LANDLORD PROBLEMS!! Can't get mail, no paycheck, late fees on bills, can I withhold?

[Seattle_Stranger]

Hey all, I'll keep it short. We've all had piece of shit landlords...

We live in a 4 unit building, and it recently got broken into (common spaces only). Landlord changed the locks, but forgot to give USPS a copy, so they've been unable to deliver the mail. In said mail, is my wife's paycheck. It's been over two weeks now, and LL is HARD ignoring all of the tenants, regardless of our calls, texts and voicemails. We even saw LL at the store a week ago and she claimed to be "on it" (even though she tried to duck us when she saw us). Now, bills are past due and my wife not only has all sorts of late fees tacked up, but her credit is now affected as well (something we've been working very hard on).

Can we at the very least withhold the late fees from the rent?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Xorkoth]

If I were you, when you get the mail finally, just don't pay rent late fees that you're being charged. It's your dumbass landlord's fault, if she wants people to pay rent, she shouldn't prevent people from receiving their paychecks. On the other stuff, man, that sucks. Your credit card won't care, probably. But I will say, years ago on one of my first credit cards, I had an extenuating circumstance, not the same but it resulted in me not having money when I was supposed to. I called the CC company and explained and they told me they'd waive the late fee one time only, and it disappeared from my credit report after it all caught up. So it's worth a shot.

Have you started receiving mail yet? That's bogus and I'd imagine your landlord could get in trouble somehow if it was pursued, it's her responsibility and as a result of her negligence you are suffering financially. It wouldn't be worth pursuing legally (if you had a case - I'm no lawyer I'm just guessing), but if you could approach her, especially if other neighbors affected could join you, you might be able to make her feel bad or nervous enough to do it (nervous like, oh man these people might get me in trouble if I don't do this).

 

[Seattle_Stranger]

Thanks for the reply!

My wife, my neighbors and I have all been calling calling calling texting texting texting and not a single damn reply. At this point, it would be natural to think "Shit, is she like, dead or in the hospital?" but to add insult to injury, my wife called 3 times in a row, and one time LL accidentally answered (she was clearly trying to hit "ignore"), we heard her voice in the background, and then she hung up. Called again, no answer. So, she's doing this on purpose. We haven't been rude or outwardly upset yet, but our texts and voicemails have grown increasingly stern. Isn't she interfering with a federal service? My end goal here isn't to get her in trouble, but at this point, it's like WTF is your problem??? These kind of people deserve to, and should be punished.

This is not her first stunt either. Took 2 months to replace an oven, we had to pay for take-out the whole time when we normally cook to save money. Took 3 months to repair a broken dryer, one of only two shared between TWO whole apartment buildings, ignored the shit out of us on that one too. Ironically, when she finally fixed it, one of the washing machines broke now, and the other doesn't spin cycle so you can't fully dry your clothes. She even forgot what day of the week it was, and when our lease had ALREADY STARTED, she was ignoring our calls to get the key because she was convinced we wanted to move in early, and when she finally answered to literally call us annoying, you could hear her husband in the background saying to her "Uhhh, yeah no it's the 1st, you need to give them the key...". This list goes on and on, and the shittiest part is that we know even if we move out, it doesn't get much better elsewhere. Landlords can be REAL scum. I couldn't imagine acting so ignorant to people who not only pay me thousands of dollars every month, but also depend on me for a humane living environment...I just can't see it.

Anyway, thanks!

 

[SiCc]

I had a slumlord once that wouldn't fix broken things he promised to fix after we moved in, and etc... Long story short, in the state I live in (Ohio) I was advised to hold rent payment and to take pictures of all the problems my slum lord should be dealing with. He threatened me with eviction. After the 2nd week after not paying rent he came and fixed the problems and I gave him rent and he never ignored me again for the rest of our lease.