How-to Monday: Help for renters -- and landlords
Sun photo
What can you do if the heater in the apartment you're renting conks out this winter and your landlord won't fix it?
Or if you're facing eviction and need to know your options?
Or, for that matter, if you're the landlord and your tenant is driving you to distraction?
A local group has answers.
Baltimore Neighborhoods Inc., a nonprofit that works statewide, has a tenant-landlord counseling arm that offers information to renters and rental owners alike.
"The majority of the calls we get on a regular basis, day to day, are rent court issues," said Stephanie D. Cornish, program manager for the tenant-landlord counseling department. "The process for eviction, security-deposit issues, breach-of-lease issues, right of entry ..."
Heat is another frequent topic this time of year. Local laws across the state require that rental properties have a working heating system.
If you're renting a place and the heat goes out, Cornish recommends notifying the landlord immediately -- and in writing. "Normally a landlord is allowed at least 30 days to make a general repair, but hot water and heat being essential services are not things they can wait 30 days to take care of," she said.
It's not always a quick matter to get a contractor in to fix a furnace, she notes. Landlords should make accommodations for renters in the meantime if it's freezing -- setting up radiator heaters that plug into the walls, for instance. (If your landlord's not doing anything for you, call your local housing inspectors to complain, Cornish suggests.)
Baltimore Neighborhoods got more than 330 calls about "essential services" last fiscal year. Some were from landlords who were hoping they could, say, shut off the water to deal with a nightmare renter. (For the record: No, Cornish says. In fact, it's a misdemeanor in Baltimore City and Baltimore County to deliberately deny essential services.)
In her opinion, there aren't many true slumlords around here. "But there are bad landlords, and there are good landlords that are about to turn bad," she said. "And some of that's about the tenants."
In October alone, Baltimore City landlords filed about 13,000 requests to evict tenants for non-payment. Yes. Just in October. But only about 400 evictions came of those requests, mainly because renters came up with the money in time to stay put.
You can reach Baltimore Neighborhoods' tenant-landlord counseling hotline at 410-243-6007 or 800-487-6007. The group also sells a guide to landlord-tenant laws. (Most of the buyers are landlords.)
"People should take the time to understand what the laws are and how they work," Cornish said. In these housing-slump times, when it's easier to rent than sell, "There are a lot more people becoming landlords than getting out of the business, and there are a lot of people becoming landlords who have no clue of what the laws are."
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Comments
Jamie-
Good article!
Did I dream this... Your paper recently reported that the the State earmarked $75M in funds for owners of affordable housing to get subsidy for work like this. I think it is stupid money, condsidering we could use that money to give away 7-8000 free houses in the city if people could afford the taxes. This could eliminate the vacant housing stock the city owns, produce jobs, increase tax base, and oh yeah free NEW housing.
Also, where is the news that interest rates have fallen well below 6%?
Posted by: Christian Dunn | January 7, 2008 12:37 PM
Housing Bubble Blog, WTF?! Why do you promote this site? Doesn't that show your slant. Nisha is a bitter girl with something to prove. Yet you have promoted this site and it has picked up readership exponetially. Do you know her? Lately, very little on this site has anything to do with the Baltimore real estate market, and even less the city (it really has never been worth while for the city).
This person has a huge slant, she works hard to only find the most negative articles, is that your thing?
BTW: I had my most successful open house EVER yesterday (I do 1-2 every weekend for two years. All of the buyers were amazed at the price of the home... Got an offer later that day. Currently working with three offers. I haven't been this busy in two years.
2008 is the year. Interst rates are hitting rock bottom again, prices have fallen dramatically (at least in trendy city neighborhoods). Get in on it!
Posted by: Christian Dunn | January 7, 2008 12:58 PM
Christian, I think you're confusing bubble blogs. I link to this one -- run by Ben Jones in Arizona, according to the profile -- because it's nothing more or less than a compilation of news articles about the housing market. That's it. I thought people who don't have time to read about news across the country might be interested in excerpts.
You didn't dream about the state announcing that it would help refinance subsidized housing owners, including the cost of repairs. I wrote about that last November, if memory serves.
As for interest rates -- I usually don't report on them, whether they're going down or up (with the exception of the Federal Reserve cutting short-term rates). I'd be happy to do that if readers are interested.
Posted by: Jamie Smith Hopkins | January 7, 2008 1:06 PM
I didn't have heat for about two months after it got cold, and I tried calling Baltimore Neighborhoods, but I always got a busy signal during their business hours. I guess they can't keep up with the demand for help.
Posted by: Erin Mendell | January 7, 2008 1:50 PM
Erin, I noticed that too. (I waited a bit, tried again and got through on the second try.) I hope your problem has been fixed -- if not, call your local housing inspectors.
Posted by: Jamie Smith Hopkins | January 7, 2008 1:56 PM
Hi Jamie,
very nice and balanced articles you write - keep up the good work.
Posted by: Don Grant | January 7, 2008 10:08 PM
There aren't many slumlords in the city?? As someone who represents lead poisoned children, I can tell you there are many slumlords in the city - people who refuse to put the necessary money into properties to make them habitable, while milking them for rent as long as they can. If BNI can't help you or answer ir their phone, call ACORN (and no, I have no affiliation with them) and the housing or health department, and a lawyer.
Posted by: N/A | January 7, 2008 11:40 PM
The heat did finally get fixed. The inspection office was really nice and helpful on the phone, but then I had an appointment with an inspector and she never showed. It was in Decemeber, though, which is a busy time because they have all these end-of-the-year inspection things to take care of.
Posted by: Erin Mendell | January 11, 2008 3:04 PM
Hi! I'm John Strass and i like your site!
Thank you!
Posted by: vacation | January 29, 2008 5:04 PM