Help us get our lazy landlord's attention
December 13, 2008 12:22 PM Subscribe
Chicago-Landlord-Filter: Help us craft a letter of complaint to our lazy landlord!
Posting for a friend:
This is sort of a multi-part general "problems with inattentive landlord question." The friend is writing a letter, to be sent certified mail, to the landlord. The letter will outline a series of problems which need attention.
She doesn't want to move out or cause ill feelings, but the landlord - who is mostly a likable guy - is pretty much MIA and unresponsive. She thinks that the letter will get his attention in a way that face to face conversations, voice mails, and phone calls have not. It's also laying the paper trail in case she needs to break her lease later.
So the question for this AskMe is:
Given the details below, how should my friend craft her letter to maximum effect? What if any of the details below are backed up by city ordinance? What should be omitted?
Details: Moved into the apartment in the Pilsen neighborhood in September. At the time of the move the landlord agreed verbally to place locks on the front and back gates, and install lighting around the property. The lease is one-year, and is a form lease of the type you buy at Office Depot.
Issue 1 - Locks: Cheap locks were installed, but during the first freeze they became unusable. The lock on the front gate has been broken for ten days and counting - the landlord has been notified repeatedly about this issue, he's even tried to fix it himself. Still, over ten days later the front gate is broken and unusable (it's stuck, locked - and half disassembled, so it's not a matter of simply deicing - it has to be replaced.) All the tenets in the building have to walk around the block, and up the alley to enter the property from the rear. The alley is icy and generally creepy and unsafe at night.
Further problems with the locks: these are not self-locking locks. In order for them to lock, the tenets must lock them coming and going. Thus, even when the locks are working, they are usually unlocked because the two or three other tenets in the building are lax in locking them. We would like for the land lord to replace the locks with self locking locks.
Issue 2 - Lighting: The building has a gangway; a small alley that runs the length of the building. This gangway is dark and treacherous at night. The landlord installed one light at the end of the gangway which works on motion detection. The problem is that the light doesn't work until you're directly underneath it. Further, the rear of the building is still in the dark. Mix snow and ice with the dark, and this has created a very dangerous region of the building. We would like lights installed with timers instead of motion detectors so that they are on at night.
Issue 3 - Ice on the sidewalk: This building is almost the only property on the block that does not have clean sidewalks out front. The ice is hard packed, glassy, and slippery as hell. The landlord dropped off half a bag of salt the other day, but was otherwise uninterested in clearing it himself. He has not designated any of the tenets to be in charge of the sidewalk.
What we have is a landlord who is semi-responsive, who probably intends well, but just doesn't think things through or budgets time for fixing things. He is a younger guy, and this is the only property he owns and his first time being a landlord. There are other problems with the apartment, like non-gpf outlets in the bathroom, et cetera, but these are less pressing.
My friend is paying close to $700 for the apartment, that's expensive for the neighborhood, and she feels that for the price the landlord should be much more responsive, and much more willing to call professionals when it's obvious they are needed.
Sorry this is so long and semi-rambling. My friend is sort of at her wit's end. She has placed multiple phone calls, and doesn't want to create ill will between her and the landlord, but she doesn't know what else to do.
Thanks in advance for any advice, suggestions, or shared experience. Bonus points for linking to any city ordinances and the like which my friend can cite in her letter.
Posting for a friend:
This is sort of a multi-part general "problems with inattentive landlord question." The friend is writing a letter, to be sent certified mail, to the landlord. The letter will outline a series of problems which need attention.
She doesn't want to move out or cause ill feelings, but the landlord - who is mostly a likable guy - is pretty much MIA and unresponsive. She thinks that the letter will get his attention in a way that face to face conversations, voice mails, and phone calls have not. It's also laying the paper trail in case she needs to break her lease later.
So the question for this AskMe is:
Given the details below, how should my friend craft her letter to maximum effect? What if any of the details below are backed up by city ordinance? What should be omitted?
Details: Moved into the apartment in the Pilsen neighborhood in September. At the time of the move the landlord agreed verbally to place locks on the front and back gates, and install lighting around the property. The lease is one-year, and is a form lease of the type you buy at Office Depot.
Issue 1 - Locks: Cheap locks were installed, but during the first freeze they became unusable. The lock on the front gate has been broken for ten days and counting - the landlord has been notified repeatedly about this issue, he's even tried to fix it himself. Still, over ten days later the front gate is broken and unusable (it's stuck, locked - and half disassembled, so it's not a matter of simply deicing - it has to be replaced.) All the tenets in the building have to walk around the block, and up the alley to enter the property from the rear. The alley is icy and generally creepy and unsafe at night.
Further problems with the locks: these are not self-locking locks. In order for them to lock, the tenets must lock them coming and going. Thus, even when the locks are working, they are usually unlocked because the two or three other tenets in the building are lax in locking them. We would like for the land lord to replace the locks with self locking locks.
Issue 2 - Lighting: The building has a gangway; a small alley that runs the length of the building. This gangway is dark and treacherous at night. The landlord installed one light at the end of the gangway which works on motion detection. The problem is that the light doesn't work until you're directly underneath it. Further, the rear of the building is still in the dark. Mix snow and ice with the dark, and this has created a very dangerous region of the building. We would like lights installed with timers instead of motion detectors so that they are on at night.
Issue 3 - Ice on the sidewalk: This building is almost the only property on the block that does not have clean sidewalks out front. The ice is hard packed, glassy, and slippery as hell. The landlord dropped off half a bag of salt the other day, but was otherwise uninterested in clearing it himself. He has not designated any of the tenets to be in charge of the sidewalk.
What we have is a landlord who is semi-responsive, who probably intends well, but just doesn't think things through or budgets time for fixing things. He is a younger guy, and this is the only property he owns and his first time being a landlord. There are other problems with the apartment, like non-gpf outlets in the bathroom, et cetera, but these are less pressing.
My friend is paying close to $700 for the apartment, that's expensive for the neighborhood, and she feels that for the price the landlord should be much more responsive, and much more willing to call professionals when it's obvious they are needed.
Sorry this is so long and semi-rambling. My friend is sort of at her wit's end. She has placed multiple phone calls, and doesn't want to create ill will between her and the landlord, but she doesn't know what else to do.
Thanks in advance for any advice, suggestions, or shared experience. Bonus points for linking to any city ordinances and the like which my friend can cite in her letter.
Snow removal on sidewalks. He is obligated to clean the sidewalks or he could be liable for damages if someone fell.
posted by sugarfish at 12:39 PM on December 13, 2008
posted by sugarfish at 12:39 PM on December 13, 2008
Seconding what scody said - clearly specifying which ordinances are being violated tells the landlord that you mean business, know your rights, and suggest you have been in contact with your area's tenancy authority, which is something they will probably take far more seriously than the prior verbal exchanges. Aim for a professional, cover-letter like tone delineating the problems and how they violate the appropriate laws and codes.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 1:07 PM on December 13, 2008
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 1:07 PM on December 13, 2008
I've only ever been able to get a crappy Chicago landlord comply with our verbal agreements in this type of situation was to have my lawyer (aka my dad, who is a lawyer) write a lawyer-sounding letter outlining my needs. It wasn't "Do XYZ or I'll sue", rather it was just "[Tenant] and [landlord] discussed XYZ to be completed in [timeline] on [date]. This letter is to document these requests. Signed, [lawyer]."
posted by Meg_Murry at 3:48 PM on December 13, 2008
posted by Meg_Murry at 3:48 PM on December 13, 2008
Re the snow and ice removal - Is one of the tenants willing to take on the task? If so, he or she could do it, setting a decent hourly rate (ten bucks?) and inform the landlord that the monthly rent will be reduced by the time spent. Make inertia work on your behalf, rather than his.
posted by megatherium at 6:08 PM on December 13, 2008
posted by megatherium at 6:08 PM on December 13, 2008
If you call 311 non-emergency and tell them your story, they will have someone come out. The locked gate is a fire hazard and the city also likes to require lighting in the gangways. He'll get a notice right away to comply with their requests or they will fine him. It should get him moving. You should call, they really do follow through in Chicago.
posted by lee at 6:45 PM on December 13, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by lee at 6:45 PM on December 13, 2008 [1 favorite]
the best part of your letter will be at the bottom--cc:your alderman.
posted by lester at 5:28 PM on December 14, 2008
posted by lester at 5:28 PM on December 14, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by scody at 12:38 PM on December 13, 2008