I am currently renting a basement unit in a single family home in the Seattle Metro Area. I moved in at the end of May 2017. I've had several issues since then. Here are the issues I have encountered thus far.
1) This isn't a full unit and does not have an actual kitchen, which is fine and I understood when I signed the lease. The landlord provided a refrigerator, and a hot plate, which for all intents and purposes cannot boil water. I bought a skillet to make up for that. Annoying but so be it.
2) There was a washer and dryer in the unit and the landlord said they worked. They powered on but did not function. I have documentation that I notified the landlord on June 12th that the washer and dryer did not work. I asked again on June 25th. He purchased cheap units on the 27th. Delivered on July 1st, but they were the incorrect model. Dryer was electric and we only has gas. Plus the vent to the outside was not up to code so they could not install. I notified landlord the same day and he requested I take care of it. I had to go to the store, pay an additional $100 to get the correct model, plus a vent that I installed myself. I took $100 off the rent I owed and he was fine with that. I did not have a working washer until late July. Which means I damn near had no means of washing or drying my clothes for almost 2 months. Don't ask how I managed because I didn't.
3) The electricity is shoddy and routinely dims. As it began to get cold outside, I ran a space heater to warm up because the furnace had not been turned on. The heater tripped the breaker rather late and the tenant upstairs was not available to flip it back. First, i was freezing and second I do not have access to the electric box, so I can't flip it myself. I tried knocking on the door up the upstairs unit the next morning to flip it, but they would not answer despite them being home. There is a family of 4 in that unit, and they are not American citizens and know little to no english. They do not answer their door ever because I think they are shy. Texted the landlord who texted them in Chinese and they flipped it while I was at work. Ok, fine, except it happened again. I do not find this acceptable because in the event of below 0 temperatures, I cannot reasonably reach the person in the upstairs unit to turn on my electricity. Most of the apartment has only 2 prong outlets, and there are only a few that have three prongs. The landlord suggested I use extension cords. I do, but it's a pain, plus I have cords running all around my place. I have to be very careful to not run the microwave that I bought at the same time as my space heater. More to come about that.
4) The family upstairs is a nightmare. They are often unreasonably loud, kids running, jumping, screaming. At times it sounds like the parents are beating their kids, but it's hard to tell because they are chinese and Chinese naturally speak loud (kids still scream bloody murder). Either way, I have had guests (regrettably) who are concerned when they hear it. The family has opened my mail on several occasions, they have opened a large package of mine, and they routinely pack the entire recycling bin with their recyclables that leaves little to no room for mine. It's a game to try and beat them to the bin when it's been picked up.
5) when I moved in the landlord cleaned out a bunch of old boxes and storage and left it sitting outside near the garage expecting me to get rid of it. I tried but then I have two limitations, a) can't recycle anything because the family takes up everything, and b) we received notice from the waste company saying we can't put too much in the bin. I've resorted to burning what I can. Whatever, not too bad and i could probably figure something out, just a pain for me to deal with, especially since it is not my waste.
6) Nearly a month ago today I reached out to the landlord because it's been getting super cold, exacerbated by the fact that it's a basement unit. The temperature is basically unlivable. Again I have the space heater but only in one room. I live with my sister who I let use the heater in her room, but it's not enough even for that room. I asked the landlord to start the furnace, which is an oil burning unit. He sent me a YouTube video to get it startes. I tried numerous time but to no avail. I could not get it started and I'm not sure why. I had the landlord come to my unit and he was unable to start it as well. He took down some numbers for local Hvac companies and said he would get touch and have them turn it on (if it even works). That was over 3 weeks ago and he has not contacted me. I am currently living in temperatures sub 55 degrees. Sister uses space heater, I have a heating pad in my bed. These are the only two sources of heat that I have available to me. The mornings are the worst, imagine getting out of the shower in 45 degrees.
Here's my question. I see that renters have a right to a habitable space, which includes reasonable heat. In some articles I've read that the tenant must ask the landlord to fix an issue and they must resolve it within a reasonable time frame. I have not reached out since the landlord visited my unit, but neither has he and I've requested him to do something about it twice. It is coming up on a month without heat and it's not a fun living condition at all. Added on top of all the issues I've described above, this is not working for me. I'm a normal guy, and have a high tolerance as you can tell (2 months without a washer and dryer), so I'm not a crazy tenant asking for the landlord to clean soap scum from my shower, I just want to come home from work and not worry about my fingers, toes, and nose freezing off.
Based on this information, does it seem like I have a reasonable case in the state of Washington to move out without future rent liability? If so, how do I go about doing that? Is there a time limit on how long it takes a landlord to resolve this issue? Do i need to ask for resolution more tikes than twice? I was thinking about calling a lawyer to get my ducks in a row, but not sure if I want to commit to spending any money in case the landlord wants to sue me.
Any advice is greatly appreciated as is your time reading through this post.
Thanks! -Frostbitten in Seattle
Submitted November 07, 2017 at 10:50AM by RayFinkle2017 http://ift.tt/2lZiQeN legaladvice
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