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2001connections-article0004
You might be justified in
demanding a rent reduction from your landlord. I am not exactly a great
fan of most residential lessors - can you easily tell? Mostly resulting
from the often questionable business practices and attitudes of some of
the larger rental property owners with whom I had the provilege of dealing, during many years. In fact, at some point in the
future, when I hope to be in a favourable enough financial position to
give really, really plenty generously to a number of very good causes, tenants rights
associations will probably be at the top of my list of recipients. As
well, I may even volunteer some time to answer the phone and to try to
assist a few renters in exercising their rights and dealing with
problem landlords.Numerous tenants could seek rent reductions. Odds are, you don’t get what you pay for. Quite possibly, some deficiencies can be found in and around your apartment building. I have encountered this problem many times over a period of more than 30[thirty] years as a tenant of apartment buildings. I have paid close attention to what building owners charge good money for, and to how much they actually deliver for that money. Much too often, there is a glaring discrepancy between the two. In other words, you the tenant may be getting shortchanged. Even further, my shopping list of official publications, to acquire and thoroughly study, includes the Building Codes of 2 or more jurisdictions, with the intent of actually reporting some violators in those 2 or more jurisdictions. You too can take a similar tough approach. Report violators. Exercise your rights. Just drawing a few possible examples out of a hat. Elevators don't work or are too often out of service. Lack of sufficient lighting in and around the building, including, very notably, the indoor garage. Lack of adequate heating in winter. Overall neglect of the building. Lobby door fails to shut or lock properly. Side doors are insecure. Risk of crooks entering the building. The list is almost endless, for possible valid reasons to seek a reduction in rent. And possibly seeking additional remedies, depending on the type and severity of the violations. In some areas, burglary may be a major problem. I favour requiring every landlord to disclose the history of theft and other crimes affecting the building, prior to signing a lease with a new, prospective tenant. One tenant alone might be at a particular disadvantage if the landlord happens to be a multi-millionaire [as in millions of €] who owns several or dozens of buildings, comprising hundreds or perhaps even thousands of rental units [dwellings]. At that point, hiring a lawyer collectively might make very good sense. If many or most residents of 1 or more buildings of the same landlord share the cost of legal counsel, you could be in a much stronger position to exercise your rights as tenants. In fact, just a few days before writing this article, I exchanged a few words with a fellow consumer at a local bank machine, where we are both customers. We both criticized excessive bank profits and greedy landlords. He mentioned that his landlord wants to raise the rent 10%, whereas the accepted norm happens to be 1 to 2%. The fellow is outraged and has hired a lawyer collectively with his neighbours, to properly contest the excessive hike. Good for him! And good for all his neighbours! Say no to greed! Say yes to standing up for your rights! I very much favour the idea of assigning many more inspectors to verify compliance of landlords with various applicable regulations, such as, typically Building Code requirements. And of course, to ensure adherence to local legislation governing transactions between tenants and landlords. Here are some constructive suggestions for modifying and improving laws to benefit renters. Assign 3 to 5 inspectors, maybe more, to reside full time at each apartment building, as tenants. To avoiding straining the public budget excessively, these resident agents could work on commission in some form. Numerous infractions on the part of the landlord could be documented, filmed and witnessed. The fines collected could be disbursed as follows. 50% to subsidize the rent of all tenants, proportionally distributed among all renters in the building. 30% to cover the salaries of the resident-agents. 20% to the public treasury. Perhaps 1 or more of the 3 to 5 or more resident agents could work completely undercover, so as to more readily catch the building owner off guard, committing various infractions. As a result of 50% of funds collected in fines going back into the pocket of renters, all the inspectors could quickly become heroes of tenants in particular and of the people in general. A tip line could be set up, so that all residents and even visitors to the building can report all infractions of the landlord to the authorities. Even pedestrians who happen to be passing by on the sidewalk outside the building could act as good fellow citizens and call the tip line if they notice anything out of order, easily observable from the exterior. This way, the property owners would pay even more money in various fines and indirectly therefore subsidize the rents of the very tenants whom they are exploiting. Talk about poetic justice. And if every tenant owns a pocket camera, they could take pictures and submit the photographic evidence to the inspectors. Fines payable by the landlord could pile up like crazy. The 3 to 5+ resident agents could collect and file every imaginable type of complaint by tenants and their visitors against the landlord. And also sort, compare data, and help initiate and coordinate proceedings against the building owner. Sometimes on behalf of several lessees who have similar complaints. It would also be beneficial to tenants in general if these 3 to 5+ inspectors are in contact with their counterparts in other buildings. Joint efforts along these lines might detect patterns of systematic infractions, particularly by career landlords: those who own very many buildings. Perhaps too much real estate belonging to 1[one] owner, as far as the public interest is concerned. If my elaborations on this page inspire lawmakers in at least 1[one] country anywhere around the world to improve legislation and enforcement to benefit renters and to compel landlords to clean up their act, the result will have been worth my modest effort here. End of
2001connections-article0004 Numerous tenants could seek rent reductions. |
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