Living amongst your neighbor's mess
Q: We currently rent an apartment in a two family home in a residential area. The tenant downstairs owns 3 dogs and lets them go out in the yard and urinate and defecate all over the yard. He does not clean up ever, and the yard is a disgrace and a mess. You cannot even go on the lawn because there is so much fecal matter on every square inch of the property. We have spoken to the landlord several times about this matter, and the tenant does not clean up. What else is there to do? Legally, can I do anything?

Kristen

A: Ewww! Your question certainly caught my eye (and my nose). Because you've already talked to your landlord several times about the problem, I'd write a letter immediately. Politely but firmly remind him that you've mentioned the problem several times, but that it still persists. Request that he take care of the problem with the other tenant promptly. Let your landlord know, again politely but firmly, that you intend to report the condition to the county health board or department if he doesn't fix it.

I'm not a health or medical expert, but I'm fairly certain this constitutes a health hazard. (I'll just leave it at that.) This type of condition would be more likely to be covered by some city or county ordinance than some state law. You might try calling the local health board or department yourself to inquire before you write your letter just to verify that the problem violates health codes.

It might take some persistence on your part. But, you should be able to get the attention of someone at the health department if the landlord doesn't fix the problem.

If neither of these ideas work, you might think about hiring someone to come out on a regular basis to clean up the yard. Then, deduct that charge from your rent every month. Before you do this, make sure you warn the landlord that you intend to do it.

Asserting your right to repairs
Q: A water pipe burst in my apartment last Friday. This is the 4th time my apartment has flooded with water. The last time when they pulled up the carpet to put a fan under it, we could see that the padding was covered with mold. Most parts had begun to disintegrate. Yesterday, both the maintenance man and the woman that works in the office looked at the carpet and agreed it needed to be replaced. But, when they told the apartment manager, she told us that we would have to sign another full year lease or she would wait until we moved out to replace the carpet. This is ridiculous! It does not say anywhere in my lease that in order to get a repair made I have to sign a new lease. Isn't this some type of health code violation?

Shannon

A: With the mold growing underneath your carpet, it sure seems like a health code violation. But, health codes vary widely from location to location. Often they're set at a county or city level, and enforced by a local health board or department. I'm pretty sure, however, that the mold would constitute a health hazard in most localities.

You need to be firm and persistent with your request that the landlord replace your carpet while you live there. You're correct that you shouldn't have to sign a new lease to get the landlord to make a necessary repair. The landlord has no right to insist that you do. Especially with the maintenance man and other office staff agreeing the carpet needs replacing, it'll be hard for the landlord to dispute that fact.

As I suggest above, write a firm but polite letter requesting that the landlord replace the carpet promptly. (Refer to How to Write Appropriate Letters to Your Landlord for help.) Explain that it constitutes a health hazard because of the extensive mold growing underneath the carpet. You may want to try writing a few letters, with increasing firmness, if you don't get a satisfactory response to the first one. You should inform the landlord (rather than threaten) that you'll have no choice but to report the problem to the health department if she refuses to replace the carpet.

In many cases, I think landlords initially refuse to make the repair, hoping you'll get frustrated and give up, or that you'll forget about it. In your case, the landlord thinks she may be able to get an extra year commitment out of you for the repair. Don't let her get away with that. If you keep after a landlord with repeated reminders of your legitimate repair request, most landlords will eventually get around to making the repair. It's unfortunate that they don't promptly repair things, but that's the way things go sometimes.

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