Issues with landlord
Hi,
We have been renting house in Albany to be in a good school district. The house we rented was newly remodeled and was nice. The landlord is a young couple, though unsure of the nature of their relationship as her comments on him have changed over time. The house was owned by people who purchased it just to remodel so they can sell it for more. I have always noticed that the remodeling work was merely done to make house "look nice" without investing money sufficient money and work.
After living here for over 6 years, our bathroom wall paint started to peel. The peeling was clearly caused by poor painting job. The bathroom has the greatest ventilations and never once had to clean any meldews. This bathroom was also only used by our son who wasn't taking shower daily.
The house did have some leaking issues in the kitchen ceiling, and my son's room that was next to the bathroom has always smelled moldy. After a long rain last winter, my son's room and the bathroom wall had some heavy moist showing. Fearing for another leaking issue, I contacted landlord to come see. They concluded that it was due to humidity that we caused by not opening the windows and instructed us to leave the windows open for at least an hour daily as a solution. During the visit, I showed her the part the paint was starting to peel off in the bathroom which she didn't really acknowledge.
It was looking ugly for a while which made me decide to repaint the small area. While at it, paints on the another wall was loose. Almost entire wall of paint peeled off when I pulled without any force. When it reached the ceiling, I realized the work needed was much more extensive than I can handle. When she saw it, she became angry and accused me for "damaging the wall" and that lease states to prohibit from repairing without written consent from them. She brought in many "professional painters" to get estimates and had them come in to complete the work. From the beginning to end, she did not allow me to speak with the painter at all. The painter ended up repainting the whole bathroom at end. She was here the entire time of the work. Now she's demanding us to pay the entire bill of $1300 for the 'damage" I caused. It's clear that the part of the work was preventive measure for any further peeling. The painter will not talk to us, and have no way to prove what work was actually done at this point.
Do I really have to pay this entire fee? It's very upsetting as we've been a great tenant that never paid rent late or complained about anything. Any advice is appreciated.
Parent Replies
I'm not a landlord but in my opinion painting a wall is definitely not 'damage' and isn't considered 'repair'. That's normal maintenance to me and it's not uncommon for paint in a bathroom (or any room for that matter) to peel after 6+ years. Unless the fan is broken humidity shouldn't be a problem and you shouldn't have to keep a window open for an hour+ each day. You did your part by mentioning it to them previously and they ignored your request/concern so it's not surprising that you would tack it yourself. You're in a fight no matter what you do. I agree you're not responsible for the new paint job and fighting it is an option but you'll have to be OK with any repercussions (increased rent, hostility etc). My advice would be to tell your landlord you'd be willing to pay but first you want to talk to the painter and get an itemized bill for your records. I wouldn't be surprised if she paid some random guy off the street $20 to do the job and she might back off after your request. You could also call some paint companies and ask for a quote to repaint an XX square foot bathroom to compare costs. I haven't repainted a room in a while but $1300 seems high. Either your way you're in a sticky situation.
They used a painter - licensed contractor in Richmond called Home Reborn (licensed general contractor) who landlord referred as a "professional painter". I did call to speak with them but they refused to give me an itemized bill as they did not want to be in between our issues with our landlord. At this point, "damage" is the landlord's subjective opinion. The entire decision with the repainting the whole bathroom (they ended up painting the entire bathroom "to match the color") was kept away from us and was done solely in secrecy. I don't know if it's worth hiring an attorney to fight this - for $1300. Any advice would be appreciated.
You might try asking the Alameda Rent Review staff to help you. this fee might be considered a rent raise and would be subject to review. That said, it sounds like your housing providers may be in over their heads. They probably bought the place without thoroughly checking it and paid top dollar. That means their mortgage is high and they may not have planned much margin for additional costs. Maybe the rudeness is coming from them feeling overwhelmed and unsure how to handle this.