Today, I’m totally inspired by landlords. I’ve worked at the Tenant Resource Center in some capacity, since 1991. I’ve been a volunteer (91 – 93), the volunteer coordinator (93 – 94), a board member (94 – 95) and the executive director (95 – present). I often tell my volunteers and people who attend our seminars that every time I think I’ve heard it all . . . something new comes up.
So, I’ve asked the staff and volunteers to come up with their old favorite stories, and I’ll share some of those with you, and then I’ll add the new ones as the come up. Here’s my two stories from last week and this week.
Last week – A landlord was holding the tenant’s mail hostage until the tenant paid the rent. Um . . . I think there may be federal charges there. When I told this story to a room full of people, even some of the landlords groaned.
This week – The landlord filled out a court document (Summons and Complaint) and made it look all official, except, they filled in the Date and Time of the “hearing” themselves and filled in the “Place to Appear” as their office instead of the Court House.
These two stories are just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. I know one of my favorite stories was the landlord who attended a seminar who asked why they couldn’t do things like they did when she was in Texas. There, if the tenant didn’t pay the rent, they just would remove the toilet seats and lightbulbs so the tenants couldn’t use their apartments.
One of my other favorite stories was a Verona landlord that was pissed off because the tenant had called the building inspector. So they gave the tenant a 5 day notice. The landlord actually put in writing that “The electricity and water will be shut off until you pay the rent witch [sic] has not been paid.” Yes, that’s illegal.
Stay tuned, we’ll keep you entertained, if nothing else and hey, maybe if you’re a tenant, you’ll learn a thing or two about your rights.
And if you have tenant/landlord questions you need to ask, feel free to call one of our housing counselors. 257-0006 (Dane County) or 1-877-238-RENT (outside Dane County)
