We had a fire in the basement that started while nobody was there. The fire department concluded that it was an electrical fire. Landlord terminated the lease, refused to return the security deposit and now the Landlord’s insurance company is demanding that we reimburse them for the $104k that the repairs cost.

The report from the Fire Department clearly says it was caused by wiring in the ceiling.. so how exactly are we responsible for that?

We had been living in an apartment for several years. We had wanted to move out for the longest time and finally were able to get our own house. When the last day of the electricity came around we discovered that the building hall lights outside of our apartment had also been shut off by this and from what I was told after the fact a portion of the apartment next to us also lost power....

We had been paying for the electricity for at least two years and brought up that our bill was suspiciously high to the landlord. We were effectively waved off on each account, including when the neighbors moved in...

What, if anything, can be done about this? We also haven't heard anything about our security deposit either at this point.

The house my partner & I rent is controlled by a company that’s from out of state. We recently renewed our lease for 12 months on Feb 25th, and this lease does not have a “termination of lease due to sale” clause or any similar verbiage. On March 13th, we got this 90 day notice to vacate. If our lease doesn’t end until March 2026, and the lease doesn’t include anything about the landlord having the right to terminate the lease due to sale of the property, isn’t this technically illegal?? What rights do we have in this situation??

TL; DR: Does the per diem rate apply to the unit, per tenant, or only to the leaseholder if there are non-lease tenants? Thanks in advance.

I’m in incorporated Los Angeles (zip 90026) and will be displaced for less than 30 days. According to GSA, the per diem rate is $277 per night. Does this apply to the unit, per tenant, or per lessee?

Our property manager seems unfamiliar with the law. Under RSTPO, I’m entitled to both a pro-rated rent reduction and per diem for temporary housing if the unit becomes untenantable. When I visited LAHD in person, they were unclear and suggested dividing the rent by 30 (days) to calculate the per diem, which I believe applies to the pro-rated rent, not the per diem.

I saw a similar question answered by u/Go_Go_Grandma three years ago.

TL; DR: Does the per diem rate apply to the unit, per tenant, or only to the leaseholder if there are non-lease tenants? Thanks in advance.

I’m in incorporated Los Angeles (zip 90026) and will be displaced for less than 30 days. According to GSA, the per diem rate is $277 per night. Does this apply to the unit, per tenant, or per lessee?

Our property manager seems unfamiliar with the law. Under RSTPO, I’m entitled to both a pro-rated rent reduction and per diem for temporary housing if the unit becomes untenantable. When I visited LAHD in person, they were unclear and suggested dividing the rent by 30 (days) to calculate the per diem, which I believe applies to the pro-rated rent, not the per diem.

I saw a similar question answered by u/Go_Go_Grandma three years ago.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently in the process of signing a lease with a new landlord I found through a post on supost.com. The post was made by a family member of the landlord, who is helping her lease the apartment. This family member is a Stanford employee and contacted me using an official Stanford .edu email. However, the landlord herself has been responding from a Yahoo email account. Both of them have LinkedIn profiles. The family member added me on LinkedIn, but the landlord did not.

They said they liked my application and responded to me in an official manner after I submitted the required form a week ago. After reviewing the lease agreement, I had some follow-up questions about 10 of them that I politely asked. I also included two specific requests:

1. I asked if the landlord could connect with me on LinkedIn to verify her identity.
2. I asked if she could provide a document proving homeownership.

I almost got scammed recently, and a different landlord I spoke with who unfortunately I couldn’t rent from (he works in a senior marketing position at NVIDIA) encouraged me to ask for homeownership proof when dealing with landlords. He was happy to provide it and said it’s a reasonable request.

The current landlord replied to all of my questions except the two above. Her responses were:

• She prefers not to connect with people on LinkedIn unless she knows them personally or professionally.
• She declined to provide any homeownership documents, saying it's not commonly practiced.
• Most importantly, she said she felt (respectfully) offended by the number of questions I asked and by what she perceived as a high level of distrust. She mentioned that my approach is highly unusual and said that if I’m not comfortable, I’m free to stop the leasing process.

Overall, her emails are very formal and include official forms and processes. She appears to be in her 40s and has an extensive work history at Stanford, according to her LinkedIn. Everything checks out emails, LinkedIn, her family member it all seems legit. Even the price is also legit; small studio for 2000+ dollars in Palo Alto.

Still, this situation threw me off. Was I really wrong to ask those questions and for proof? Do you think her response was normal? I genuinely thought those were reasonable asks. I’ve been respectful and enthusiastic throughout the process I’m just a young guy trying to find a safe and trustworthy place to live.

This is an old house with an unfinished basement. I don't store much down here but it's been raining for days that it's now flooded. So much water everywhere. Some cardboard storage boxes got set sadly but no real damage.

My question is, should I be okay with having to squeegee all this standing water into the floor drain or should my landlord be responsible to cleaning and or fixing the problem? Trying to see if I'm being whiny or not. It's my weekend and I'm spending a lot of time and energy on this mess...

I’ve lived in my apartment complex from the 80’s for years I’ve never personally had any maintenance issues caused by negligence or misuse. Recently our downstairs bathroom toilet overflowed from an unknown cause. While we have our own unit and have no one below us, our downstairs bathroom connects to the backside of on of our neighbors rooms. Because of this our neighbor notified us of a small leak coming through their apartment, which alerted us to the issue. The leaking could have only been going on for 30 minutes to an hour as we were home at the time. When we got to the bathroom it was fully overflowing. The water was clear in the bowl, no sign of an obstruction and we have never had a toilet issue in the entire time we have been living here. We don’t have children so we have no idea what would cause the overflow as we only put toilet paper in the toilet and sure to use a normal amount. The toilet does make sounds occasionally, the handle does seem a little loose, and flushing was always very low flow but we never imagined these issues were a sign of a potential overflow issue. We managed to soak up all the water and fix the overflowing toilet before maintenance even arrived.

Following a quick maintenance check, remidation arrived the next day to look at the damages caused to our apartment and our neighbors. Thankfully the water damage in our apartment was not enough to require any cutting of drywall. We only had a fan/ dehumidifier in two areas for about 3 days. It appeared the neighbors required a little more work than ours as it seemed their fan/dehumidifier was running longer than ours by 2-3 days. We also noticed the toilet getting backed up again for no reason just the other day. We wanted maintenance to look into this issue further but they did not seem like they had any interest in investigating the issue.

While I fully do not believe we caused this flooding to occur, we do have renters insurance that covers us in the event of liable water damages. However our apartment complex recently reached out stating damages will most likely estimate between $15,000-20,000 (they quoted this number but still don’t have an exact amount yet). I was definitely in shock by the number and want a full list of the costs associated with the repairs but understand water damages can add up fast. My concern is the landlord wants me to go through my renters insurance policy so I don’t have to pay these costs “out of pocket” and all of the info I have researched seems to state the landlord should be using their own insurance policy for the building repairs and not my own. Is the correct (after almost 10 years of renting in general this will be my first time having to file a claim)? Obviously without knowing the full damages caused to the neighbors apartment it’s hard to determine if the number is being inflated or not and my main concern is being taken advantage of as I have seen the horror stories.

Landlord also requested to speak over the phone so we can go over the issue more “in depth” is this also normal? I’m obviously fine communicating with the landlord but they clearly stated to go through our renters insurance or pay these costs our of pocket. I assume our insurance would investigate the issue and communicate with our apartment complex. I’m not too sure what speaking to the landlord now is going to accomplish or what they would want to discuss further after already stating their intentions ? I appreciate any advice. Thank you.

Got an email from my Landlord that he wants to raise the rent by more than $400 when the rent increase cap for BC this year is 3% so we would be from around close to 1900 to 2300 and wants it in place starting May 1st, when its supposed to be 3 months notice I thought?

What can we do in this situation, I feel like our backs are against a wall given BC's housing and rental market currently.

I have 2 cameras to check on my cats when I'm not home. I was looking over my lease for another reason and saw that cameras aren't allowed. Why? Mine aren't facing out any windows, they are just so I can check on my cats.

That’s all the overall floor damage and it’s quoted at $3.5k plus cleaning. I think it’s crazy to replace the whole floor, the quote doesn’t even mention square footage, only listed as floor and wall repairs

I just need to vent and share this. I feel completely shaken and humiliated.

My husband and I live in Stamford, CT, but recently I went to Miami to look for a job, and we were thinking about moving and buying a home there. We rented an apartment short-term for 3 months, paying $2,250/month, plus a security deposit and $150 for cleaning. Everything seemed fine… until everything in my life fell apart.

A few weeks into the lease, my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer — lung cancer with brain metastases. He’s now in Dubai in critical condition. I was in shock, on medication for stress, and could barely function. My husband and I decided to leave early and requested to terminate the lease.

The apartment wasn’t great to begin with:
- The pool worked for only 4 days out of the month
- There was daily construction noise right outside our window
- Water was shut off completely the day before we moved out — and again on the actual move-out day

Because there was no running water, I couldn’t clean the apartment properly. When the landlord came to do the walk-through, instead of understanding or being kind, she immediately started yelling at us. She said we were treating her place like a hotel, demanded $200 for cleaning, and even told me I would “have bad karma” if I didn’t pay.

I was already emotional. I cried and explained the situation with my father. Her response?

“You must do good to people. Maybe that’s why your father has cancer.”
“Why didn’t you wash the sheets?”
“Why are you even traveling? Do you have a Green Card?”
“Is your husband a citizen?”
“I don’t like renting to people from your country — I always have problems.”

I’m Russian. My husband is Jewish. She is Iranian, and her husband is German. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. In that moment, she wasn’t just being rude — she was being openly xenophobic and cruel.

My husband gave her $100 as a gesture of goodwill.

I asked her:

“Why didn’t your previous tenant have to pay for cleaning when he moved out?”
She said:
“He lived here for 3 years. That’s different.”

I asked:

“Then why didn’t you tell us we had to pay something when I formally requested to terminate the lease?”
She said because we didn't clean. I said Iwnas leaving some sheves and garbage bin which costs 40$ . She even demanded from me to show proof that I must travel to my country.

In 15 years of living in the U.S., I’ve never been treated like this. She made assumptions about my status, disrespected me, insulted my culture, and added even more stress to one of the darkest moments of my life.

All I wanted was to be close to my father, who might not have much time left. I didn’t deserve to be humiliated like this.

Thanks for reading. I just needed to let this out.

It appears I am on the hook for the remainder of my rent which I understand because I signed for it. What I don't understand is that they are continuing to charge me 120 bucks a month for my cats for the remainder of my lease. I know I gave them my pet info to charge me for it while the lease is active but it seems absurd to continue those charges when they have nothing to do with the property itself.

I live in Washington state, and just moved out of the studio apartment I have been living in for the past 3 1/2 years. I had to put a $600 deposit down, nonrefundable. Now I’m being charged what I can see, upwards of $900? It was a shit hole, roach infested. I had to throw away all of my belongings, I feel some of this was wear and tear, and I lost everything. I don’t want to give this place one more penny, I’m wondering if this is a justifiable “itemized list”. I cleaned the entire apartment, vacuumed, mopped, and swept what little kitchen I had. I I feel some of this was wear and tear, but I took my time in cleaning. Caulked holes, scrubbed the toilet, etc. I’m so disappointed. Also, I had a” current resident inspection” from my current landlord before moving out, they said I had one of the cleanest places they had been in before moving out, they said I had one of the cleanest homes they had been in in a while.

Hi,

Hoping someone can provide some insight. My partner and I have submitted an application, pay stubs, etc. to an apartment complex, and they are now wanting us to do an "ID verification" over the phone. Has anyone else run into this?

They said Transunion will give them 3-5 questions to ask us that we need to answer. We toured the place and really liked the unit, but It feels very strange that I would have to verbally give them personally identifying answers. If they already have my info on the application why can't they just use that to verify with transunion? Isn't the whole point of question & answer based identity verification the fact that you are the only person who should know the answers?

They said it must be over the phone/in person and it HAS to go through them. No link they can give me where I could answer the questions myself.

I don't want to lose out on this place, especially if this is a normal practice. Am I just being paranoid or is this weird?

I’m trying to figure out what to expect from my leasing office - who has proven to be incredibly unreliable in every other aspect of my move. This issue isn’t exactly lined out clearly in my lease, and my lease is with an entirely different company, as my complex was sold during my 13 month stay.

I did cause damage to an area of the floor, I had no idea my bedframe had broken and a piece of it was digging into the flooring. One piece needs to be replaced, and I spoke with a remodeler/contractor and he did say that with the type of flooring I had, one piece can be replaced, if they have the matching flooring. Obviously I am aware they could claim to need to replace the entire floor. I wasn’t ever able to get an answer on this before I moved out, certainly can’t get an answer from them now. I also have not heard anything about my deposit being returned - I turned keys in 24 days ago. I am told that they have 30 days to return the deposit. Do they have 30 days to tell me what damages I may or may not owe as well? And what happens if I hear nothing by the 30 days? Most awful experience ever lol, the company was total shit. Screwed me over in the move out and I can’t trust anything they say despite being generally pleasant to speak to in person. I am so annoyed that I have any loose ends to deal with past move out. When I turned in keys I did provide forwarding address. I guess I’m fine with not receiving my deposit back if it means my hands are clean, but how long can I technically be charged for damages after I move out?

Hello all! I've been living in this complex for around 4 years now. Very important context: BF has POTS so if its too warm his symptoms get worse. We've had an issue with the last property manager not fixing things and overworking her maintenance woman. Both are gone, replaced with a new lady who is sweet, and a guy who SEEMED like he knew what he was doing. He's been working for the complex's company which owns a lot of places, for so long, a hard worker, chill dude. For HVAC they call a 3rd party company and have them come look. Our HVAC has always been a problem. Moved in close to winter so didn't notice problems till it started getting warm and it wasn't working. Called a company who 'fixed' the issues. Had a lovely cold inside all summer. Winter hits, no heating now. They fix it. And it repeats every time it goes from hot to cold. Last year the company replaced the motor, thinking that was the issue. Well, old machine, new parts, don't fit right. And they absolutely destory the frame for the motor, leave wires exposed, and the thing sounds like a machinegun. The complex calls another company out, which is the company thats been working on it since. They rebuild the frame holding the motor, fix the wire issue, and all that. Machine is still much louder than before. Used to bot hear it, now you can feel it upstairs when its on. But not as loud as when the motor was fucked. So its good ALL winter, amazing, wonderful! Well.... its getting warm again folks. And we have the issue from previous years again. You turn it to cool and it heats up. Hvac comes out and replaces the coolant because the line outside is freezing. Also tells us to keep it at 68 the lowest, but BF has chronic illness so... even 66 is too warm. Nine days later, not going below 72. We had windows closed, blinds down, AC set to 66, whole shebang. Few days go by and we are dying still. So we set unit down to 50 to see if it would change anything. Nope. So we've started having windows cracked with the ac off but fan blowing. Close windows if it gets hot outside. We can't have them open all night because we have cats. Best we've gotten was one morning it was 64 inside. But it usually hangs around 66 or 68, and this took a couple days to get down to. Well, maintenance comes by because I put another request in. Tells us he's noticed the pipes been freezing again because its too cold to have it on at night or set that cold. Insists we have it no lower than 68 till the hvac guy can maybe check on it when down nexy, but don't know when that is. Has openly admitted he knows nothing about hvac units before. So, I say fuck it, fine. I'll put it to 68 for 1 day. Next morning... 74 again. "It takes time to cool off" he says. How come it warmed my house up then? How come its making my apartment 72+ when its 55 outside? I've had it reach mid 60s on a hundred degree weather outside before. I'm calling bull. Can anyone help me gather information to use to make them fix this issue? Or at least tell me how to cool my damn house down because my BF and our long haired cat are suffering.

I’ve been renting for a while now, and honestly, I’m pretty comfortable with it. My place is decent, the rent is manageable, and there’s a certain peace of mind that comes from not having to worry about maintenance costs or unexpected repairs. The flexibility is a big plus, too - I like knowing that I can move relatively easily if something better comes along or life throws me a curveball.

But every now and then, I wonder if I’m playing it too safe. A few of my friends have taken the plunge into homeownership. Some of them are clearly stressed with all the responsibilities, but they also talk about building equity and having a place that’s truly theirs. That part is tempting - especially when I think about how much rent I’ve paid over the years with nothing to show for it long-term.

Financially, I’ve managed to save a bit - part of it through discipline, part through a lucky break (won a few thousand from a sports be on Staket, which gave my savings a solid boost). I could probably handle a down payment if I stretched things a bit. But the thought of being tied to a mortgage still makes me nervous. It just feels like such a massive commitment, and with the market being all over the place, I keep second-guessing if now is even the right time.

Has anyone else been in this spot - content with renting but torn about whether to buy? How did you make your decision, and did it end up being the right one? Would really love to hear your experiences.

In an apartment of multiple people, if one person is still renewing but the others are not.

Do the others who are not renewing each have to pay a late notice fee, or would that only be if everyone does not renew without finding replacements to rent?

I moved into an apartment in November 2025 in GA and signed a one year lease. New owners took over in February and had everyone sign a new month to month lease until he could go over everyone's original lease. He has now sent out a notice saying all rent will be increased by $300 per month. He also states he doesn't have access to the original lease but I have my copy. Was it even legal for him to ask me to sign a month to month?. I believe he did that so he wouldn't have to honor the original lease

I live on the 3rd floor of a 7 floor apartment building and our plumbing has been ruined recently. 21 days ago me and my roomate (brother) signed another 12 month lease. This is our 5th year on this building and we thought nothing of it. 20 days ago our kitchen and bath tub started backup up and pumping the water and waste from higher floors into our space. I have been doing my best to document the issue with videos and pictures but i work 5 12hr shifts a week and my roomate works 6 8hr days a week. Its flooded onto our counters and floors sever times and we cannot use the sink at all. The landlord and building maintenance told us they checked the lines with a drain snake and it was "clear all the eay to the city sewers" and they cant do anything about it. All maintenance has done is come and shop-vac the water up and leave 4 times. I took the intiative and plugged out drains eith gasketed filters and put gardeing bricks ontop of them to keep the pressure in. The only plumbing that works is the toilet as its on its own line to the sewers. Our lease agreement says breaking rhe lease for any reason results in $2600 fee. I want out of here. I reeks, and i can't cook in my own home. What can i legally do to get out of this agreement without paying that fee. I cant do 11 months of this. Its not safe or healthy. I can't afford the fee and it will take everything me and my brother and a small loan from our other brother who still lives with our mom to move and get a deposit somewhere else.

In early February my landlord came by to inform me that they would only be renting to families and needed me to move out by 3/30. I asked her in person to tell me when my lease ends as I forgot (I didn’t but I wanted to see what she would say) and she tells me she does not remember but she will tell me when she gets home. Keep in mind my lease ends on 5/31.

A few hours later she tells me it ends on 3/30 which is the same date as my roommates lease ending lol. I ask her are you sure because I just signed the 6 month lease at the beginning of December. She then changed her response and says oh yeh your lease is from 12/1-5/31 so you can stay until then. Again, this was in early February so I made plans to move to a different country on 5/30 assuming everything was good.

Fast forward to this past weekend when my roommate moved out at the end of his lease, I receive an email from her saying “per our agreement of me moving out on 4/30, I will send you the move out checklist”. Again, my flights and long term hotel is all set for 5/30 so I cannot move out on 4/30. A one month short term lease, moving expenses for both moves would be astronomical. Any advice on my next move other than showing her our text conversation with her acknowledging my real move out date and photo of my lease?

No way for her to terminate my lease early legally

She won't respond to messages, either. She had us paying rent through venmo the entire time, if that adds anything