Roof leaking bad! Lawyer?

Jan · May 17, 2004

In my apartment I've been having a leaking problem. I've told the landlord many times and he laugh and says something to fast that I can't understand. A few times in the last 6 months he did say he'd fix it and it keeps getting worse. Water comes out of the fuse box area. Now it coming out of the wall and through the ceiling in the bedroom and kitchen.
My question is, If I get a lwayer does it cost alot or will the landlord have to pay if I win? Or should I just open a bank account and put the rent in there and tell him thats what I'm doing?
The mod on the wall is starting to mess with my alergies bad and the paint falling from the celing is getting to be a real pain.
(and don't say to move, I don't have the money to move to another place right now)

Adrian Bye · May 17, 2004

Jan said:
In my apartment I've been having a leaking problem. I've told the landlord many times and he laugh and says something to fast that I can't understand. A few times in the last 6 months he did say he'd fix it and it keeps getting worse. Water comes out of the fuse box area. Now it coming out of the wall and through the ceiling in the bedroom and kitchen.
My question is, If I get a lwayer does it cost alot or will the landlord have to pay if I win? Or should I just open a bank account and put the rent in there and tell him thats what I'm doing?
The mod on the wall is starting to mess with my alergies bad and the paint falling from the celing is getting to be a real pain.
(and don't say to move, I don't have the money to move to another place right now)

Fix it yourself and deduct it out of the next rent. If he causes problems, either move, or just accept it. There are cost savings for living in the DR, and there are expenses. This may be one of the expenses.

miguel · May 17, 2004

Darling!!

Jan said:
In my apartment I've been having a leaking problem. I've told the landlord many times and he laugh and says something to fast that I can't understand. A few times in the last 6 months he did say he'd fix it and it keeps getting worse. Water comes out of the fuse box area. Now it coming out of the wall and through the ceiling in the bedroom and kitchen.
My question is, If I get a lwayer does it cost alot or will the landlord have to pay if I win? Or should I just open a bank account and put the rent in there and tell him thats what I'm doing?
The mod on the wall is starting to mess with my alergies bad and the paint falling from the celing is getting to be a real pain.
(and don't say to move, I don't have the money to move to another place right now)

I am so very sorry that you are going thru that. Maybe he is not fixing it because he knows how much it will cost him. From my experience, when I had my home rented to Ramon, the roof leaking was tremendous. I had someone looks at it and the roof needed to be done all over again. I paid RD $30,000 just for the roof on June, 2003. I am sure that it's probably double that since I got a bargain from a contractor that was married to a friend(althought he noticed at the end that it was a bargain and tried to charge me more, but no way since we had a contract). Good luck and hope for the best.

Jan · May 17, 2004

I hope he does something. I'm not gonna pay money for a place that I rent.
But if he doesn't do something soon its really going to cost him alot. The one wall has all this paint and concrete bubbling out with water oozing out of the cracks. Even some of the tiles in the kitchen are lifting and cracking from water coming in under the floor.
I'll for sure be outta here before it falls in. Just don't understand why let something go this long when it becomes 3 times as much money to repair? Go figure.
But in the mean time I'm hitting the street now for the partying!

Ladybird · May 17, 2004

Ive been told that there is a special health department for enviromental problems here and that is definately affecting your health maybe you can find how to contact their office and get them to do something with the landlord, if anyone knows where their office is please advise as I need them also., especially in Sosua

trina · May 17, 2004

Ladybird said:
Ive been told that there is a special health department for enviromental problems here and that is definately affecting your health maybe you can find how to contact their office and get them to do something with the landlord, if anyone knows where their office is please advise as I need them also., especially in Sosua

I'm so sorry all this is happening to you Jan... I think the above advice is great, hopefully something will come of it, you can't live under those conditions.

Hillbilly · May 17, 2004

Is the roof concrete or corrugated tin?

If it is concrete: Is it flat or angled?

It might be easier to get a 5 gal bucket of sealer from one of the hardware stores, deduct it from the rent of course, and hire some man to spread it on-with you watching.

HB

PJT · May 17, 2004

Do as H.B. advises and have the nature to inflate the rent deduction over and above cost to make up for the aggrevation you have experienced.

Regards,
PJT

Robert · May 17, 2004

Ladybird said:
Ive been told that there is a special health department for enviromental problems here and that is definately affecting your health maybe you can find how to contact their office and get them to do something with the landlord, if anyone knows where their office is please advise as I need them also., especially in Sosua

Never heard of it and I think you have ZERO chance of getting anything done via them if they did exist.

Withhold your rent, place it in a bank account until he fixes the problem.
Start being Dominican about it, and you might find he actually does something.

AnnaC · May 17, 2004

You haven't had running water in the apartment for how long? And now you have running water where you don't want it running. I would never tell anyone to do anything the wrong way but in this case listen to Robert save your money and if he kicks you out you'll have saved money to move somewhere else. Time to move Jan. I don't want you to get sick.

Jan · May 18, 2004

Hillybilly...the roof is flat. I'm thinking the drain pipes are clogged. That is the first thought. I told the landlord if he got me a ladder I'd go up on the roof and clean it every so often but he hasn't done anything and I can't buy one right now.

I haven't had running water for 1 year now but my neighbors did get a connection and they let me connect a hose to their pipe for water. I let them use my phone for local calls and they let me use their water. I think its a good trade.

Rob..any bank will do? Do I need to open a new account only for the rent to show the landlord that I do have the rent or just leave it in my bank account til he does something?

Iv'e been watching around for an apartment but right now without income paying all the deposits and the phone connection I just can't do it right now. And I love my neighborhood. I really don't want to move away from here. I know everyone here and hate to have to meet al new people. My neighbors are great. Tonight someone brought me Sancocho and lastnight I got a big bowl of rice pudding.

Fabio J. Guzman · May 20, 2004

Jan, if you want to play hardball, withhold all rent payments and notify the landlord formally (by bailiff) that you will do so until he/she corrects the problem, spelling out that the leaks make the premises unlivable. (You should use a lawyer for this but it should not be too expensive since it would just involve preparing the notification). If the landlord tries to evict you for nonpayment of the rent, it's extremely likely that the Judge will reject the suit based on his breach of contract. Of course, at this stage you will have to pay a lawyer to represent you.

If you don't want to be aggressive, give the landlord the same notice as above, fix the problem and then deduct the expenses from the rent. Again, if he sues you for the difference, you are sure to win.

Jan · May 20, 2004

Thankyou Fabio

Today I called the lawyers for the apartment and told them that I would be putting the rent in Banco Agricola tomorrow. Within a half hour the landlord was here. He cleaned the roof off and it started raining. The water still came in and he saw it. He said he would return to put something on the roof when it was dry.

He has til Monday to fix the problem or I wil put the money in the bank. Then he needs to fix my electricity in the kitchen so I don't need an extention cord.

When he came here today he was acting all shocked..." whats the problemo"? Even tho I have told him every month for the last year. But when he found out I wasn't being a "nice guy" anymore he was working hard to repair everything.

People told me today I was finally thinking like a Dominican! I don't ask for much. But when my bed is wet this is when I have to be a s**t!

Thanks all for giving me the guts to face him!

RandyE · May 20, 2004

One other thing- you said water is coming out of the fuse box- do you realize how dangerous this is? household current is strong enough to kill, have your landlord get an electrician to check for corroded wires and connections ASAP.

Mark1 · May 20, 2004

please follow the advice, electric shock is one of the first causes of death in a house
good luck! ;-)

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