This may be a bit long winded, so, sorry in advance.
My husband's parents have rented the same house for at least the last seven years. They have always had free run of what they could do with the house. They went as far as to move the laundry room upstairs and remodel the kitchen/family room area. They are good tenants. They keep the place looking ship shape, and well maintained. It is the perfect location for them as well. It is a few blocks from where my MIL works. Now, here is where things start to get tricky. It is an older home, and has no central air. In the summer they use window air conditioners in the bed rooms (upstairs), the living room, and kitchen. These window units are almost all on the back, and one side of the house There really isn't a whole lot of air flow through the upstairs at all. In the summer if there is no AC , even with the windows fully open, there can't seem to ever get any cross breeze, and the air starts to feel hot and heavy very quickly. When I say heavy, I mean it starts to feel difficult to breath. So in light of all that information, my in-laws landlord lost the house. Foreclosed and sold. The new owner has now made them sign a lease agreement (Something they never had to do before) which states that they are not allowed to hang things on the walls and absolutely no air conditioners. I know the new landlord has full right to have them sign a lease agreement, and to protect his investment, what I am having trouble with is that he is not allowing window units. I don't believe the man has ever set foot inside the house or knows anything about it. From the wording of the lease agreement it almost sounds like he wants them out of the house. My in-laws are in their mid 60's. I am sure that there isn't much hope for having the lease agreement changed, but do they have a legal leg to stand on? If they were to use the window units (Which are newer energy saver type units, very well maintained and working properly) in the windows could they be evicted? If you are a landlord, what reasons would you have for refusing to allow the use of window air conditioners in a home, that couldn't be seen from the street?
His parents live in Ohio, if that makes any difference.
Thanks for all of the info! I had never seen the portable air conditioners before and I will pass the info along. We are going to go and visit my in-laws in a couple weeks and I would like to talk to the landlord myself to kind of get a feel for the guy. As far as I know he has never even seen the inside of the house. They do pay all of the utilities themselves. I think they have already signed the lease agreement, but I don't know that for sure, if not I will let them know they need to have a sit down meeting with the new landlord. Again thanks ladies!
Do they know they can negotiate the terms of the lease? Tell them not to sign it until they discuss this term with the new landlord. He might just have a boilerplate lease and didn't change the details for this particular property.
The landloard has every right to tell them they can't hang things on the walls, however there is a law protecting people against leases that make homes and apartments dangerous to live in. Since your inlaws are senior citizens not allowing them to have air condition can be considered hazardous. you would have to look under housing laws in ohio to get specifics
I'm not sure what you mean by "Made them sign"... The agreememnt may have been one that has standard language and was pulled from the Internet or one you can purchase at Office Depot. Did they contact the landlord and ask him to come over or discuss the agreement? It would have been good for them to do this and followup with a letter before signing so they could show and explain what they have done for the house as well as the situation with the air conditioning. The landlord may have been understanding and changed the lease with stipulations. He may be concerned about overloaded breakers and an electrical fire.....It may be worth talking to him now and asking for the walk through and a face to face meeting. He may want them out or he may be a new landlord or just not know the situation with this house. Who knows......But it's worth a shot before having to uproot and move out. If he realizes what good tenants he has, he may be willing to work with them. As long as things were safe I would. Bad tenants can be costly as is leaving a building vacant!
If they sign a lease agreeing not to use the AC units and then do, yes they can be evicted. And also held responsible for any real or percieved damage done because of their use. If I was them I would find somewhere new to live, no matter what the hassle.
Lease agreements are binding. If the landlord says no window units, they have to abide by that if they signed the agreement. I agree with others, if this landlord isn't willing to work with them, then it is time to go. Something like this happend to my parents several years ago. They lived in a brownstone condo, and the previous landlord sold the property. The new owners made the lease agreements so unreasonable (higher rent, weird stipulations), that caused all of the tenants moved out (including my parents). As soon as they did, the owner totally gutted the place and went from leasing the condos to selling them outright.
Perhaps your parent's new landlord wants to do something like that with the property? In any case, they probably won't want to stay. They should get out when the next opportunity presents itself.
If your parents still have many months there, I do want to suggest they look into portable air conditioners as an alternative to the window units. They are expensive, and I believe they still need to vent through a window, but there won't be an actual unit sticking out of a window. Maybe the new landlord would be open to this. Most major home improvement stores like Lowes, Home Depot, and Sears carry them.
To see what I'm talking about see:
http://www.compactappliance.com/Portable-Air-Conditioners...
We've owned properties before and most leases are standard. Is this the only house they own or do they own a lot? That can make a difference. If it's a standard lease for all their properties they may make an allowance for your parents. If it specific to them, maybe not. In Georgia you have to provide some sort of air conditioning...if they can't have their units, is the landlord planning on upgrading to a Central Heat and Air Unit...may be different further north but I know it gets just as hot in Ohio (maybe for not as long).
The landlord could be fishing for a higher rent from a new tenant. Have your in-laws call a real estate attorney. Usually they will give you standard info over the phone without charging you. It wouldn't hurt to try.
Sorry they are dealing with this. I wish you well.
M.
I do not know the law there, but I would suggest that they add an addendum that if they do not provide complete air conditioning for the whole home then they should be permitted to use their room air conditioners. Who pays the electrical bill? That would be an issue, also if he pays. However he ought to be grateful he has actual paying tenants. The picture thing is fairly common. I wish they wouldn't have signed a lease yet. I would suggest they do this for now and depending on when the lease is up that they start looking a couple of months earlier for a home in a similar location. Not everyone is like this greedy landlord.
Sounds like it is time to find a new place. How long is the new lease for? Is there an out clause in it so they can move sooner rather than later?
Hi,
Most states have tenants rights laws that require landlords to maintain decent temps. Such as above 65 degrees in winter. I'm not sure if it requires allowing/maintaining cooler temps in summer, but its worth looking into the laws there.
They could invest in the stand-alone floor units that they can move from room to room. My parents had to do this when my hometown created an ordinance that people couldn't put window units in the street-view windows in the front of their homes. My parents are now happier with their floor units than they were with the window units, and they were comparable in price to a lot of the window units they would have needed to cool the various areas of the house.
There are some good ideas here. As an OT, I work with older adults, and keeping in mind that your in-laws will be even less likely to want to move later on in life, perhaps now is the best time to start looking for a lower-level (1st floor) unit. If they are looking to stay in their home long-term, now would be great to look around, find a home that will suit them as they age over the next 20-30 years and provide them with the longest independence. Also, if this is how the new landlord is acting, sight unseen, I think that perhaps they may want to consider a better landlord too that won't be the source of future discomforts.
Just a suggestion, and another way of looking at it rather than a way to make a not-perfect situation work short term.
Good luck to them! (and you, who also is stuck in a way since you care!!)
Hi - I know you've already got a lot of good info, but I would want to emphasize what Traci C said. I would think a landlord would be required by law to maintain a livable temperature. I'm sure the summers of Ohio are just like the dog-days of summer here in IL and it can get HOT - and dangerous. Especially since you said there is really no cross-breeze to be had, therefore, no natural way to cool the home. With your in-laws getting up there in age they are certainly becoming more sensitive to extreme weather.
This may be a blessing in disguise. Maybe now is a great time to look for something that they will be comfortable in for the long term, and will accomodate them and make their lives as easy as possible as they age.
All the best to your in-laws (and you ;)
