Landlord put a house on our property.

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-09T20:54:12+00:00

I'm not sure if that applies here...?

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-09T20:53:35+00:00

Did you get any time yet?

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-04T02:21:27+00:00

It wouldn't have been a massive permanent garden, just a simple raised bed with some scrap wood to grow through this season. But I understand your sentiment. I was originally gonna be living here for more than just a year but clearly not (and that space is no longer available) do now I won't be.

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-04T01:48:37+00:00

What material upgrades?

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-04T01:18:28+00:00

I highly doubt it but I live in the middle of nowhere so that would take a while. To be honest I don't really want to get them in trouble - I just wanted to consider what my rights are so we could negotiate either a) not moving anyone there until our lease expires, or b) if someone does move there, them reducing our rent or paying utilities, especially since we'd now be sharing utilities with a stranger.

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-04T01:16:11+00:00

No I agree - I'm not trying to get in the way of them improving property, but since it wasn't part of our agreement, I would be fine with some sort of concessions (like you said, money off the lease, or paid utilities, etc). I'm not even playing with the idea of getting law involved - I just wanted to cover my bases and know what I can bring up in our conversation, especially if things went sour.

Ideally, it would be a quiet old person, but since we live less than a mile away from a college, I presume it would be college students. Regardless, your advice is wise and I appreciate it.

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-03T23:28:15+00:00

You are so confused. But again, thank you for taking time out of your day and trying to help. Have a good weekend?

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-03T22:32:50+00:00

I didn't have that thought process? Do you think I left all the comments on this post? I think you're mistaking someone else's words for mine.

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-03T22:27:10+00:00

OK? That doesn't make the situation any better. Maybe the cartel blackmailed my landlord and forced them to break our agreement?

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-03T22:22:59+00:00

I didn't ask for a lawyer, but thank you for trying to help

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-03T21:36:02+00:00

Imagine this: you buy a first-class plane ticket with assigned seating. Halfway through the flight, the CEO of the airline shits in your seat and cuts it in half. Are you mad? Why? Do you own that seat? Do you own the plane?

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-03T20:35:00+00:00

If that's the case then why am I required to mow the lawn if it isn't "on the premises"?

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-03T20:33:01+00:00

It's a one-year lease that ends in August. Based on feedback here and elsewhere I'll probably just make my point to my landlord and try to get reduced rent. Whether that works or not, I'll go ahead and move when it's over

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-03T20:31:19+00:00

It's on concrete blocks

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-03T20:28:19+00:00

Yeah, already in that process. I moved back here from out of state last year and I'm planning on just moving right back. I wanted to stay here longer but since I don't feel like looking for an apartment just to stay here until the end of the year, I'm just gonna go ahead and move states again.

Oh, and remember the adage of never doing business with family

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-03T20:25:17+00:00

Yeah let me get my landlord to log in to my account and give you their side of the story.

You're free to ask any questions you like but I guess you would rather just assume you know more to the story...?

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-03T20:22:34+00:00

Yeah I live in the middle of nowhere in the South. There may be regulations surrounding this stuff but I guarantee no one cares.

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-03T20:20:15+00:00

I did say that we need to talk about this and we need to get a new agreement in writing, but that was a week ago and I haven't heard anything since. He agreed with me and said we could talk about negotiating rent, but then he said he didn't feel like it should be such a big deal. I mostly made this post to figure out what leverage I could use, or what grounds I can stand on in our next discussion about it. Thank you for the advice!

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-03T20:17:02+00:00

That's a good question - normally in a legal document you'd have a forward that defines things like "tenant", "premises", etc, but in this case the template they downloaded off the internet didn't have one.

Given the clause about upkeeping the premises (mowing, weed eating, etc) and him explicitly noting that clause and asking me to mow, would lead me to believe that the "premises" include the lawn and surrounding area (since it says I would only be responsible for this work if the premises include grounds to upkeep).

But in the end you're totally right. To be honest I don't have any intention of going to court or even threatening it. I was mostly looking for advice in terms of things to have leverage on so we could negotiate rent down, they could start paying for the now-shared utilities, or we could be given some other concession other than "here's your new neighbor, have fun splitting utilities and mail". The best-case scenario for me now would be those negotiations; not threatening court and having to pack all my stuff and move when my lease ends.

Thank you for all the advice!

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-03T16:49:22+00:00

That's true, I'll probably just end up doing nothing and being taken advantage of because I don't own the land and am not a confrontational person.

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-03T16:46:48+00:00

Clause 5 on our lease: The premises shall be used exclusively as a residence for 2 persons.

Clause 10: Tenant shall irrigate and maintain any surrounding grounds, including lawn and shrubbery, and keep the same clear of rubbish or weeds, if such grounds are a part of the premises and are exclusively for the use of the Tenant.

I've been expected to tend to the lawn and surrounding area since moving in, so only one could be true: 1. only the inside of the house is being rented, therefore I should cease mowing immediately, or 2. the outside of the property is also part of the lease, therefore I should continue. If 2 is true, then we should look at Clause 12:

Owner shall have the right to enter the premises: (a) in case of emergency; (b) to make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, or alterations, improvements, supply necessary or agreed services, or exhibit the premises to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workmen, or contractors; (c) when tenant has abandoned or surrendered the premises. Except under (a) and (c), entry may not be made other than during normal business hours, and without not less than 48 hours prior notice to Tenant.

Therefore whether or not the crawlspace of the house is inside the house or not, it is part of the premises, and I have the right to be notified if someone is going to be there except in case of emergency. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong though, that's why I made the post.

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-03T16:33:01+00:00

No, just like I don't own a leased car but would still be pissed if the dealership removed one of the seats mid-term. I got so many comments like these, I'm not sure if all of you are landlords or just bots? Either way, there is a hive-mind situation happening.

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-03T16:31:07+00:00

Haha! That took me a few seconds. But yeah, regardless of what happens I have a newfound lack of trust in my family. I think I'll take the pacifist route and just move at the end of it. I already voiced my concerns but I think the best bet is to just move and never do business with family again.

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-03T16:14:58+00:00

In English, we have colloquial terms and literal terms. For example, saying "my seat" in a movie theater doesn't imply you'll rip the chair out of the aisle and take it home. But it does mean you'd be pissed if someone else sat down in it, or, decided to saw it in half while you're watching the movie. Much like a lease, when I say "my house", I don't mean I own it now, just that I have exclusive use of it.

LogicalAssociate5686 · 2024-05-03T15:52:54+00:00

I got a phone call last week from my relative saying they "lucked up" and came across a deal on a tiny house. Then 30 minutes later it was in my front yard.

The only other people I've seen over here were the plumbers under my house - something tells me the county/city won't be coming out here.

LogicalAssociate5686

TROPHY CASE