Does the landlord have to fix it?

This isn't for me, but my girlfriend who lives in the same building as me.

Her bedroom window has two thin sliding windows, with about three inches between them. They are old, and they were cheap when they were new and just crappy now. They have a really bad draft, and when going in to fix it with duct-tape (temporary, but cheap) around the edges... I couldn't believe it. The window will be flush with the side on the bottom, but it won't be touching the edge at the top. Basically, there are little slits around the edges anywhere from 1-3 centimeters in width. The maintenance guy came out yesterday and brought a space heater (that works very well, it is warm in there) and said that somebody else would be looking at it later (we thought the baseboard wasn't working). The other guy comes in the next day, and says that the baseboard is working (and it is), it just can't keep up as the window is on the same wall as the baseboard. He says that he can't do anything about the window, we just need to go to Walmart and get the Shrink-Wrap kit.

First of all... Is that right? I'm ready to call the company on her behalf and get them to fix it; I will not let her pay for the shrink wrap. They need to fix it. But what is "Fixed?" Will a shrink-wrap job suffice, as it should fix the problem, or do they need to replace the entire window? Is it "fixed" with the space heater, as it does warm the room up to a liveable temperature?

Any other advice?

Thanks,
Mike

Its highly dependent on where you live and the nature of the lease.

In general, the landlord must provide a place that is safe, has heat, has adequate vermin protection, etc.

The problem is that its very vague, and very subjective.

The way it should go is that the landlord steps up and provides a decent standard of living. In truth, many landlords would rather save $20 and collect a rent check.

The first apartment I rented, the landlord asked me after one year if I wanted anything changed or upgraded. I half jokingly said that I wanted hardwood floors in the dining room. One week later it was done. The second apartment I rented was a brand-new duplex, never lived in, and built by local Amish. They can build like nobody's business, but they don't pay attention to the fancy stuff like keeping mice out. We had an absolute mouse infestation... like having 10+ mice in the kitchen while we watched a movie 10 feet away. According to the white-trash, fibromyalgia-ridden, 3-packs a day landlord it was our problem. She actually asked me, "well if you had a fly in the house, is it my responsibility to come over and swat it?" She was a piece of $#!T.

Bottom line... read over the lease. It should say.

I'd say shrink wrap it to temporarily fix it, but it is up to the landlord/building maintenance to repair it. If their is a draft and everything is closed tight, there is a problem.

It also may be that it is the middle of winter and they don't want to replace the window right now.

Also read over the lease and see what it says about repairs.

If the heat is included in the rent, the landlord is responsible. That's a go to the town hall housing dept issue then.

If SHE pays for the heat, it's her problem--to a point. If water can get in, then it can revert back to the housing dept as a violation--depending on the state and city, that can be quickly taken care of, or take forever.

If the draft is coming from the window frame to wall joint--not too clear in your description--then caulk around the window. If it's coming from the joint from where the two windows panes meet, then shrink wrap is the way to go.

Fast solution, spend the $$, and get warm. Argue later with the landlord, company. It's cold, she's cold, will be miserable. buy what's needed, be a hero to her. Sometimes it's better to be comfortable but "wrong" than "right" and miserable.

Some more information on it, and clarification:

It is an all inclusive rent. There is one rent payment and no other payments.

Also, she is comfortable now with the space heater that they have provided. Does that "Fix" the problem? It certainly fixes the symptoms...

In reply to mtn:

I rented a house in Albany, NY that was built in the early part of the 20th century and it had original windows. You could feel a breeze blowing through the gaps in the windows. Since they were original and were "code" at the time of the place being built, the landlord didn't have to do anything to them. Since I was in univerity and paying for the heat, I spent the money to put weatherstripping in the gaps and plastic sheeting over them. It was $20 well spent.

Does the window have any latch/lock? if the apartment is lower than the second story, it would possibly be considered a security risk.

You cannot on behalf of your gf win a fight with the landlord. You just dont have the leverage. If she likes the place, cooperate with them. If she wants a new place, help her find one and review the lease very closely.

mtn wrote: Some more information on it, and clarification: It is an all inclusive rent. There is one rent payment and no other payments. Also, she is comfortable now with the space heater that they have provided. Does that "Fix" the problem? It certainly fixes the symptoms...

"It is an all inclusive rent." That's the key. By law the landlord must provide the apt with heat not to go below XX degrees (ask, and see the statute as to the temp in the town, it'll be at town/county hall). If providing the space heater now provides the heat, and it doesn't go below that temp, then the landlord has, indeed, fixed the problem.

Failure to maintain that temp is a violation. Go to the housing authority, and file a complaint. But, talk to the landlord first, be nice, document everything: times of meetings, what was said, how the meeting went, etc...

Acts of gods--power goes out due to storms, and temp goes down, well, that's life. Landlord doesn't want to maintain temp due to cost of oil/electricity, well, he should have charged a higher rent. The "cost of oil went up" USUALLY doesn't fly. Read the lease. If you don't understand it all completely, or it's confusing, show it to the housing authority.

How the temp is maintained in the apt is up to the landlord, but it has to be maintained.. If it's a space heater, well, the problem is "fixed" You might want to talk to other tennants and see how they are treated.

The, "Oh, it was an abnormally cold night" doesn't fly either.

Go to the housing authority and talk to them. Sorry for the long post, but been there, done that in a 48-57 degree apt for a couple of weeks, until the landlord got a healthy fine. Then all was fixed--without retaliation from the landlord, for that's another fine.

Get your girlfriend to move in with you and split the rent.

triumph5 wrote: "It is an all inclusive rent." That's the key. By law the landlord must provide the apt with heat not to go below XX degrees (ask, and see the statute as to the temp in the town, it'll be at town/county hall). If providing the space heater now provides the heat, and it doesn't go below that temp, then the landlord has, indeed, fixed the problem...

It may be fixed, but it might not hurt to try explaining to the landlord the benefits of paying a little bit now to fix the window versus how much he must be paying in energy costs to put a space heater in there. He's got to be out a lot of money in electric bills for a band-aid fix like that, and would make considerably better money if he invests in fixing it right.

If you can't appeal to someone's better nature, try his worse.

mtn wrote: Any other advice? Thanks, Mike

Set a sandwich baggy full of ice on top of the thermostat and tape a plastic bag over the window.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Since I made this post after my duct-tape and blankets over the window fix, the room has warmed up--we've turned off the space heater and 10 hours later it is still warmer in her room than the rest of the apartment, which is between 68-72.

kpm wrote: Get your girlfriend to move in with you and split the rent.

Not happening in college, and especially not happening in this building.

MadScientistMatt wrote:

triumph5 wrote: "It is an all inclusive rent." That's the key. By law the landlord must provide the apt with heat not to go below XX degrees (ask, and see the statute as to the temp in the town, it'll be at town/county hall). If providing the space heater now provides the heat, and it doesn't go below that temp, then the landlord has, indeed, fixed the problem...

It may be fixed, but it might not hurt to try explaining to the landlord the benefits of paying a little bit now to fix the window versus how much he must be paying in energy costs to put a space heater in there. He's got to be out a lot of money in electric bills for a band-aid fix like that, and would make considerably better money if he invests in fixing it right. If you can't appeal to someone's better nature, try his worse.

I'll try but its a rental management company. Biggest bunch of shiny happy people I've ever met.

I have one property I rent, so I suppose I'm a landlord. I would say it is the landlord that needs to pay for it. It is after all his property and the upkeep is his responsibility. Now getting them to do that may not be easy. Realistically, windows are pretty cheap these days, and they do help property values. I don't know what his financial shape is, but you might try working with him to get it done. By that I mean a lease extension, etc. Having a good renter means a LOT when you are a landlord.

Ethically it might be a good idea.

Legally, I can't imagine a court anywhere would require him to spend the money to fix it, if he has provided an alternative manner to maintain acceptable temperatures (space heater).

Play nice. Maybe they'll do it, but don't assume they will, should, or must.

I'll try to call and see if they will fix it, but I'm not going to try too hard. We are not living here again. The rental company has made sure of that, after my lease here is done they are never getting another cent of my money. Keep in mind, this is a rental company that operates at least 50 locations on a college campus. Their number one objective is to screw college kids over as much as possible.

Umm... might be a long shot, but I'll bet their number one objective is to be profitable.

Some of their tenants likely don't understand that.

Last time I checked, college students (as a group) were not the most respectful tenants. I have yet to see a successful management company who focused on them that didn't have to get to be very good at being hard asses.

I'll bet they have a lot of people who expect them to be their mommy.

SVreX wrote: Umm... might be a long shot, but I'll bet their number one objective is to be profitable. Some of their tenants likely don't understand that. Last time I checked, college students (as a group) were not the most respectful tenants. I have yet to see a successful management company who focused on them that didn't have to get to be very good at being hard asses. I'll bet they have a lot of people who expect them to be their mommy.

This is all true, I've just gotten a really bad outlook on it from my experiences with them. I don't ask for much. I ask for a fridge that works (took them 4 tries to get that one right), a sink that drains (3 tries), and a bed that doesn't have springs poking out of each side of the mattress--it took 30 minutes on the phone to get a new mattress, which happens to be the worst mattress ever--all of that happened in the first week I moved in. Oh, and a stove that has more than one burner. Again, first DAY. They tried to say that I broke it. I know they have to be a hard ass. But they can treat me with respect.

Also, the money handling people and the maintenance people don't talk to each other, so it is harder to make a claim that something will save them money in the long run and actually have someone listen. Another example of how something has gotten too big to work efficiently, at least in this application.