<p>So I recently asked a question about my lease/landlord and have another question.</p>
<p>We got a letter today stating that our heat was to be shut off due to the landlord not paying past due bills (in 10 days). In our contract, he is to pay the heat and it says it there.</p>
<p>So what do we do? I really want out of the contract, and was hoping this could be considered a breach of it. I’d rather find another place to live.</p>
<p>One of the other tenants also got the letter a few days ago, but we got ours today. Do we actually have to wait for heat to be turned off? Its still cold here, its March but its upstate NY.</p>
<p>Do we have to notify the landlord (apparently the other guy did already). How many times? I’m kind of hoping this will be my golden ticket out of this nasty place, but I want to make sure all my bases are covered.</p>
<p>Did you talk to the Ithaca office that regulates and helps renters? This guy needs to have his track record on file before he scams more unsophisticated undergrads. Did you pay the rent for March yet?
My advice is to get a lawyer to send a notice on his legal letterhead to the landlord. This is usually enough to put him on notice that it will be expensive to mess with you.</p>
<p>You are in Ithaca? Snow could be up to your eyeballs at any minute. What about the health department or similar government agency? I did not live off campus during my stay in central Siberia, but I know that in NYC if it is below a certain temperature the land lord must give heat, and the tv news will be there showing how awful the guy is if he persists at that (call tv news too). I am not sure that the utility can cut you off either in the middle of winter, but there probably is someone who can help you with that (call the utility.) How about legal aid at the Cornell Law school? I went elsewhere for law school, but there were students at that student run legal aid to help students. Perhaps they can advise you as to your rights to withhold rent, move out and sue in small claims court, or whatever, but don’t do self help things without some legal advice.</p>
<p>I am sorry for you. There are some really lousy landlords, who pull this type of stuff. I think they prey on students. He probably is stiffing a lot of other people too. Way back when my sister had a horrible landlord, and the place was uninhabitable in the winter too. I think he was reported to a number of authorities, but what did he care because he was in Florida. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info - I will let them know, I never even thought about that. </p>
<p>We have sent them a letter stating we will not pay rent until we have a letter that our heat won’t in fact be turned off. If it does get shut off we do plan on going to some legal help center, to basically send them something saying that we are now going to look for another place and no longer consider the contract valid.</p>
<p>Well the letter stated that unless we have an illness of sorts, they can turn off the heat in March. If we had an illness it would be in April. The heat went on very early in the year (it was HOT) because the minimum temp it has to be on at is pretty warm in my opinion. It was actually snowing here just this morning.</p>
<p>I just want to kind of move on - my last landlord was great this people make us feel bad for things so I just want to stop doing business with them. It’ll be cold for a few days until we can leave (I can take showers at a friend’s place) but it would otherwise be for our benefit, the sooner we can stop dealing with them the better.</p>
<p>The letter was from the landlord regarding March or April? or from the health dept or other government agency? It would seem arbitrary to specify a month rather than a temperature, and this doesn’t seem correct to me. March 1 in Ithaca is cold!! It seems hard to believe that this could be the law.</p>
<p>I suppose you could get a doctor’s note that you need the heat on. For example, I have raynaud’s phenomenon, and if it too cold my hands turn blue and get numb. Even though it is called a “phenomenon”, it is not that uncommon. There are other illnesses triggered by cold (like asthma), and might require indoor heat. Just because you are in Ithaca doesn’t mean you have to live like a prospector in the Yukon. </p>
<p>The letter was from the heat/electric company. They said it would be turned off 10 days after the date on the letter which was Feb. 26. The guy downstairs got it too. It seemed to say that only if we were ill would it remain on (by law) until April 15th.</p>
<p>When we told the landlord it was too hot in the beginning of the year (unbearably hot - I thought my dogs were going to get heat stroke when I came into the apartment!) they said by law it has to be on when it is XX degrees out (I forgot the exact number). </p>
<p>I would guess that means they have to legally put it on at a certain temperature, but it is legal for the provider to shut off the services after a certain date.</p>
<p>If you are a Cornell student you should contact their off campus housing office. I spoke with the director last year, she was very helpful on the phone.</p>
<p>Ditto. Check with some of the available resources to find out what is required. This can not be the first time this has ever happened to someone.</p>
<p>Withholding rent is one option. Sometimes it is the best course of action. However- in Ohio it must be done certain ways to be legal. Withholding rent without meeting those specific conditions gives the appearance the tenant is a deadbeat and just wants to get out.</p>
<p>Please don’t put yourself in that position. If you choose to withhold rent be sure you do it within all laws of your area.</p>
<p>Falsifying an illness is another angle too, but if you do that, you are just as bad as the landlord. I recommend you take the “high road”.</p>
<p>But, the thing is that constructive eviction varies from state to state to an extent. </p>
<p>There is no way in heck you could not have heat for ten days or ten days from now or whatever else in upstate NY this time of year at all. </p>
<p>The utilities sent you the statement, right? You have to counteract that statement by trying to get something in writing from the landlord stating that there is to be no heat for ten whole days. Then, you will have enough proof to have your lease be deemed null and void under constructive eviction but you also have to make sure it says in your lease that the landlord foots the bill for heat. Basically, have everything in writing up the whazoo. </p>
<p>Believe it or not, I was born in New Hartford, so I do know of the cold of upstate NY. Since I have lived in TN for so long, I know nothing of the rules of the heat and stuff, so I looked some stuff up for you. </p>
<p>Every state in our Union has rules like this ^ </p>
<p>HUD might have some more rules listed also. </p>
<p>Good luck, S0ad </p>
<p>I had to leave an apartment a mite bit earlier than I expected due to something similar as well as some really bad crime. So, I totally emphasize with you, man.</p>
<p>Legal eagles…can the OP pay the heat bill and deduct it from the rent or contact the landlord and tell the landlord they will “exchange” the rent with proof that the heat bill has been paid?</p>
<p>Younghoss, I did not say to falsify an illness, so I hope you don’t think I said that. I work in the medical field, and we would never do that. What I do think is that you can become sick fairly quickly without heat in Ithaca. There are lots of deleterious effects caused by cold. Who would remain healthy with no heat? Winter can last until May. (I have never spent much time in Ohio, but I was under the impression that it can get pretty cold there too.) I think the building could be damaged by lack of heat in an Ithaca winter, so I am wondering where this landlord is coming from (pipes).</p>
<p>The problem with paying the bill for utilities is that it is most likely for the whole building, and way overdue. A lot of buildings that supply heat have central heat and it can not be apportioned to work for each apartment.</p>
<p>To the OP - get help on campus to find out the heat rules, etc. Mildred, yes it is generally civilized in NYC in terms of forcing landlords to give heat. People would otherwise run the oven gas and kill themselves or blow up the whole neighborhood.</p>
<p>Gosh no, anothermom2, I know you didn’t advise Op to falsify an illness. But you did suggest Op might get a doctors’ note(post 7) even though the Op has mentioned no medical condition. What condition did you want Op to get a doctors’ note for?
You even suggested 2 medical conditions(post 7) to the Op. Those are just the facts. I express no opinion. Only re-stating your words.</p>
<p>I sure am curious though, why you defend your position about not having urged Op to falsify an illness when no one has accused you of urging Op to falsify an illness. I only urged Op not to falsify- I made no comment on your post. Some unscrupulous people might be tempted to search for a qualifying condition- whether true or not- merely to have the convenience of not dealing with the problem legally. I suggested Op take the high road.</p>
<p>Yes we could all get cold in winter in NY or in Ohio. Having no heat could cause us to get sick. But I don’t think that “I might get sick with no heat” is what the utility considers having an acceptable medical condition to require them to keep heat on(re: post 6).</p>
<p>The only thing anyone would give a darned about are the acceptable housing standards and nothing more. I posted a link to a bit of that, because every state really does have rules about that.</p>
<p>If someone has a pre existing medical condition which could grow in severity due to a lack of heat, then they could use that in order to maybe just call things a day with a thing or two on their lease after having contacted a lawyer and all of that. The elderly as a whole are usually automatically protected with that kind of thing as well. </p>
<p>But, you are right in that someone rather young and healthy figuring that they would fall ill due to lack of heat just would not even really count. Sad to say. That is why it is important to learn everything you can about the proper rental laws and all of that whenever you rent your living quarters. </p>
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<p>The laws pertaining to that are, for lack of a better way of putting things, on a sliding scale in terms of what temperature the landlord is to keep the apartment either in the winter or summer. And, every state in our union has rules about that. So, the laws pertaining to that (and much more, even) are what forces the landlord to engage in a civilized mode of conduct to the people who rent out their living quarters. The act of civility itself is not something which is an implied mode of conduct for the landlord to engage in out of the blue.</p>
<p>Mildred is right about many things. But she is only 1/2 right in her last couple of sentences in post 16. Laws are also what dictates a tenants’ code of conduct. Tenants don’t pay rent because they want to. Tenants don’t pay full rent on time because they want to. Just as a landlord has specific legal obligations, so does a tenant. Or, as Mildred would phrase it- So, the laws pertaining to that (and much more, even) are what forces the tenant to engage in a civilized mode of conduct to the people who lease out their living quarters.</p>
<p>In Ohio a landlord is not always required to provide heat. For example, the tenant can be required by lease contract to supply his own gas.(but the landlord provides a working gas furnace).
In that example, a tenant may choose not to pay his gas bill, could get shut off- and that isn’t the landlord’s fault.<br>
Laws vary from state to state, and can depend on the unit- one family home? 2 family home? 100 unit apartment building?</p>
<p>I have no reason to believe this tenant is doing anything wrong. I just wanted to show that rental laws are not in place to keep a landlord in line. Laws are in place to keep BOTH parties in line.</p>