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I've been massively hosed over by landlords in the past, and my current one is an rear end in a top hat, so I'm looking for advice on how to get my deposit back when I move this fall. My landlord informed us that he would be selling the condo my roommates and I live in after we found the sales listing online and called him about it. He immediately started showing the property, and when we checked our lease it said that we needed 120 days written notice of sale before we had to let anyone in. When we told that to him, he said that he "could just kick us out if [he] weren't such a nice guy." Seriously. He still doesn't always give us 24 hours notice before he shows up. Understandably, I'm pretty worried about my deposit. Previous landlords have marveled at how sparkling I left the place and then charged $300 for "general cleaning," so I have a feeling that will happen again. What can I do to protect myself? I have pictures of before and will take some more after, but I don't trust this guy at all. I live in Los Angeles, for reference.
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Jun 30, 2012 04:40
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Trilineatus posted:This. Do your best to convince your landlord that you will pursue that deposit to the end of the universe even if you wont - some scum bags count on young people not having the time or resources to fight being wronged. Disabuse him of this notion. I'll look into my local laws. I was thinking about doing a checklist that he signed, so I'm glad to know that other people think that's a good idea, too.
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Jul 2, 2012 07:20
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Ashcans posted:drat, you put down $4k in deposits? What is your monthly rent? Definitely take a look at your local laws, because many places I have rented a landlord is flat out not allowed to take more than a month's rent as a deposit, and frequently breaking that rule prevents them from withholding anything at all. A lot of states also require landlords to place the deposit in its own interest-bearing account for the duration of the tenancy, which most people gently caress up. On the plus side, the new apartment we have lined up for the end of the summer is $2K total in deposits because they don't care that we're no-good hooligans. 
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Jul 3, 2012 01:49
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Yeah, email is a nice way to have a paper trail if there's a recurring issue. I posted a couple months back about my shady landlord (putting our unit for sale online before informing us, letting people in to view it with less than 24 hours notice, etc) and I thought I'd post a follow-up on that. I looked up renters rights in California and sent him an email that basically said I knew my rights and would like a preliminary inspection. He called me and said we'd all been good sports, and that he'd like to just do the preliminary inspection. As long as there were no big holes in the wall, he would give us our deposit in full. We didn't believe that for a second, and prepared ourselves for a lengthy struggle to get our deposit back. After the preliminary inspection, when the rooms were still full of items and things were still dirty, he called me and said he'd give it all back, minus half the pet deposit (my dog absolutely ruined one section of carpet, so that was fair). We still didn't believe him, especially since he was calling me instead of emailing/texting like he had in the past so there wouldn't be a paper trail. Somehow, despite this dude being an rear end while we lived there, we got the check a week after we moved out, and it cleared. That certainly never happened with the companies I rented from, so I guess even if you have a bad relationship in a private rental, it can all turn out okay!
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Nov 5, 2012 18:43
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I got a Relocube when I moved from Vermont to California. My apartment in Vermont didn't have any space for it, so we ended up having the cube dropped outside a big retailer my husband worked for at the time and borrowing a van from a friend to get our stuff to it. They dropped the cube on the street outside our apartment in California. It was over $2K because of the distance, but it was one of the cheapest options I found for it. Cross-country moves suck like that.
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Dec 5, 2012 16:29
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I've had good luck with those adhesive strips staying up, but yeah, they take the paint off with them.
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Dec 14, 2012 06:10
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:If you're looking at a particle board one, do not ever buy one if you're planning on moving it ever. They're heavy as poo poo and fall apart when disassembled.
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Mar 8, 2013 21:26
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I found an apartment I liked that was an absolute steal, so a lot of other people were interested, too. I turned in my application and credit check fee on Thursday. On Friday, the rental agent called me back, said she gave the unit to another couple that could move in right away, and asked if I would like a unit in a completely different part of town. What really bothers me here is that she gave the unit to someone else and still ran my credit afterward. Is that sort of thing normal?
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Mar 25, 2013 17:38
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Well, I found the posting on Craigslist, and she only had one unit in the area I wanted, so I have no problem walking away there. For anyone familiar with LA, I'm looking in the East Hollywood/Los Feliz area, and she offered me an apartment in the Valley. Not exactly neighbors. I don't really know how these checks work. I'd like my money back, yes, but I also don't want my credit pinged a bunch while I'm apartment hunting. Would I be able to request the credit report they got so I can pass that on to other places, or am I better off just getting my money back?
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Mar 25, 2013 17:56
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I'm glad the other apartment dicked me over, because now I'm getting a much nicer place in a much nicer area. The manager has a little kitten that kept rolling over for belly rubs while I was there. He also did the credit checks for my boyfriend and I for $20 total (as opposed to $25 each). Score!
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Mar 28, 2013 04:17
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Craigslist is a good idea, and I would also suggest Reddit. My city has its own mini-Craigslist subreddit, and I imagine a lot of other cities do as well. I posted there when I was looking for housing and got several offers, one of which I took. There are a lot of other postings on there for other people trying to rent places out, so it's worth a try!
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Apr 8, 2013 20:03
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I moved into my new apartment last night and was greeted by tons of tiny roach corpses in the corners of the room, as well as two others slowly crawling as they died. I shot off an email to the building manager since I was pretty upset. One, there had been no mention of any sort of bug problem, and two, the roaches had clearly just been poisoned, something I should have been made aware of since I confirmed I was bringing a cat. The cat is not here yet, luckily, so at least he's safe for now. He said they must have just been poisoned and he apologized for the poor cleanup, but he imagines the last tenant was a bit of a slob and they were just getting out his leftovers. He also said they would do whatever necessary to help me get rid of the roaches, and that all other complaints were usually settled within a few days. Fast forward to this evening when I came home and found several live roaches crawling around, and even more when I left and came back. I killed at least 20 fully alive roaches today, and found as many dead ones yesterday. I sent another email to the building manager that I wanted something done about it immediately. What else can I do? What kind of action can I expect? I'm in California.
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Apr 13, 2013 08:27
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Costello Jello posted:The roaches even laid eggs in the inside of my deodorant, and I went to use it one day, and tiny baby roaches poured out the bottom.  I never saw my own unit until I moved in, so I wasn't able to check under the sink. I closed all the windows and have only gotten a couple since then, so I'm pretty sure there's a tiny hole in the screen somewhere. The apartment manager was horrified and is replacing all my screens on Monday.
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Apr 14, 2013 06:15
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I think it's pretty common for landlords to pull poo poo like that when they're advertising. I found a studio at the top of my price range that charged $50 extra a month if there was more than one resident. Only supplying utilities to one unit seems suspect, though.
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May 6, 2013 19:34
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I am also in California and have been asked for all of those things on pretty much every application I've filled out. Pretty normal.
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Jul 4, 2013 14:45
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I would go with the TV where the red sofa is now, one sofa in the middle of the room in front of it, and one sofa against the wall in the corner. Maybe a little table between the two for drinks. It would leave room for a small table near the kitchen. In my experience, parties all end up on the couch or gathered around where the food is.
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Aug 21, 2013 05:35
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I have the massive Expedit as a room divider in my studio. It's awesome and holds everything. The shelves are really deep, so it's easy to use both sides as full shelves.
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Oct 3, 2013 04:40
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I always get suspicious when an apartment complex only has positive, glowing reviews. I lived in a pretty terrible complex that had negative reviews, and then one day they were all gone and replaced with five star ratings that I'm sure management worked very hard on.
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Nov 16, 2013 02:53
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ladyweapon posted:re: sheets. I never buy sheets I can't touch before buying. This. I bought some sheets on Amazon that had rave reviews, and they didn't feel great and sounded like crumpling paper when I moved. Never again.
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Dec 26, 2013 20:13
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Anne Whateley posted:The classic solutions are the Ikea Expedit or Billy. The problem is they're so well-known that everyone will take one look and go "oh you went for the white Expedit, huh?" I love my Expedit since it's also my wall. You can find them on Craigslist for a bit of a discount when people are moving.
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Jan 6, 2014 19:34
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photomikey posted:I'm a landlord.
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Feb 16, 2014 17:14
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Ashcans posted:You just need to go all in and decorate as if you are actually living in a fortress. Tapestries on the walls (that will cover those conduits!), throw down a fur rug, hang a coat of arms over the fireplace. That would be my immediate reaction to that room, too.
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Mar 26, 2014 20:16
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Ive never had a CL roommate, but one of my friends had two and is still super good friends with both of them even after they moved out for various reasons. A coworker had a less pleasant experience with her CL roommate, who paid the rent on time and cleaned but was into some shady stuff on the side. All of these were women, so I don't know how different it would be for CL dudes. I actually found housing through Reddit, and though I didn't end up living in a roommate situation, I had an offer. Being able to trace a person online certainly gives you a decent impression of the kind of person they are, and adding that to the normal meeting up and talking about stuff should hopefully alert you to any red flags.
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Jun 27, 2014 22:59
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I like Apartment Therapy, though they tend to stick mostly to whatever's trendy at the moment (currently modern, clean lines, everything painted black or white- not my style at all, but if you like that, you're in luck!). There are still other styles sprinkled in there, though. Check out a bunch of things and pick what you like.
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Aug 3, 2014 01:48
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If you're a student and he's a musician without a day job, getting a 1 bedroom and dealing with a bit of crowding is the better idea. Live cheaply until you're out of school, especially if it's your nest egg in jeopardy, not his. He doesn't get an extra bedroom for his music stuff if he's not paying for it. I say this as someone who also moved to a very expensive location with a nest egg and had her ex spend all her money within two years. I live in Los Angeles so I imagine your savings will last longer, but still. Protect yourself and live cheaply until you both work full-time.
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Aug 3, 2014 21:10
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Every lease I've had defaulted to month-to-month when it expired. The only time I was given notice was when the landlord told us a few months before it expired that we'd have to leave when the lease was over because he wanted to sell the place. If they wanted her out, they'd just say so. If she wants to renew, she probably can, though they may not let her if she has a history of late payments.
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Oct 20, 2014 23:38
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So you're going to keep all your stuff (including food) at your place and then just sleep at your friends' places? If you're doing it to avoid housing drama, that implies that you'll keep busy all day/evening doing something else to keep away from the house, right? So why not just stay out and then keep sleeping at your house? Where were you planning on showering? If sleep is the only issue, buy some earplugs and stick it out instead of bothering your friends. I'd be pissed if my friends had a perfectly good place to live and wanted to stay at my place because they didn't like their roommates.
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Nov 7, 2014 17:19
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Drunk Tomato posted:Yeah, as a person who also lives in a city that's hard to rent, you need to be prepared to sign the lease right when you finish touring the place. Like, before you get back into your car. This. Bring all your info and a blank check. I print out a rental resume and everyone I've shown that to finds it incredibly impressive that I have one at all, let alone what's on it. The only apartment I wanted that I missed out on was the time I didn't have my checkbook on me.
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Nov 18, 2014 17:35
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Yeah, curtains make a huge difference. I've heard of people hanging quilts from their windows to keep the heat in, and you might be able to do that with a tension rod if your landlord is really strict about holes in the wall for a real curtain rod.
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Dec 9, 2014 16:45
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I have a question about my shower. I live in an apartment with included utilities so I'm pretty sure that means my water can be affected by other apartments (correct me if I'm wrong), but it's been worse lately. It's always had low-ish pressure and a thing where turning it to shower mode still has the bath faucet going (often very strong, so it wastes a lot of water). Sometimes the temperature is really erratic and will jump from scalding to freezing several times in the course of one 10 minute shower. I shower at night, so it's not like it's prime hot-water-usage time. My apartment lost hot water last night and maintenance came in while I was at work today to fix it, and now the shower pressure is down to almost nothing. Are these problems that could have a quick fix through basic maintenance, or do they sound like something that just happens in a place where all the pipes are connected? Ideally, I'd like a consistent pressure with a consistent temperature and the ability to take a shower without running a bath at the same time, but I don't exactly live in a high-class apartment and don't know how much they can fix.
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Dec 24, 2014 05:19
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Awesome, I'll bug management about it after the holidays. I kept shrugging it off as it being a 1920s building but enough is enough.
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Dec 24, 2014 14:49
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Have you shared a link to the Craigslist posting in your city thread on SA or a city subreddit? I actually found housing through reddit before, as weird as it seems- it feels a little less anonymous when you can look through someone's post history.
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Feb 6, 2015 23:15
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Yeah, that's bullshit. I lived in a condo the owner was trying to sell, and he didn't give my roommates and I 24 hours notice. It sucked, and we only had to live with it for two months and didn't have to pretend we didn't live there. If you already offered to move early if your lease was broken and the landlord turned t down, I think it's time to put your foot down. No visits without a full 24 hours notice, period. After you don't allow entry to the first couple of sellers that the landlord "forgot to mention," I bet the landlord will reconsider breaking the lease early.
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Mar 16, 2015 19:37
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Skunkrocker posted:I think you guys aren't seeing what I'm saying. By the time an eviction actually goes through my lease is up anyway. So what is their end game to evict me? Either way I have to leave. I'm confused. Evictions show up on your credit report and will make it really hard to find anywhere else to live, so maybe don't be dumb about it.
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Jun 23, 2015 02:44
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I had something similar happen and moved too far away to battle it, so good luck to you. Sounds like you're going about it right and you have the right plan for future places.
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Jun 26, 2015 15:05
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Robo Boogie Bot posted:What exactly is so stressful about buying a mattress? I just bought one a few weeks ago and it was....fine? We knew our budget before going in the store and had no problem sticking to it. Seriously. I just walked in and said "I'm looking for a queen around $200" and they showed me a queen around $200. Had this happen for both mattresses I bought, and they both delivered for free. I did also go to no-name furniture places in not-rich neighborhoods (I wouldn't even say "sketchy"), so I imagine there's more hustle in nice places.
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Jul 5, 2015 19:21
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I just moved across the country with U-Pack and was originally quoted $3600. They knocked off $1000 when I made it terminal-to-door instead of door-to-door, plus $50 because it was for a job that wasn't compensating me. I called back to cancel because it was too expensive, and they gave it to me for $1800 door-to-door. Dude who brought the cube was super nice and made sure to wiggle the thing in the most convenient way for loading from my apartment. I get my stuff next week so we'll see if any thing's broken, but I was fine when I did my last cross-country move with PODS (in 2010 for $2k because I didn't know prices were flexible) so I imagine it'll be okay. Pretty happy with the whole process so far.
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Aug 20, 2015 14:50
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I think it depends on the landlord. I lived on the first floor of a building owned by a couple of UU hippies and they were awesome. Super sweet and brought us treats sometimes if they had leftovers. Once we had a loud party that ran late and they told us later that they didn't say anything because "You never have people over that late and we wanted you to have fun."
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Sep 15, 2015 18:19
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FISHMANPET posted:So maybe this is a weirdly specific edge case question, but does anyone have any experience as a married couple having a roommate? Because reasons my wife and I might be having a close friend move in with us. My wife and I have lived together for 5 or 6 years, always just the two of us. I've had roommates before, but obviously this is sort of a different situation. Just wondering if anyone had any anecdotes on how the house dynamics could change or anything like that. I did this. I think it's like any couple plus one situation, which is pretty normal but if you have a normal roommate disagreement it'll always be two against one, which can cause some problems if you're not careful. If any of you tend to be passive aggressive, it's probably not the best idea, but if you're good at communicating and not holding grudges it should probably be fine.
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Oct 8, 2015 02:37
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My biggest moving tip regardless of distance is to pull everything out of your closets/cupboards/drawers etc. and put them out in the open. No matter how little you think you have left to do, if there's stuff hidden away, you have a LOT more left than you think you did.
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Oct 16, 2015 14:07
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