why does this seem wrong?

[DanS]

It may very well be wrong, but Mrs. Tubes is living with the accumulated bad negotiating skills of renters. By this point, it is done the wrong way by force of habit. So the only constructive way that you can really look at it from a renter's standpoint is as an increased cost, like Flubber does.

[Fake Boris]

1/10

[KrazyHorse]

?

[Fake Boris]

Originally posted by DanS
the accumulated bad negotiating skills of renters.

[-Jrabbit]

The property owner should have the right to set conditions for rental. Your option is simply whether or not to voluntarily agree to those conditions. If it's important, you try to negotiate contract terms. But I don't believe there's any legal reason for the owner to budge.

Interest on 850USD is squat anyway.

[KrazyHorse]

Most renters are bad negotiatiors. Because they have less experience with rental contracts than the people who rent to them they get the short end of the stick.

[Fake Boris]

Sure... but what's that worth compared to the lack of available lodging in major metros?

[KrazyHorse]

What the **** are you on about?

[Fake Boris]

I'd say the first reason tenants get screwed is because they don't really have a choice to abide by the rules of the landlords, not because they're bad negociators.

[Fake Boris]

I rent an equipped apartment. The fridge stopped working (because of old age, not neglect). Owner tells me he can't be sure I didn't break it. Finally offers to pay €100 (that was a small, €200 fridge). Calling the reparator, I find that a professional expertise to determine the cause of the breakup is €100.
Both ways, I get screwed by €100.

[KrazyHorse]

Uh...if your rental includes fridge and your landlord refuses to fix it when it breaks then you have an actionable claim.

Not complaining to the regie des rentiers (or whatever the equivalent thing is in France) is precisely the sort of thing which makes you a bad negotiator.

[Fake Boris]

Oh, I did try to get some information. What they told me is that the burden of the proof was apparently on me, not the landlord. That would have costed me €100, and non-refundable.

Eventually I just kicked the fridge... it makes more noise than it used to, but its inside temperatures are back to normal.

[MRT144]

isnt this in the rental contract? i know in mine it explicitly states that the deposit is kept in a trust at the wells fargo bank on university way and all accumilated interest will be put forward on the repair.

think about it too. youre living there for x amount of time and the longer you do, the worst damage there will be. It's not like the deposit is even yours once you turn it over.

of course youre the same person that thought smoking in bars was a fundamental unalieable right and that landlords have the right to do whatever they want with their property. right?

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
Most renters are bad negotiatiors. Because they have less experience with rental contracts than the people who rent to them they get the short end of the stick.

Exactly. And a LOT of them don't read their rental contracts. Then get all pissed when they realize they have to pay for something that goes wrong.

The question, Mrs. Tubs is what is the law in your state? If the state doesn't mandate anything, then it is part of the contract. The owner can reasonably say that if you want interest on your deposit, you don't have to rent here. They don't HAVE to rent the property.

Check the rental contract first, then the law in your state/town, and if the contract says you only get the principal back and the law is silent, then there is nothing you can do, really.

[KrazyHorse]

I like listening to people who claim to believe in the free market complain about whether or not a contract they signed is "fair".

It makes me chuckle.