Other Tenant InformationTo skip ahead, click on the topic you are looking for: |Basement/Cellar Apartments| |Bugs| |Cleaning Scams| |Finding Your Landlord's Address| |Heat and Weatherization| |Late Fees| |Pets| |Rent Increases| |Retaliation By a Landlord| Basement/Cellar Apartments In an attempt to maximize profits, many landlords illegally rent out cellars as apartments or bedrooms. A cellar is defined as having 50% or more of the outside walls below ground level. This is different from a basement where more than 50% of the outside walls are above ground. A basement can be legally rented, but a cellar must meet specific minimum standards before being legally rented. Because of potential health and safety hazards, most cellars are illegal living spaces. The State code says, "No room in the cellar... shall be occupied for living purposes." The only way a cellar can be legally rented is if it has received a variance from the local housing or health department. It is difficult to upgrade cellars to meet the minimum requirements pertaining to light, ventilation, weatherproofing, emergency exits, heat, and sound transmission. To find out if your unit has a variance contact your local housing bureau. If your cellar apartment has no variance, your landlord is illegally renting it. You may be able to use this knowledge to your advantage to negotiate rent reductions or to get out of the lease. Be aware that if you contact the housing department, there is the possibility that the City will declare the room unlivable. In that case, you would be entitled to compensation from the landlord, but you may also have to move.
Moving into a Dirty Apartment: The Ann Arbor City Housing Code states: "No owner shall permit any vacant dwelling unit or premises to be occupied by new tenants . . . unless such dwelling unit, rooming unit, or premises is clean, sanitary, and fit for human occupancy." (Housing Code Chapter 105, Section 8:508.) State law has similar requirements. It is the landlord's responsibility to provide the new tenant with a clean home. If you move into a dirty apartment or house, contact the landlord by phone and in writing asking for it to be cleaned immediately. Chances are, either the landlord will not do it or it will take too long for you to have to wait before you move in. The most expedient solution may be to hire someone to clean it or clean it yourself and deduct the cost from your rent. If you clean the apartment yourself, keep receipts for supplies and charge a fair rate for your labor. Take the cost out of your next month's rent. Write your landlord a letter explaining that you are entitled to a clean apartment and therefore you are reimbursing yourself for having to do the work yourself. Cleaning Waivers: The Ann Arbor City Housing Code prohibits cleaning waivers. However, landlords and tenants may agree to have the tenant clean the unit in exchange for something of value. It is up to you to negotiate with the landlord for what that something may be. Often a landlord will allow you to move in before the lease starts, if you are willing to sign the cleaning waiver and relieve him or her of their duty to clean. Any agreement you work out with your landlord should be in writing. It is illegal for your landlord to include a cleaning waiver as part of your lease, without any compensation for giving up this right. Cleaning Fees: If a landlord asks you to put down a refundable deposit for cleaning, it is probably illegal. Cleaning deposits are the landlord's attempt to get around the security deposit law. Any amount of money paid in advance that is refundable is considered a security deposit; security deposit money cannot be used for cleaning. (See our information on Security Deposits.) If you sign a lease with a refundable cleaning fee, you can deduct it from your next month's rent. Send a letter stating why it is illegal and keep a copy of the letter. Non-refundable cleaning fees have been upheld in court, although you can try to negotiate the amount of the fee before signing the lease.
Heat: Under the state Administrative Code, your heating system must be capable of heating every room to 68 degrees Fahrenheit, three feet above the floor and two feet from the exterior walls. If your home is too cold, you can withhold your rent. (See our information on how to withhold rent.) In Ann Arbor, if a dwelling is cited three times during the winter by the Housing Inspection Department because the heating system will not maintain the required temperature without portable heaters, corrective action (e.g. storm windows, insulation, additional heating capability) may be required. Therefore, it is essential to register complaints with the housing department. (For more information, see our section on Housing Inspections.) Weatherization in Ann Arbor: If you pay the heat bill, then you need to know about the 1985 City ordinance, "Weatherization as Responsible Maintenance" (W.A.R.M.). If you pay the heat bills or pay the landlord for the heat in addition to your rent, your landlord is required to provide basic weatherization. You can obtain a copy of the ordinance by clicking on the link above, or at the Housing Inspection Bureau office at 100 N. Fifth Avenue. Under W.A.R.M., the landlord has the duty to caulk and weather-strip all doors, windows, cracks and gaps to the outside and insulate the attic to an R-30 insulation grade. However, if your unit was insulated prior to April 1985, it can have R-19 insulation. There are some exceptions to this rule, such as when the landlord pays the heat or lives there, or if the tenant is subletting. The landlord is also required to give an estimate of the average heat bill for the year to prospective tenants upon request. (Section 8:524.) If your home is not properly weatherized and you are paying the bills, it is time to give your landlord some heat. Write your landlord a letter requesting weatherization compliance within a week or so. If you have already paid some heat bills without the proper weatherization, sit down and compare your heat bills from before and after the place was weatherized. Deduct the difference from your rent. Write your landlord a letter explaining how you came up with these numbers; include copies of the bills.
Late fees must compensate--they cannot penalize. If you think the late fee you are charged is too high, do not pay it. Send your landlord a letter stating that the fee is too high and does not approximate actual damages, and thus you do not have to pay it. (See our Sample Letters--Disputing Late Fee Charge.) Your landlord may try to evict you for non-payment of rent, or deduct the remainder of the fee from your security deposit. However, if your landlord does this, you can challenge it. (See also our information on Evictions and Security Deposits.) Early Payment Incentives: An early payment incentive is when the landlord charges tenants one rate if they pay the rent on time and a "reduced" rate if they pay early. This is a late fee in disguise. Double late fees are illegal and unenforceable. If you are being told you have to pay one of these late fees in disguise, or a double late fee, consider refusing and writing your landlord a letter stating that the fee is too high because it penalizes instead of compensates.
Retaliatory rent increases are rent hikes intended to punish the tenant for asserting a legal right. For example, it is illegal for a landlord to raise the rent in retaliation against a tenant for registering a complaint with the local housing department. In the case of a retaliatory rent increase, a tenant may withhold the amount of the increase from the rent payment.
Michigan law (MCL 600.5720) prohibits landlords from evicting tenants for asserting their rights. Landlords may not retaliate against tenants who: * seek repairs and maintenance from the landlord Prohibited forms of retaliations include: raising rent, cutting utility services, or evicting tenants. If your landlord is threatening you, call the police. The state law can be especially helpful to a tenant whose month-to-month tenancy is terminated in retaliation, or if the tenant is receiving federal subsidies. However, in most cases it does not cover tenants at the end of a year lease when the landlord retaliates by refusing to renew the lease. An exception to this is if you live in public housing, where the landlord must have good cause to stop renting to you. Contact your tenants' rights organization or an attorney if you think you are being retaliated against, even if it is near the end of your lease. To return to the Michigan Tenants Counseling Program web site, click here. Information, Not Legal Advice. We are providing this information as a public service. We try to make it accurate as of the date noted in the materials. Sometimes the laws change. We cannot promise that this information is always up-to-date and correct. We do not intend this information to be legal advice. By providing this information, we are not acting as your lawyer. If you need legal advice, you should contact a lawyer through your local legal aid organization. Always talk to a competent lawyer, if you can, before taking legal action. E-mail. Viewing this web site, or sending an e-mail message to the Michigan Tenants Counseling Program or other legal organization through this web site, does not create an attorney-client relationship between the Michigan Tenants Counseling Program or other organization and you. Sending e-mail to an attorney mentioned in this site does NOT create an attorney-client relationship between you and the attorney. Unless you are already a client, your e-mail may NOT be protected by the attorney-client privilege. Also, unless it is encrypted, e-mail can be intercepted by other people. Deadlines are extremely important in most legal matters. You may lose important legal rights if you do not obtain an attorney immediately to advise you. Many people do not check their e-mail daily, and some attorneys do not respond to unsolicited e-mail. Lawyer Advertising. This web site is not intended to be advertising or solicitation. Hiring a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based on advertisements. Before hiring an attorney, you should investigate his or her reputation and qualifications. Links. Some of the items listed here have not been prepared by us, but are instead "links" to information prepared and posted by others. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of information posted on other sites. The links are not intended to imply that we sponsor or are affiliated or associated with the people who created those sites, nor are the links intended to imply that we are legally authorized to use any trade name, registered trademark, logo, legal or official seal, or copyrighted symbol that may be reflected in the links. |
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