renter's rights

[mickey]

My landlord is always arguing with me over any little thing that needs to be replaced or fixed. Our newest argument is regarding painting the inside of the condo i live in. I feel the place needs to be painted but he is refusing to paint the inside of the dwelling. He simply went up one side of one wall and didnt even finish the wall...therefore leaving the wall noticably unfinished. The paint doesnt really even match the original paint on the walls. He claims he painted 3 years ago...and his other condos havent been painted in 9 years. He feels he doesnt need to paint. When my blinds break, he tells me to tape them back up. He has only replaced maybe 5 blinds. I need to know what my rights are aS A RENTER IN mICHIGAN. HE HAS NOW PUT ME on a month to month leasing agreement with no written contract. I really dont want to move out of the area because my children attend a school nearby. What can I do regarding my rights??

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Do you have or did you have a written lease? I don't know specific laws that may pertain to you in MI, but I would venture to say that the obligations of a landlord would stem from your lease with the landlord. A month to month agreement is not a good one to have if you wish to stay in your current home since it would seem that all that is required is a month's prior notice to discontinue the agreement. Additionally, your rights may be more limited. However, if your lease was not extended and you were given a month to month as a result of this dispute which you may have been correct about then it is perhaps that a retaliatory provision might apply to you.

It's tough to comment on the matter when there is no written lease in issue. Additionally, it's unclear as to how you became a month to month tenant.

 

[mickey]

Thanks for the response.........I DID have a lease........it wasnt specific on how often a landlord should paint a dwelling........I believe we went from a lease to a month to month with no lease because he was mad that I asked for several upgrades to the condo..........but he covered himself nicely by saying that the reason we were going to a month to month was because the owner of the dwelling didn't want to sell the condo right away but might want to sell the dwelling in the future. Go figure......then he proceeded to raise my rent. This is why I am looking to find specific renter's rights for the state of Michigan.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Generally, I don't think that there is any law that will tell you specifically how many times a landlord must paint. I think that the obligation as to who is responsible for painting is stated in the lease or default by law. Let's say that it is the landlord's obligation -- It may fall upon a reasonableness standard dealing with wear and tear. Simply because it looks like it might be a nice time for a new paint job does not mean that the landlord must paint the premises. It must truly need a paint job. However, you have even less leverage when you are in a month to month tenancy because the landlord can give you 30 days notice and that doesn't help you much with the situation. My guess is that he will need to finish the job or else you may be able to abate the rent, which might only be practical here for the last 2 months of the lease since he could give you 30 days notice. The abatement would be minimal. If it was the landlord's responsibility and you gave him notice, it is possible that you could get the paint job finished, pay for it, and abate the rent for the amount it cost you. Still, it doesn't solve your problem.

The other question is whether you had any rights of renewal. That would probably be in your lease or by law if there was some type of rent regulation or standardization. I'm unaware of such in MI and might think this is the case under subsidized housing, which again doesn't seem to be the case.

Here is a link to landlord-tenant law in MI. The Attorney General's site might provide more information.

http://www.ag.state.mi.us/cp/consumer statutes/land_and_tenant_act.htm