Issues with landlord...

[countrydoe]

I have lived in this small apartment above my landlords 3 car garage for 14 years now. I have paid my rent each month. When I moved in here some of the windows were cracked and she said she would work on getting those done - all of them are still cracked that were when I moved in and I have taped and retaped them over and over again. She wanted me to keep the door to the porch open here, but if I did that I would definitely freeze, as all there is on the porch for a door is a cheap metal screen door and it is not tight to the door frame, so it is drafty to say the least and it is to the north of the place so the cold winter winds from the north blow right in there and it can get below freezing out there. I use a space heater and pray every night I turn that on that it will not start a fire out there. So far I have been lucky. The ceiling in the bathroom should have been repaired when I moved in, because it was starting to fall down, but she promised they would work on those things and when the mice were peeking down at me and stuff was literally falling from the ceiling, that is when I decided that enough is enough - so I begged them to fix that and they finally did. I was told by her husband that they would never have to pay for rural water as the main tower sets on their land and as long as they owned it their water would be free, so I would not have to pay for that. I have believed for some time that my landlord has my phone and possibly the apartment bugged so she can listen in on what I am saying or doing. Well, this is been confirmed many times because of things I have said over here or on the phone and she will approach me sometimes and ask how something is working out and I know I never spoke to her about these things. She knows my folks and admitted to my mother that she had the phone bugged when her mother was living here in the summers so she could keep tabs on her because she was getting frail. I do believe the place itself is bugged as well - because just the other day I said something I was thinking out loud and she came to me today to speak about the very thing I had questioned out loud in my apartment. There is a broken sewer pipe and I had been having troubles with the sewer since February of this year - well here 3 weeks ago I just could not deal with the issue any longer and had to tell her again that I did not think it was something the plumber could help with - it was something worse. There had been a broken pipe earlier in my 14 years of living here and it was acting very similar to it. Well she reluctantly called the people we get for such a thing and they a'las did discover that there was a broken pipe and it would have to be fixed. They did get me unplugged so that I could wash clothes, but they have not been back out to fix it and I had said out loud that I figured she was asking them to hold off on doing this and sure enough I was right, as this is what she came to discuss with me today. Something else that frustrates me is that every time something needs to be fixed around here my rent goes up. She now tells me she has to charge me for water - which I know she is not charged for. I am reluctant to have anything fixed because of that. She just had to replace the floor in my dinky little bathroom and she got someone else to work on it then the guy she usually gets probably because I have said to family or friends on the phone that he gives me the creeps when he has worked on things here before and that what he does here makes the place look dumpier than it was originally. So this other guy charges her $700 for what he and his two employees helped with - no way should what they did cost that much! They did not even completely replace the whole floor - they did not remove the shower and do under there because that would have been more expense. I asked her why so high and what cost that much - well he did not send her an itemized bill and she did not ask for one, she just paid it! So I know who will be paying for that with an increase in my rent before 2008 is over! I feel that what I am paying now is more than this place is worth. It is very cold in the winter months - no insultation and I swear the walls are paper thin. I sit with sweaters and blankets on all the time - its really is frustrating. I feel I am doing all that I have been asked to do before moving in here, but really feel like I get the shaft end of the deal every time something needs working on or I feel like I cannot say anything without being heard - I feel like a prisoner in my home so to speak and I honestly do not feel she has a right to hear my conversations, but lately it has made me so mad that I do not even think twice about what I am saying, I have been telling it like it is. She used to just come in when I was not here, that was before I had a new lock put in the place. She comes over and wants to know if I have sugar or flour or eggs and I supply those to her and sometimes she will leave a few cents to cover those things, which is almost a slap in the face for what she thinks those things are worth - definitely not what she would have to pay if she went to the store for herself and bought them so she cheats me there as well, when she is away on her many trips she takes I water her flowers and plants and get her mail, I mow my yard as was our agreement when I moved in and have mowed hers when she has been gone on her vacations, I tend to the yard as if it were my own, she has been known to come and plant things in it without asking if I want something put there, and I am to suck it up and say nothing....I am very angry about the loss of my privacy, feeling like if I need something fixed it will be I who is paying for it for years to come over and above what it really cost, and her lying about my need to pay for water and possibly other things when she herself is not being charged for this. I would move out, but I cannot afford anything else right now and I am not making enough to make a move to something more expensive right now. I am trying to change that, but until that happens I feel I am stuck here. What rights do I have as a tenant in any of these matters - she gets my rent check every month - I only missed one by a week once and that was because I had to be out of town for an emergency and she said she understood and that it wasn't a problem - otherwise I have held up my end of the deal. I have sometimes wondered if she does these things hoping I will move out - I don't know of anyone who would want to live here as things are now. The place has fallen apart more since I have lived here and believe me it is no palace! I am certain she would not live in this - one look at her place tells you that. What are my rights as a tenant? Any advice or help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!
countrydoe

[OHlandlord]

You do have the right to have broken items fixed or replaced. You have no right to any improvements, like painting or flooring (there is no law that says a LL must replace these during a tenancy - no matter how long it is). You have the right to a safe environment to live in. You have the right to privacy in your unit. You have the right of peaceful enjoyment in your unit.

The LL has the right to raise your rent as often as she wants unless you have a lease or live in a rent controlled area. She has the right to change you rental agreement or terms in the same manner (like to start charging you an amount for water). She need only give you the required amount of notice. She has the right of entry into your unit with the required amount of notice. She has no right to your personal groceries (just refuse), to make unreasonable demands, or to expect you to take in her mail or water plants in her (not your) yard.

From what you've posted, despite the fact that you say you can't afford it, your best answer is to give the appropriate amount of notice and move. There are too many problems to address with the LL by writing a certified letter to her.