Renter's Rights in Ohio?

[TheLadiesMan]

I'm curious because, I'm moving into a new resident, and just saw the place yesterday. The carpet is old, but it was cleaned, the kitchen counter tops were cut up, and the frig was older than dirt, which I was fine with, as I lived in worser conditions. The only problem I had at the time was with the furnace, it was very loud.

Today, I started to move in, and noticed that when I opened the door, it stunk of cat urine. Now, I didn't smell this yesterday, as I was still overcoming a cold, but today, WOW, I could smell the urine. Now, I've had cats before (ex-wife's) and they pissed all over the place, and it smelled, but the people who had the place before, must of had 20 freakn cats or something because it REALLY SMELLED!!! ...I mean, I've put my nose in some smelly places, and I have a high tolerance to things but.. this was bad. My question is...

What can I do? It's obvious the property management is trying to punk me. They know my 4 year old and I will be living there. How can they think we can actually live in that place with that smell?

They've got my deposit, they got my rent, I've already signed the lease for the year. I am going to ask them to give me another TH, or fix the furnace, and replace the carpet, or I will get an attorney.

I picked this place due to the location.. it's really close to my work, and where my son presently lives. I gave them my deposit back in December of 07, and they are just getting me into my place this month, so it's been very shady from the get go.

Just looking for some advise... the plan is to move into my house in a year, so I originally thought I'd bite the bullet and just live there for a year, but man, that smell is hella bad.

 

[amoka]

The question is where would you be staying in case they don't want to have you their anymore. Did you not look at the place before given deposit? If you did, was that the condition it was when you submitted your deposit? If not, then you have a case, else, you'd probably have to live with the condition of the apartment for a year. If you have an alternative place to live, tell the landlord the place is not hospitable to you and your 4 years old child. And that the place needs some cleaning. If they refuse, just let your attorney know of the situation.

 

[TheLadiesMan]

I've been trying to move to this part of town for a year. I had them put me on a "waiting list". After 11 months of looking at other places, and just about to give up hope in living in that part of town, I called those ppl back up.

They said "Hey! ...we have 2 coming available coming up, unfortunately, we have none available for show right now. But if you get your deposit in, you will have a better shot at getting in before anyone who walks up with the deposit."

This was the first week of December, mind you...

I saw the floor plan, and liked it enough, so I gave them my deposit 2 days later. That is when they told me first of January 08. Then towards the end of December, I never heard from them, so I called them.... they said "It's looking more like the 1st of February now." I was like wtf? ..they said "We're still waiting on the tenants to turn in their keys, so we can clean em, and get you in." I was like ..ok... towards the end of January, again, I don't hear from them so I call them... "It's looking more like mid-Feb now." I was like WTF?!?! ..they said "..but if we hear something sooner, we'll call you." The next day, I walk into the office and told them that I have to be out of my place by end of January, and I have no other place to live. They informed me that they had a place for me 1st of February.. I was like cool...

A week before Feb. they called to tell me my new address. I asked them if I could move in a couple days early to ease teh move transistion (I've been packed since December), they said "Sure! ...we'll call you on Wednesday, and you can pick up the key." ...no call on Wednesday. So I called them... they said "Ppl are still painting, and cleaning... you can probably get in a day earlier. We'll call and let you know for sure." ...no calls. I did drop by the place to look at it and it looked decent from the outside.

Friday, the 1st of February... I get a call @ 9am from the property management to inform me not that my place is ready to move in BUT, that rent is due today. For 2 whole freakn months, no calls, and the day my first month's rent is due, I get a call?!?!? ....I was like "Can I see the place first?" ..she was like "Sure!".

So we went to look at the place, but like I said, I had a bad cold that day, as everyone here in Cowtown did, and I couldn't smell, or simply breathe. The place looked ok enough. Again, I've lived in worse places.

But today... after dropping off some boxes, I was like whoa.
I'll call my bank tomorrow, and open an escrow account, because this is not looking good.

 

[penkitten]

why did they take your depoist back in dec if they did not have anything available until now?
where i manage, i am not allowed to take a deposit until i have a vacant to assign to the new person.

sometimes the inside furnace unit can be loud, sometimes it means there is a problem and sometimes it means that it is just older and will go out eventually and be replaced with a brand new one... i try to replace the inside and outside units at the same time, to keep up with it better and because the warranty sometimes requires me to do that.it costs my complex 3200 to have both inside and outside installed (trane units).
if i were you , i would type out a maintenance request and keep a copy for yourself about the loud noise that it has. i would also ask them to add it to your move in inspection as you usually have at least 5 days to report things after you sign a lease.


as far as the cat urine.... our complex simply does not allow pets unless the person is handicapped or disabled and they have a reasonable accommodation in which their doctor says they must have an animal either assistive or companion. if that said animal tears up the carpet or leaves behind a smell, if it is terrible , i immediately replace it and bill it to the last resident... if it is not so terrible, i have it cleaned AND sanitized (costs extra) and note that it was not new on the move in inspection and write details of any flaws (so that the new resident will not be held accountable for something a previous resident did .) usually mine end up being replaced due to pets. i clean the carpets on regular move outs (but i consider cat urine nasty and it might go away for a few days after a cleaning... but it always returns because it got down into the padding and there is no coming out of that)
i would make sure that i included the cat urine smell being unbearable while you were unpacking. ask them if what they intend to do to correct the problem and ask them to note this on the move in inspection also.

usually if my residents feel that they can't get anywhere with me, they call my regional supervisor (everyone's got one) and then they would contact our main office to speak to her supervisor (which is the president of our company, and then the owners of it). they can also contact our state housing office and hud because we are subsidized.
if you are not in a subsidized complex, you will need to find out if your county has a renter's association. you can google it.

 

[penkitten]

http://www.badlandlords.info/ohio.html
http://www.landlordassociation.org/statelaws.html
http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/5321
http://www.rentalprop.com/apt-assns.htm

 

[TheLadiesMan]

penkitten, thank God you are on!!! ...this is some shady stuff ain't it?

I mean, this person KNOWS my son will be living with me. I couldn't stay there for 10 minutes! IT WAS BAD!!! ...even when I left, I could still smell it, and worse, taste it... and oh, my nose bled, for real. Dunno if it was from the smell, or the dryness,or what but I haven't had a nose bleed in 20 years.

In all trueness, the smell makes that place unfit to live in, for real.

 

[Giovanni Casanova]

What is the loud noise that the furnace is making?

My first apartment was a total sh&t hole... it had a fridge that was new sometime in the 1950s, with a plastic compartment at the top that was supposed to be the "freezer". It was big enough for a couple ice cube trays and it made the water in the trays "kinda cold". But every once in a while the "freezer" would have itself a good day and then it looked like a snowman threw up in there.

It had a bathtub but no shower, and I hadn't really been a "bath" kind of person since I was about 7 or 8. And the heat was produced by radiators throughout the apartment. The best I could tell, the heat was produced by some process wherein very large, strong, angry men smashed metal pipes against other metal pipes. I don't know how that caused heat, but it did. There was no temperature control in my apartment -- there was only one thermostat and it controlled the whole building and was just outside the door to the 184-year-old cryptkeeper lady that lived downstairs. Since she was always cold, she would turn the thermostat all the way up to the "Motherf%cking Surface of the Gotdammed Sun" setting.

Anyway, $295 /month and within walking distance to work and school. And no curfew and no parents to tell me what to do. It was kinda worth it.

 

[Giovanni Casanova]

penkitten, thank God you are on!!! ...this is some shady stuff ain't it?

I mean, this person KNOWS my son will be living with me. I couldn't stay there for 10 minutes! IT WAS BAD!!! ...even when I left, I could still smell it, and worse, taste it... and oh, my nose bled, for real. Dunno if it was from the smell, or the dryness,or what but I haven't had a nose bleed in 20 years.

In all trueness, the smell makes that place unfit to live in, for real.

From one of penkitten's links, your landlord is in violation of ORC 5321.04 (A)(2):

Make all repairs and do whatever is reasonably necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition

 

[TheLadiesMan]

Chapter 5321.07 Failure of landlord to fulfill obligations - remedies of tenant.

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/5321.07

Thank you Penkitten, tonight I can sleep better thanks to you.

xoxo

 

[TheLadiesMan]

Thanks Gio.. God, I love you guys.

 

[penkitten]

you know, i have people come to me after they move in upset about all sorts of things.
if you say an outlet doesn't work, i get it replaced.
if you say the sprayer broke on it's own, i replace it.
if you say the 1979 counter tops have scratches all over them, i write it on your move in inspection and assure you that all the counter tops are from 1979 except for about 5 that had to be replaced due to rotting wood and assure you that we won't make you pay for those scratches and talk to you until you feel ok about them....

but if you came to tell me about cat urine, i would assure you that i had the unit cleaned, and then i would ask if you would take me there to the apartment so i could see if i could smell it.
to be honest, i had this happen one time. there was no cat in the unit before this lady got it. there was no smell. she wanted new carpet. did not like berber, wanted plush) when we did not replace it, she burned a whole bunch of holes in it and demanded we replace it, said her dr said she could not be around smoke. my boss had me to get the carpet cleaned again. the carpet cleaner came back and as he turned in his bill, he wrote on the bill.... "resident was smoking in the unit when we entered and was on her 3rd cigarette when we left the unit. " this protects us, as if she comes back trying to sue us for some sickness about nicotine smell, i can have our attorney subpoena the carpet cleaner.

however, this isn't the case here. you aren't trying to swindle them into buying new carpet for your taste. you actually are having a hard time breathing as you can not stand the smell of the cat urine.
i bet if you took your son to his pediatrician, and told them of the cat urine smell in the new place that is causing him to breathe funny or takes his breath away... i bet he would write you a letter to help get this under control. wouldn't that be nice if you could take that in when you went to complain?
any place that doesn't want a law suit, would replace it or have it sanitized or something.

 

[penkitten]

glad we could help!!

 

[Last Man Standing]

Never give a deposit $ until the day the lease is signed and you have seen the place!!! It's your fault!!!

 

[TheLadiesMan]

Exactly! ...I mean, I wasn't one bit rude, or vindictive after seeing the place. I was kinda happy really, after waiting for so long. I told her simply "..you know, I can deal with the stains on the carpet, and I can deal with the cigarette burns on the counter tops, and the late 50's frig, but that furnace, it's loud." ..hell, I was even going to fix it myself, thinking the motor probably just needed a cardboard wedge to hold it in place, and be done with it.

..but that smell... it was that bad.

 

[penkitten]

we have a waiting list too, and god, it is long as can be.
however, i tell everyone that i can not move them in until it is ready.
people will try to hurry me up and let them move in. they will say, "don't worry about cleaning it, i will do it myself."
but i can't. we won't say it is ready, until it is.
i won't rent it unless i would be willing to live in it myself at that moment.

carpet is always a big deal to people. they all want it brand new, but if it can be cleaned to save the complex money, where it isn't all stained up, have holes all through it or smelly... my budget requires me to save where i can, as i clean it. i try to reassure the ones that do not have brand new carpet that if their kid spills something on it, they won't be responsible for brand new, as it is not brand new now, and the people who get brand new and ruin it, often are charged for replacement when it comes to stains.... sometimes that helps ease some minds.
but cat urine is lethal to some people. more people are allergic to it than mold.

i don't even want to get on the subject of mold!

anyhow, i often do not have anything to show, so i have copies of the floor plan and pictures of units on my wall. i do not like to show things that are not finished, and i can not discriminate by showing an apartment to one person and not the next.( say one unit is ready and i show it to some lady, but then some other lady comes in and there is no vacant unit to show on that day. i do not want her to come back and say i discriminated .) so i only show a unit once i call the person in, and after i show the unit, if they do want it, i take the deposit and tell them how to get the electric put in their name and then set up a time to sign the lease in the next day or two.

 

[Bible_Belt]

Good find on the Ohio statute. Be sure to read and follow it closely. The common law principle this is based on is 'warrant of habitability.' That means that a rental always has to be livable by ordinary reasonable standards.

I would just fix the furnace and rip the damn carpet out myself. I have done that before in a rental house. Having osb plywood floors was better than the smell. If you are handy with the stuff, snap-together laminate wood flooring is cheap, like 80 cents/sq ft. For less than the cost of moving, you might be able to just put in a new floor yourself.

 

[ketostix]

In Ohio there's fairly good renter's right. You can make a complaint to the rental authority (I know that's vague, I don't remember exactly what agency it is) and they will serve notice to your landlord regarding your specific complaints and the landlord won't get any of your rent payments, it will be payed to and held by the authority, until landlord addresess and fixes the problems.

 

[penkitten]

how did this turn out?

 

[Latinoman]

I am curious too.

 

[MacAvoy]

I personally like the terrorists approach. Slumlords only understand one thing, something that will cost them money. I was renting a bedroom in a 4 unit apartment (each room was rented indivually and we shared common space), well 2 people that lived there over a year moved out a month before me & the other guy were moving out, the landlord wanted me to clean the entire apartment before I moved out, I cleaned my unit & the kitchen.

He didn't want to give me back my security deposit back, I told him its cleaner than when I moved in, I explained that the mess was left by the other 2 renters. He didn't want to give me my money back, I could have went the legal route but that would have taken months, so I simply told him, if you don't give me my deposit back, I'm going to buy a can of spray paint and spray the walls, carpets, porcelain in the washroom etc...

He immediately cut me a check for my deposit. You have to hit his bank book for them to take notice.