Hello all!
This is my first time to the site, and I found it when searching tenant and landlord agreement laws. This will be a rather long post, so please bear with me.
My boyfriend and I are renting a duplex in Norman, Oklahoma. We moved in on August 5th. There were many repairs that needed to be done to the house, plus a roach infestation from the previous tenant. The previous tenant also left quite a bit of trash behind, which we were told would be removed before we moved in... which was not. Among the repairs needed: a bathroom door (we didn't have one), the front door would not shut unless it was dead-bolted, the fridge needed to be re-sealed (bugs kept crawling in), half of the lights in the house didn't work... you get the idea.
My landlord's maintenance crew (2 men) came to fix the house the week after we moved in, and only fixed two things, and said that they didn't have enough time to fix everything and that they would be back the following week. Long story short, it's been almost two and a half months and the repairs still haven't been done, no matter how much I've asked the landlord.
Now, I was leaving for my office this morning when I found a notice on our front door from the city claiming that our water was going to be disconnected within 48 hours due to non-payment. Immediately, I went to check our lease, and it clearly states that our landlord is responsible for the water, garbage and sewage. The rest of the utilities are our responsibility. I e-mailed our landlord to ask about this, and my landlord simply replied that our lease is the same lease that they use at their apartment complex that the property company also manages, and that they only pay water for the apartments, but not their duplexes... my landlord apologized for the mistake, and told me that it was my responsibility. The landlord also told me that she would call me later today... it's now 6:15 in Oklahoma... no phone call or e-mail after this.
My question is: because this was a mistake, what rights do I have as the tenant concerning the issue? I have the lease with me, that also has my landlord's signature on it. Even if this was a "mistake" on the landlord's part, if the lease would have been done correctly in the first place, we would have transferred the water service from our previous address. Instead, we had to cancel our account. Now, it is going to cost hundreds of dollars on our part because our landlord made a "mistake".
What should I do??
This is my first time to the site, and I found it when searching tenant and landlord agreement laws. This will be a rather long post, so please bear with me.
My boyfriend and I are renting a duplex in Norman, Oklahoma. We moved in on August 5th. There were many repairs that needed to be done to the house, plus a roach infestation from the previous tenant. The previous tenant also left quite a bit of trash behind, which we were told would be removed before we moved in... which was not. Among the repairs needed: a bathroom door (we didn't have one), the front door would not shut unless it was dead-bolted, the fridge needed to be re-sealed (bugs kept crawling in), half of the lights in the house didn't work... you get the idea.
My landlord's maintenance crew (2 men) came to fix the house the week after we moved in, and only fixed two things, and said that they didn't have enough time to fix everything and that they would be back the following week. Long story short, it's been almost two and a half months and the repairs still haven't been done, no matter how much I've asked the landlord.
Now, I was leaving for my office this morning when I found a notice on our front door from the city claiming that our water was going to be disconnected within 48 hours due to non-payment. Immediately, I went to check our lease, and it clearly states that our landlord is responsible for the water, garbage and sewage. The rest of the utilities are our responsibility. I e-mailed our landlord to ask about this, and my landlord simply replied that our lease is the same lease that they use at their apartment complex that the property company also manages, and that they only pay water for the apartments, but not their duplexes... my landlord apologized for the mistake, and told me that it was my responsibility. The landlord also told me that she would call me later today... it's now 6:15 in Oklahoma... no phone call or e-mail after this.
My question is: because this was a mistake, what rights do I have as the tenant concerning the issue? I have the lease with me, that also has my landlord's signature on it. Even if this was a "mistake" on the landlord's part, if the lease would have been done correctly in the first place, we would have transferred the water service from our previous address. Instead, we had to cancel our account. Now, it is going to cost hundreds of dollars on our part because our landlord made a "mistake".
What should I do??
