Have you ever wanted to kill your landlord?

-- Mo (moira@diarist.net), August 10, 1999

Answers

Yes, and for the very same reason, Moira!

We had a gaping hole in our dining room for FOUR MONTHS!!! IN WINTER!!! Later, I found out that I could have withheld rent until it was fixed...bet that would have gotten them to fix it a lot faster.

Now, my parents are my landlords. And of course there have been occasions where I have been angry at them, I've never thought of killing them. And they don't bug me about the house upkeep or the rent payments or anything, so it's cool. Then again, I've never been late with a payment. That would probably be bad.

-- stasi (stasi@jps.net), August 10, 1999.

Moira,

In Minnesoata, the landlord is required to give you the rent increase notice in writting. This notice needs to be delivered the same number of days in advance that you have to give the landlord your notice to vacate. Thus if you are on a month to month lease, she has to give you a minimum of 30 days notice. If she is raising your september rent and has not given you a notice by now 8/9/99, you may have grounds for small claims court or rent withholding. The rent witholding is a tricky business, you must establish an escrow account with the rent money that you are witholding. You really need to seek help from a local agency that deals with the subject of landlord and tenant rights and responsibilities.

-- uwe (uwe@uswest.net), August 10, 1999.