool on the power companies website which estimates your next months bill amount from past billing history, and my total was 20 dollars more than that. So I was very fair about it.

Unfortunately for you the responsiblity of the wasted water is yours from the meter on the street to your apartment. As ridiculous as it might sound the landlord does not make you have running water to the apartment....that is your choice. He is only responsible for the pipes and fixtures that feed your apartment when they should happen to fail.

If you can get the water bill cut in half then your should consider yourself lucky.

I would suggest renting a place where the rent includes water next time to avoid problems like this.

I also said that the next bill I recieved would have an excess charge due to the leak, since it was fixed in the middle of the billing period. So I would be deducting from the next months rent payment that amount which was excessively charged on the bills.

They replied by kicking us out, and giving us 30 days to vacate the premises. Is isnt bad timing, since I am deciding community college isnt my deal, and wanting to move to a totally new city. Im am really mad at this whole situation, as we had a really nice group of people in my building. We would all drink on the front steps and play poker and turn music loud and have block parties and skate and surf and pretty much everything.

I dont know what direction I want my life to go, I just want my job to force me to be active. Im very lazy, and need a job that can motivate me to travel and enjoy life outside of my building and group of friends.

Sorry for the long ass rant and rave, but thanks for letting me vent. Im so mad im laughing right now. Thats when you know youve psycho mode.

I will check this tommorrow morning, but for now, its all sparks and mich ultras and whatever else my neighbors bought.

Look at it as a lesson from the School of Hard Knocks....it might also be a sign that you should follow out what you really want to do in life anyway, since you already felt that community college was not for you.

[Tama Drummer]

Stay in highschool. It hits you hard when your on top of the world as a senior, then BAM, you gotta start life. It hit me hard, and im still knocked out.

A bunch of my friends are out of high school now, and they're constantly telling me to enjoy it and all that crap... I guess I'll understand when I get out, but right now I'm trying to get out as soon as I can.

[tarvos 6]

Coders rep made me laugh.

R G, thanks. Ive talked and emailed both the water and electric companies, and I have talked with the Watson Realty, and they are staying out of it, even though theyre supposed to be managing the property. I just wish I could go back a few months and start over. The bank charged me 35 bucks for a $1.27 overdraft on the atm, and it was from TAO subscription. I think I need to degold all my accounts for a while. Thansk for the input, and sorry I ruined the ending for the movie. Buster isnt petty, buster is pretty. So pretty.

[Dresicos]

Man tarvos, I feel for ya. =\ I would just suggest, if you can, get a lone and move to a place where you will stay for a long time. Get a good job, get a nice place. And all that good stuff.

I am guessing its not gonna be as easy as it sounds but yeah dude I am sorry, I swear I feel your pain. I think it will be the same for me when I get out of Highschool. =\ Life is hard.

[tarvos 6]

It sucks because my car doesnt work and i had to sell to the junk yard, so i have no vehicle. Having a reliable car makes ALL the difference. I swear I wish I could marry some rich chick if she would give me a decent car. Call me a gold digger, but damn I was on top of the world drivin that beretta GT. argh

[Pinkie TDP]

I'm not surprised you got kicked out as most landlords would react similarly. I think a more effective way to handle the situation would have been to speak with your landlord rationally... sounds like he'd probably say no anyway from what you've told us about him, but from a legal standpoint (not that I'm a lawyer) your best bet would have been to pay the bill then file a lawsuit against him to be refunded. But then I'm sure if you won the case he'd find a reason to kick you out the next month anyways. So it's a lose/lose situation unfortunately. The good news is, you didn't have to pay the bill, right?!

Good luck. :)

[tarvos 6]

I paid the bill...... both of them..... But I did deduct it from my rent, which i deducted 373 from a 550 rent payment, so im not mad about that, kinda. I dont know. Im just mad, plain mad. And ready to start partyin now, I woke all my neighbors up, and its WOOHOOOO THYME.

[uniquinous]

ok as far as life goes... you might wanna aim for the completion of that community college. a bit more education, a bit less partying, and then you won't be stuck in situations like that cuz you'll have all the $$ you want to get a much nicer living situation.

putting that aside tho...

the problem is that you didn't have a least, as you know. That doesn't mean you're without rights. I actually sued my previous landlord even though it was a month to month situation, and won, so I know a few things at this point.

Depending on your state, you may or may not be able to take him to small claims court. The problem is you already paid for the bills. If you hadn't, you could have just told the utility companies that you aren't the tenant anymore, that they should have filed those bills back to the owner of the property. So, since you already paid, you should sue him due to negligence of the basic upkeep and standard of the property. I'm pretty sure you'll find he had a legal obligation to that specific aspect, seeing as you had no way of turning off the water. Either way, small claims court costs are generally pretty cheap, and worthwhile.