My House Rental Fiasco
HI - Nice to see you again. Have you sent any greeting cards recently? 
The following is a sequence of events that have taken place over the past 3 weeks.
Feb. 6, 2010 – Had 150 gallons ($400) fuel oil delivered to Ferris Rd. house in Cato
Feb. 7, 2010 – 12:45 am arrived at Ferris Rd. house and moved in. Landlord told me he “thought” there was a dryer hookup, but there isn’t, however, he will have one installed ASAP.
Feb 7, 8 & 9, 2010 – Spent the entire day cleaning the kitchen, scrubbing cupboards inside and out and shop vacuuming flies off windows – Water stopped working – Notified landlord – He turned water back on at pressure switch.
Feb. 8, 2010 – Notified landlord that water in shower was just a trickle. Notified him that water in kitchen was also just a small stream. Plumber came w/in the next day or so and put air in tank and fixed pressure.
Feb. 10, 2010 – Notified landlord that shower was only lukewarm for about 5 min. and then turns cold. He said he knew what was wrong and would be over to fix it. (Feb. 27 2010 as of this writing – still taking cold showers). Even if landlord fixes water problem after this is written, it’s still a matter of how long he takes to get things done.
Some time around Feb. 11 or 12, 2010 I notified landlord that water pump in basement kicks on almost constantly with only 5 to 10 minutes in between when it kicks off and then back on. He is not concerned because he purposely left a drip so the pipes don’t freeze, however, it’s my electric that it’s using to kick on constantly. If the basement wasn’t so freezing cold (which permeates through the uninsulated floors) then the pipes wouldn’t freeze anyway.
Feb. 19 dryer hookup was still not there and landlord called to finally get my electrician friend’s name and number from me (I offered this to him the day we moved in) and asked if we are still taking cold showers. I said yes. Still cold showers. He asked that we let him look at it as he thinks it’s a piece of sediment stuck somewhere.
Feb. 22, 2010 (almost two weeks after initial notification of cold showers) – Landlord left voicemail to ask if pump was still running constantly and if we are still taking cold showers. Said to call him and let him know. Nothing has magically changed in the past two weeks. The shower fairy did not show up and fix it. If it is this hard to get him to fix anything in the winter, once spring hits and farming begins, he will never be around to fix anything.
Feb. 23, 2010 – Fuel oil is almost empty. The tank was reading empty on the 20th so we called in favors and borrowed electric heaters. We’ve put blankets and curtains and rugs over doors and the drafts still blow through. The basement has holes in the walls, which keeps the basement freezing, which comes up through the floors and keeps the heat ducts blowing cold air through them. The first half or more of every heat cycle is blowing freezing cold air up then the second half is heat. This makes the fuel oil go quickly
Feb. 26, 2010 – Had another $400 worth of fuel oil delivered. Hopefully this will last longer with the curtains, blankets and rugs over the doors and the electric heaters to supplement. I don’t even want to see my electric bill though.
Called the landlord early in the day to let him know fuel oil was delivered and to ask him to come over and restart the furnace. He finally showed up around 9 pm and started the furnace. When I began to ask about the cold showers, he said he’s not feeling well and can’t discuss it right now. Claims he will be over when he’s feeling better.
Before we made the decision to move here, I asked for 3 things.
1. A house that will hold heat and A/C.
2. A washer AND dryer hookup
3. A garage where my husband could set up a woodshop.
The landlord told me that this is the house we are looking for and it has all of these three things.
We were a little over 2 weeks with no dryer because the landlord didn’t want someone he does not know doing the electric work until almost 2 weeks in.
Over 2 weeks with cold showers in a cold house makes for sick people. When I complained of the cold in here, I was told by landlord that he put 100 gallons of fuel oil in here and it lasted him 4 weeks. HOWEVER, this is a small town where everyone knows everyone and he has never lived in this house. He was here working for a few weeks, but that is not the same as living here. You do not need it even half as warm when you’re working. When you are constantly moving, it feels 10 or 15 degrees warmer than it really is. You can comfortably work in 50 to 60 degree weather. I can not comfortably LIVE in that. My work is on the computer so I am not moving constantly. Therefore, the temperature I need in here is around 68 degrees.
I won’t even address the garage with it’s crumbling walls and dirt floor or the constant shop vacuuming flies and lady bugs off the window sills in the middle of winter.
Needless to say, we are giving our 30 day notice and moving out April 1.
Have I mentioned that I HATE MOVING??? A few people have told me I should take him to small claims court and get my rent back. What do you think?
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Today is the first day of the rest of your life.
What will you do with it?

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