Tenant's Rights Question - Help me

[itsgood1308]

I'm figuring there's a good amount of guys/gals on tbh that know a thing or two about real estate...at least more than I do. My new wife and I rented out a house in Hewitt, Tx. Everything looked good inside, from fresh paint to new floors.

One week later the problems started. The first month we noticed the rodent problem. The house was covered in them suckers. I put out rodent killer. A buddy of mine noticed steam coming up from the grass in the front yard. Not thinking he reached down to touch it and it happened to be from a live wire that used to power a yard light. He had a sore shoulder for a few days. The rats had chewed under the sink to a point that a cold air draft comes in from outside down there. Amidst other problems the property management company did a decent job of fixing these things. Last fall the house flooded in a rainstorm...we saved the floors and walls inside the house by staying up all night cleaning.

About a month or two ago the owner (who lives in California and hasn't heard about any of our problems and didn't know about the house even having a pet policy against his will) put the house on the market. So now we've got people coming into our house right and left. Our house is full of wedding gifts, electronics, and other personal items. I've taken all of my rifles to my parents house. They repeatedly show the house and only give me a 3 hour notice if that. I've sent a letter to the owner in California expressing how we'd like to just move out and go and he won't let us out because he is in a contact with the property management company. I realize the state of Texas does not require any notice for going into the home...but what can I do here?

Basically we live in a crappy house. The foundation is busted in every corner, there's rodents, and more problems surface every day. They've shown the house to over 15 couples and nothing has turned up because the house is listed too high.

I now have the responsibility for providing safety not only for myself but also a wife. We are good tenants that pay our rent ($1100) early. We are also clean people that have taken very good care of the house and even made improvements on our own budget.

Does anyone have helpful insight for us?

[MKH]

Here are a couple of sites that helped me:

http://texastenant.org/

https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer/tenants.shtml

Regarding the rodents (From the attorney general's site):

You have a right to demand that the landlord repair any condition that materially affects your health and safety. Under Texas law, by renting you the property, the landlord guarantees that the unit will be a fit place to live.

SB 1448 (81st Regular Session), effective January 1, 2010, now grants justices of the peace authority to order landlords to repair or remedy conditions affecting a tenant's health and safety, as long as the cost of the repair does not exceed $10,000. Tenants can go to justice court without an attorney to obtain a repair order.

Under certain conditions, you and the landlord may have a written agreement that you will make needed repairs. The landlord does not have a duty to pay for or make repairs if you or your guests cause an unsafe or unhealthy condition through negligence, carelessness, abuse or accident—unless the condition resulted from "normal wear and tear."

Also, the landlord must provide smoke detectors. You may not waive that provision, and you may not disconnect or disable the smoke detector.

You MUST Follow These Steps:

Send the landlord a dated letter by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by registered mail, outlining the needed repairs. You may also deliver the letter in person. Keep a copy of the letter. Be sure that your rent is current when the notice is received.
Your landlord should make a diligent effort to repair the problem within a reasonable time after receipt of the notice. The law presumes seven days to be a reasonable time, but the landlord can rebut this presumption. If the landlord has not made a diligent effort to complete the repair within seven days and you did not have the first notice letter delivered to your landlord via certified mail, return receipt requested, or via registered mail, you will need to send a second notice letter regarding the needed repairs.
If the landlord still has not made diligent efforts to repair the problem within a reasonable time after receipt of the notice letter sent by certified mail, return receipt requested or by registered mail, you may be entitled to terminate the lease, repair the problem and deduct the cost from your rent, or get a court to order that the repairs be made. You should consult with an attorney before taking any of these actions.

[itsgood1308]

Thanks for the resources. I'm afraid that when I complain about the rodent issue that the property management company is just going to show up with a bunch of pest control products like what we've already got placed around the house. Then it'll take time for the problem to be fixed. Ultimately they'll be able to draw out the process and show an effort to eliminate the problem until July.

[super_dave]

Let the management company know that you're leaving because it is UNSAFE/HAZARDOUS and give them 30 days to reply or let you break the lease. If they refuse, Better Business Bureau their tails!

[Horitexan]

Pretty good advice above!

Maybe you could write a letter or call the owner and tell him something like, "I know you're in a difficult situation because of your contract with the property management company but so are we. I want to ask you one more time to release me from the lease; otherwise I'll be forced to seek out whatever legal avenues are available to me. I would prefer to work out an amicable agreement with you but, if I can't, I will be forced to seek out relief through the legal system; and that will not benefit anyone except the lawyers."

It's possible that the owner will figure, correctly, that it will be cheaper for him to let you out than pay legal fees.

Good luck! That sounds like a terrible situation to be in.

[Horitexan]

Thanks for the resources. I'm afraid that when I complain about the rodent issue that the property management company is just going to show up with a bunch of pest control products like what we've already got placed around the house. Then it'll take time for the problem to be fixed. Ultimately they'll be able to draw out the process and show an effort to eliminate the problem until July.

Yeah, you made a mistake not reporting and documenting the rodent problem, and other issues, to the owner and management company as they arose. If you had, you would either have had the problem fixed or MUCH better grounds for getting out. Your fears are very valid.

[scdavis50]

Send the landlord a dated letter by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by registered mail, outlining the needed repairs. You may also deliver the letter in person. Keep a copy of the letter. Be sure that your rent is current when the notice is received.

X2. Whatever you do, stop calling them about it and start sending certified letters, RRR. The legal clock on relief won't start until you do this.

You should always follow up any phone call with a letter.

[itsgood1308]

I've been pretty good about making sure they get certified letters every time I have a problem. I also keep email documentation as well in addition to this. The biggest problem at this point is having random people walked through our house all week with such a small notice.

[itsgood1308]

Also some internet sources have suggested making the house difficult to sell. That'd motivate the owner to do whatever he can to get the tenant out. I don't mean doing something crazy to get evicted, but simply released. People had some comical suggestions like placing very suggestive rated R merchandise all over the house.