Is this "Landlord Extortion"?

[SenseIwas9]

Hi all, I have a dilemma!

I have been residing in a 2 family home since I was 9 years of age. My mom recieves Section 8 and have been since we moved in 1992. We had a wonderful Landlord/Tenant relationship. I even cleaned the yard for $25/ per month. (Severe UNDERPAYMENT since I live in Cleveland, Ohio I didn't know any better)

My family lived on the 2nd floor. My mom, sister and myself. My older sis moved out in 2001 and eventually moved back in in 2004 w/ my nephew. All temporary stays were reported to the landlord. The apartment was getting crowded and when the 1st floor was completed. (Prior tenants messed up really badly) The Landlord offered it to me. So we worked out the terms of my paying and me, sister, and nephew moved on the first floor in late 2005. We have no assisance.

HERE is the PROBLEM:

The landlord does not like my father and he moved in upstairs with my mom. Two people 2 room apartment. With Section 8, the rules say you are paying for a UNIT not by the person. The Landlord said since my dad stays upstairs that he has to pay him $200/mo. EXTRA along with my mom's Section 8 and her portion of rent. Making the total rent $700 month for a poor neighborhood, where drug dealers are a norm. I also read there are things called FMRs (fair market rates).

Here is the KICKER, we know he is doing this because of a personal grudge against my dad. They had words(agrument) a week ago. The male landlord is VERY condescending and speaks to us as if we are uneducated dumb black folks. BUT contrary to his belief I am working on my second medical degree. I believe he is BULLYING my mom, because of this "grudge".

He is supposed to come over today to have my mom sign a lease agreement to up the rent, but is this LEGAL? Uping the rent because my dad stays there when the UNIT is only $500/ mo.?

The female landlord said she signed her portion of the house over to him, and his has been acting like a '*******' ever since.

Can he ask for more money, behind Section 8's back like that? Is there any legal action I can take on my mom's behalf (She is mentally disabled)? Any advice, or information is welcomed. Thank you in advance.

15 yrs. of ONTIME/ non-conflicit and I have to deal with this, thanks to the know-it-all husband landlord, such a shame




PS: Sorry for the typos, I'm just so stressed @ the moment....

[OHlandlord]

Your LL CANNOT increase the rent behind Section 8's back, as you say. All agreements with the tenant must be made known to Section 8. Paying "under the table" is illegal and against S8 regulations.

However, unless Section 8 and the LL have placed your father on the lease and their paperwork, he CANNOT live there either. Section 8 mandates that EVERY person living in the household must be screened by them and the LL, and must be reported and placed on the paperwork. Unless your father has done this, he is jeopardizing your mother's assistance. If S8 finds out he is living there without their knowledge, they can STOP ALL AIDE to her and she becomes liable for her rent due to the LL, in full, immediately.

When she can't pay the $500, he may evict. He could serve a 3 day on the 2nd of the month, then file for eviction upon its expiration. She could be in eviction court as early as the 22nd of the month and be set-out before the month ends.

Further if your father makes any money that is unreported to Metro, S8 may insist that your mother pay back aide she has received (in the form of rent to the LL) that she would not have been entitled to. S8 aide is based on family income. If someone moves in and has income, that changes the amount S8 pays the LL. If they later find out about unreported income, they go back and refigure the aide she should have recieved, and she (not the LL) must pay back any overage paid.

S8 will not allow people to move in and out. Your sister should not have moved back in with your mother in 2004 unless she and the nephew and all their income was reported to S8 (not just the LL). This was not done, was it? Your mother is responsible for reporting these people to metro (S8), not the LL. Your father should not have moved in unless the same was done. None of these people should have moved in until they applied to move in to the LL and S8 and they approved it. So from 2004, there were 5 of you living in a 2 room apt? That is against housing code. S8 would never have approved nor paid for it.

To sum up, the LL canot force anyone to sign this agreement and should not be suggesting it. Do not allow your mother to sign it. You mother may not have ANYONE living with her without reporting this to S8, or she can lose her assistance. Further, no one can live there without the LL approving of it and S8 screening the person for suitability and income. It looks like both the tenant and the LL are going behind S8's back here. Both need to go by S8's regulations or neither will be recieving any aide or money.

[SenseIwas9]

THANK SO MUCH!!!!!


My landlord is still has the lease from when it was just me, my mom, and sister on the lease. We signed our own lease in 2005, doesn't that VOID the previous lease held buy my mom? She has been to all of her "redeterm" appointments.

I figured it was against section 8 policy to do the extra $200. My sister had "zero" income at the time and when she applied for assistance it was reported to S8 during her stay.

Also can he tell us how to park in the driveway? We have no problem with the driveway, but he expects for us to park all the way to the the rear fence, but we opted NOT to do that since my shiny new '05 was dented and trampled on the hood by drug dealer fleeing the police that used it as a "ladder" to get over the fence.

Also when we moved in he said we can use the basement for storage. Now he suggest that we move our stuff to storage, even tho' it's neat and isn't cluttering the heaters, furnace, etc....

PLUS!! He had collected rent 3x's and my toilet water has to be turned on and off between flushes. What can I do about this?

[OHlandlord]

Showing up to her redetermination appointments aren't the same as actually reporting to her caseworker that someone else is living in the house. HAS SHE DONE THIS? If not, she is in violation of her S8 contract. She must report to the caseworker each person that lives in her unit and give them the full name, SSN, & DOB of the person, along with income verification for each person. There is no way around this.

I don't mean to be a doubting Thomas, but if that truely is only a 2 room apt., there is no way S8 would allow 5 people to live there with their knowledge, even temporarily. HUD regulations are 2 per bedroom plus one. A 2 room unit is a studio (considered a NO bedroom unit). 2 people MAX. Do you mean 2 bedroom unit? A caseworker who ignored HUD regulations could end up being fired over this.

Signing your own lease for your own seperate apartment does NOT void your mother's lease. Her lease still stands as is, with all the clauses in effect, even if someone moved out. Her lease is valid. Yours is valid as a completely seperate lease.

Does your lease state that you may park in the driveway? If there is no mention of it in your lease, then the driveway is NOT included in your leased property. (This is a multi-unit property, right?) The LL can issue restrictions for it since it is a common area. If he issues rules that state you must park in the rear, then you may not use the driveway. (You can always park on the street in front.) If the driveway is listed as an assigned parking place in your lease, the LL may not change it until the lease expires. Only the rights given to you by way of what is written in your lease are assured and guaranteed. Anything else is only what you assume and may not be your right. The LL has the right to issue rules for common areas in multi-unit housing.

Is the basement listed in your lease? (Remember, verbal argreements are not provable in court. It must be written.) Is it a common area (accessible to both units?) How much stuff is stored in the basement? Could it be considered a fire hazard? Are things stored within 4 foot of the furnace, water heater, circuit breaker box, or any shut-off valves for water or gas? Go measure in all directions from those items. If so, move the stored items away from them immediately. Most municipal codes require at least this much clearance around all of these items.

Finally, what is the problem with your toilet? Why do you have to keep shutting it off? Is it running continually? You can write a letter to the LL stating what the problem is and requesting that he reply in writing to let you know when this will be fixed. Request a reply within 10 days. Send this to him by certified mail, return receipt requested, and keep a copy. This is the correct way to request repairs from your LL to later prove in court that these repairs were requested and that the LL received a copy. (This may be a very simple problem that you can fix. Let me know what it is doing and I'll walk you through the steps so you won't have to wait any longer on this. Most running toilets can be fixed in minutes for only a couple dollars. Let me know if you want to try.)

[SenseIwas9]

Hello

Yes my mom reported my sister and nephew to her caseworker and all associated paperwork.

You right I ment to say 2 BEDROOM apartment. There was only 4 people @ the time. My mom, sis, nephew, and myself @ the time. My dad was no in the picture.

Yes, the driveway is in the lease. The stiplation is that we have consideration for all the occupants. This has been followed faithfully on OUR part. Now when his son lived here, (he moved out 1 1/2 months ago) and we had to call the landlord, because he was continually making EVERYONE late for school and work is another story. The landlord would actually have to physically come over and wake him up!

Yes, the basement is included in the lease as well. Everything is neatly stacked and stowed. It is MORE than 4 feet of clearance from the said items. He is just knit-picking, as I see it. Nothing blocking ANY VITAL shut-off valves.

Yes, the toilet runs continously. It something wrong with the internal pump. The LL looked at it and said it needs to be replaced. He only addresses it when he picked up the rent. "Oh yeah, I'm still looking into that......"

[OHlandlord]

That's what I thought - a 2 bedroom unit. There's no way they would let 4 people live in a 2 room unit! Has your mother reported your father to the caseworker at metro? She needs to do so and get the LL's approval for him to live there. She cannot move in any other people without these 2 people's approval.

What wording does the lease have in regards to the driveway and the basement? Does it say that the driveway is the assigned parking place for everyone, or just that it is available to park in? With a 2 unit building, it would be impossible to expect everyone to park there unless it is unusually wide. From your post and the former problems about getting out of the driveway, I'm guessing it is only one car wide.

The stored items in the basement must be that far away from ANY and ALL shut-offs, not just vital ones. If there is any shut-offs (or the previous items mentioned) that are within 4', move your stuff away from them. Blocking just one can allow hijm to call in the city inspector and have you cited. Make sure you look over the basement well. Then show your LL the copy of the lease that says you can use the basement to store items. He has no leg to stand on if this is specifically outlined as a storage place in your lease.