Having a problem with my landlady.

Jessica1173

Hi,

My husband sent an email today to our landlady about a maintenance issue without telling me what he was going to say beforehand, and she came by today without any advanced notice. The main problem is that whenever she comes she is telling us how our apartment is so messy and that we need to keep the apartment clean because that is what our lease says. I usually clean the dishes early in the day, but she came pretty early at like 10. I had cleaned the day before for a couple hours. I mopped the floors and did the dishes and all that. The dishes were messy today, but all the dishes were from last night and this morning. I was going to get to them later today. I know that is not good, but it was not like they were there for days. I try not to leave food lying around and I am not a hoarder. There are no bugs. We have no pets.

The frustrating part is that even when I do clean for hours and really think things are spotless she still complains about our apartment not being clean enough. It is really frustrating. I grew up doing chores. I regularly did dishes, cleaned my room, and other household activities. My son is five and my husband just got out of surgery two months ago for a spinal problem that caused paralysis in his limbs. He is still recovering. He still uses a walker, so he cannot help with cleaning as much as he wants, and I am not going to spend the amount of time of a part time job to keep our apartment perfect.


So, how picky are landlord's and landlady's allowed to be? I am in a lower tax bracket housing, so I get a discount on rent. She says she is like this because of government standards, but when the previous landlady ran the apartments we never had these problems and I don't remember putting so much time and attention into our cleaning. If you are over a certain cap you are no longer in the tax bracket. Our house does have some clutter, but it is not garbage, just some clothes and books lying around. Could that be the problem? Does she just not like us? We have improved in our cleaning a lot in the past year or so, and it seems like she is giving us no credit for the improvements we have made.

There is not a maintenance man right not, but even when there was they were not on top of the maintenance issues we would give to them unless they directly relate to the value of the apartment, like a broken door or a leak. They have not fixed one of our showers that is plugged up and they have not fixed it even though we told them about it months ago. Also, it took them a really long time to fix our oven even though they knew it was not working. It took them a week to get to a clogged toilet.

This is really stressing me out and making me quite angry because even when I do try my best it is not good enough. It is very frustrating. I know my housekeeping is not perfect, but I don't think it warrants a constant level of criticism either. She is like the cleaning Nazi or a cleaning gestapo.

What would you do in this situation?

Personally, I just want to move out, but we are planning on moving next year, so we would only be living in wherever we go temporarily. Right now we cannot afford to go where I want to move.

Jessica1173

I apologize for the long post, but this has really been bothering me.

pinkraynedropjacki

If that was me I would have told her to come back at a time when she has given you notice to make sure the maid has done a spotless job for her & at a time with more advanced notice.

crimsontech

Check your lease and make sure she even has the right to complain. So long as your mess isn't damaging the property (as in, stuff that remains after your move your stuff out), or directly impacting other tenants (attracting roaches, creating a smell, having a mess out in public view) then I don't see that it's any of her business if you want to have clutter.

michael1976_ca

i'm sorry i have dealt with way to many pesky land lords in my life. she just sound nosey and a very picky person you can't please her probly never will. just ignore her and agree with her. she shouldn't be comming in all the time any way. when i lived in an aptment they came in to check the fire alarm that was about it

luckydays27

Your landlord is required to serve you notice before he or she enters your property. In most states its 24 hours, unless there is an emergency (you need to verify this for your state).

If your landlord feels the place is dirty such that there is a lease violation, notice must be given for you to correct the violation. Your landlord can say what ever they want but until notice is served that you are violating your lease terms, you cant be evicted. If you are served notice for having an untidy apartment, take a picture, clean it up, take another picture and dont worry about it.

Lisa1971

Check your lease and make sure she even has the right to complain. So long as your mess isn't damaging the property (as in, stuff that remains after your move your stuff out), or directly impacting other tenants (attracting roaches, creating a smell, having a mess out in public view) then I don't see that it's any of her business if you want to have clutter.

This.

Target126

As far as I am aware, as long as the place is not totally trashed a landlord/landlady has no right to say anything about the tidiness/cleanliness(lack of) of a property.

I recommend that you have a good read of your lease/tenancy agreement................ if your landlady has such a rule in place will be in there (if you do not have a copy of this then your landlady is breaking the law), it should also say what period of notice she has to give you before coming round (typically a minimum of 24 hours) and she must specify a time that she will visit and if she turns up at a different time you have every right to tell her to reschedule/come back later, even if you have requested that she come over she still has to give you a time that she will come, she can't turn up whenever she likes and she cannot make you let her in (she may own the property but it is your HOME and you are entitled to privacy)

Some_Watery_Tart

I'm a landlord. Honestly, I don't care if the house is cluttered, but I'm pretty touchy about smells and large amounts of dirt. What really I care about is if it's clean and ready to go when they move out. It could be that your landlord is just a nitpicky lady with nothing better to worry about. I wouldn't sweat it unless she starts making threats.

And I have no idea what income bracket could possibly have to do with anything....

_TastySnoBalls_

Stand your ground. Know your sh** ( read the lease, familiarize you're with laws and such) and tell her off with your knowledge (no foul language required). Good luck!

Ed98043

Our house does have some clutter, but it is not garbage, just some clothes and books lying around. Could that be the problem?

I look at houses for a living (real estate appraiser) and I can tell you that clutter and disorganization can make any house look messy regardless of how "clean" the surfaces are. So to answer your question, yes - clutter could be the problem.

Other than that, I know that people have vastly different ideas of acceptable levels of cleanliness. I've been to houses where people told me they'd been cleaning for days in anticipation of my visit, and it still looked like a bomb had gone off. Maybe you and your landlady just disagree on what constitutes "clean".