Renting in Independence
Submitted by dwood87 on November 5, 2009 - 12:13pm
I'm putting the posts here about renting here in Independence because the Mt. Washington thread is getting a little skinny on the posts.
So here they are:
Draasch said:
am becoming more and more convinced that RENTING is the city's "big business". Landlords and investors across the Metro know they can buy cheap here....not have to put a penny into keeping the place up, until Code Enforcement gets on you. And even then, you can "play games" and stretch things out for a year or more before you comply. Meanwhile, you can sit by and collect that almighty rent dollar.
I'm not quite sure what financially is "in it" for the City to kiss landlords' a**es, other than property taxes and landlord licensing fees.
But I can't otherwise explain the incredible "patience" with landlords that I've observed.
And it's that sort of thing... the lack of enforcement, the fact that we all "put up with it"... that keeps us up-to-our-ears in out-of-town slumlords.
OK, switching my disgust off for a minute:
One could argue, though, as you drive around west of Chrysler, that there are a lot of poor people who live in these rental units. Where would they go? How would you turn them into homeowners?
My personal opinion here, but it seems to me that in Independence (and especially western Independence), there's a certain demographic / group of people who are: young, uneducated, chronically unemployed, living off of social services and/or the nearest older relative who will put up with them or the nearest fool with a full-time job. They are unmotivated to look for work....and see a job as being a "sometimes necessary evil", but are plenty motivated by video games, maybe skateboards, smoking (how can they afford it?), and hanging out with their friends all day. They may or may not be doing and/or selling drugs. They don't really seem to think or care about the future and are constantly unprepared for the unexpected. SOME in this demographic, I believe, are causing a lot of our gang-related issues or are our gang-wannabe-graffiti-artists.
Certainly, these people aren't ready for home-ownership. Heck, they barely make the rent now (and usually only because they live with somebody who puts in just-enough hours at a job). They have a very limited sense of responsibility and are full of excuses why they aren't more ambitious or responsible.
Yes, broad generalizations, I know. But I've met quite a few such young people (under the age of ...ummm... 38 ??) around here.
Yes, you can fix up their houses and raise the rents. You will probably force them to move a few miles away. That's probably the best you can hope for. It doesn't help THEM any. It doesn't solve any of their problems. And it may only temporarily solve yours.
I am quite torn by this. I have a stepson (with significant-other and two kids) who are in that demographic. (He doesn't run around outside a lot with other young men, though. To be honest, I don't think he has that many male friends. And he REALLY is crazy about his kids.)
I want them so much to be in a nicer, larger house in a better neighborhood. I would have probably helped figure out a way for them to rent-to-own from us (with our old house or some rental home that we would buy).... but I know he would NEVER live up to any sort of payment plan. This is partly because he has never held a job for more than one solid year straight...and because he can't manage his money. (Plus, whenever there's even the slightest financial need, he's quick to call on relatives.... some of whom are .... pardon the word... STUPID enough to jump when he says jump.)
So, this whole thing is a complex issue. We want nicer neighborhoods. But to get that, we've got to have not only nicer looking / kept-up homes... we also have to have people in them who aren't going to abuse them so much... people who can better-keep a full-time job to pay for those homes... which means they need to be better educated AND they need to have BETTER CHARACTER (responsibility).
And I'm as guilty as the next guy in thinking that it's far, far easier to "move the problem elsewhere" and try to bring in more responsible people than it is to really help those families. Not that "moving the problem elsewhere" is an easy task.
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I am a renter in the Mount Washington area and have been having a problem with my furnace since i moved in. I finally talk to the owner of the house today which is from another country, and was told that because i didnt pay my rent on time is why he isnt going to fix the problem that has been going on since i moved in, in feb of this year. My gas bill for a small 3 bedroom house was as high as 300$ a month last winter. My rent is due by the 5th and i have been paying it by the 15th. I have been laid off since july7th and wont go back to work until jan. With child support and unemployment i bearly can pay my rent. I go without medical attention and food at times just to make sure it is paid. I have explained this to him so that he knows whats going on. Its not that i'm a dead beat its just hard to find a perm job that pays enough to support myself and 2 childern. When he told me today that when i start paying my rent on time he will fix it. I informed him that the money i am having to pay for gas is taking money from his rent. I also have been putting up with a dead tree that keeps falling apart on my car and has scratched it and dented it numerous times and now i have to park on the street because he wont pay to have it taken down. My front porch is falling apart, when u step on it u think its going to cave in. So i pay 725$ for an ok house, cant get anything fixed because the landlord is an idiot. I decided today i'm going to go to the city to see if i can get them to make him fix these things. I came onto this website to see if there were any jobs to be had and came across this blog. Thought wowwww its gonna take upto a year to get the landlord to fix these things. In the mean time i have to pay more for my gas bill which takes away from my rent money.. I am not going to get anywhere soon !!! Great !!! I take very good care of this house just like it were my own and the landlord knows it as he came and inspected it last month and said keep up the good job.. So now i'm thinking what am i gonna do now ? Any suggestions ?
Helen In Independence
Landlord / Tenant complaints should be called in to the Health Department:
Health Department/Code Compliance – 325-7193
(I keep a "who to call for what" list on our Neighborhood Association's website: http://www.winnerneighbors.org/neighborhood-watch/who-to-call-for-what )
Sounds like the furnace WORKS but maybe too much ??? (You had said you sometimes got a heating bill of $300 per month ??)
If it doesn't work at all...and he's refusing to fix it until you pay rent, surely that is illegal.
Sorry about your landlord problems Helen, Read this from the City of Independence's website, http://www.ci.independence.mo.us/userdocs/health/Landlord_Tenant_Giude_Revised_20090521.pdf. I believe your landlord should have provided you with one when you moved in.
Hope your rental problems are resolved and you find a job soon.
The difficulties of life are intended to make us better, not bitter.
This is from the Missouri Attorney Generals website:
One way to avoid problems with repairs is to have a written agreement, preferably in your lease. The agreement should state which repairs are the landlord's responsibility and which are the tenant's.
The landlord should be responsible for repairs caused by ordinary wear and tear and natural forces such as the weather. Tenants should pay for damages resulting from their own negligence or the negligence of a guest.
If repairs are needed, ask the landlord to make repairs within a reasonable period of time. If repairs are not made, make a written request for the necessary repairs and keep a copy of the letter.
If the repairs still are not made, the tenant may seek legal assistance. If the dwelling becomes unsafe due to the repair problems, the tenant should contact local health or housing authorities.
If a tenant withholds rent payments until repairs are completed, the renter may be in violation of the lease and may be subject to eviction.
Under very limited circumstances, the tenant may make repairs and deduct the cost from rent if the tenant:
If the landlord still does not fix the code violation within 14 days of receiving the city's notice, then the tenant can proceed with the repairs.
The amount of the repair must be verified by receipts. In most cases, the cost of repair must be less than $300 or one-half month's rent (whichever is greater), and can be done once a year.
Also, do you pay straight to the landlord or is there like a real estate company that handles the property? A lot of times an out of country landlord will have somebody else deal with the properties for him.
There is a person that we pay our rent to. I have told him about the problems since almost day one. He sent a heating and cooling man here and the man said that there is a problem but he wont fix it because the landlord wont pay him what he wants. He only came out as a favor to the person that we pay. Everytime i pay rent i am told i'll get right on it. Still nothing has happened. The owner himself called me today because rent was due today and wanted to now if i could pay it today. I told him it would be paid by next wednesday. I decided since i had him on the phone i would ask him about the furnance and thats when i was told he would fix it once i started paying my rent on time. I told him i have been doing everything i can looking for work and would not be called back to my reg job til jan. So i probally would be late each month til i went back to work, i know he wants and deserves his money but dang fix my furnance ! I am planning on going to the city for help on this matter and appreicate the information. Thank Youuuu
Helen In Independence
According to that section I posted, if you notify the landlord in writing and he doesn't do anything then you can fix it yourself and deduct it from the rent.
WELCOME DAISYMAE808! I don't think the landlord can do that legally, I would check into a slumlord ordinance. If the house is not able to be lived in then someone needs to be shoving the law into his face if there is an ordinance against that. DO NOT QUOTE ME ON THAT!
This Young generation seems to have lost their "Want To", they just Don't "Want to"?
They don't want to go to school, get educated, work make a descent life for them selves?
They are content with living on welfare, getting over, sellin a little dope etc… what ever it takes to just get by, because they have convinced them selves that's the best they can do? So its gonna take a way to reinstall their "Want To"?
I think that they are more along the line of everything was handed to them and they didn't have to work for it so once they move out they expect it to stay that same way.
Independence School District has a program called the Power of I (as in eye). Basically on some homework, if you don't get it turned in on time or you flunk it, you have to redo it until it's right and then they give you a C on it. Back when I was in high school, you didn't turn it in, you got a 0. Sometimes a teacher would let you make corrections to it and give you some extra credit, but that was far and few between. So now these kids are going to go out in the real world after having this program and say I don't have to try the first time around because I can have a do over on it.
Not to mention all the kids in little league sports where everybody is a winner.
I think that the city is of the opinion of who cares what they're building, we're just happy they're building. Plus, if you're building rental units, you don't tend to care too much about city improvements. As long as you get your rent and you don't have to put anymore money into your property, you're happy.
I'm guilty of being your stepson when I was younger, I was young and dumb, got married way to early, had kids way to early, and only had a high school diploma and didn't care too much about working or the place where I lived. I worked an odd job here or there usually for a few months (even though I did get a job I held for 5 years). After awhile I kinda figured out that that's not the way I wanted my kids to live their lives and I went to college. I don't know how to instill that in other people so I don't have any answer for that.
However, if Independence did figure out how to get homeowners in here, they tend to care about their property and not only that your property to because it affects their property. The only way that I see to do that is to make Independence attractive to businesses all over the place and really start enforcing the codes. They just don't do it like they should.
And Dragon Lady replied:
The only problem with your NO renters theory, is that every town, city, etc has them. There are more people that rent especially right now b/c they have lost their jobs do to the ecomony turndown..... I will say the more homeowners the less likely of crime, especially if they think that could be jeopardized by their actions or their childrens actions... Even at that it cannot be guaranteed b/c the biggest problems with kids in general is either they have parents that don't care or neglect them b/c they are too much in love with themselves or job....... I'm not saying stay home and raise your kids, now days it take both parents working in order to make a living most of the time....... I do think parents need to care and pay attention to their kids other than shove them of to defend themselves...... I will say we are swamped with those dang retail stores and I agree we need a different variety of stores..... Ex. Glass Blowing Stores, or Independence Suvenier Stores, etc.....
DW, I'm a little dumbfounded on why you are reposting my original post........ Please explain this to me? There are a lot more renters than there use to be and I personally don't have a problem with them. Who I have a problem with is the landlords that refuse to keep doing the uptake on the homes when they need to be done..... Most of these people that are renting don't choose to rent, or they do b/c they aren't ready to be a homeowner.....
I'm not advocating no renters, just not as many as we have now. And I'm not saying don't build apartments, but if ya do, make sure they are good apartments that will attract actual renters, not section 8 people.
Go after the parents for their wayward kids and I think you'd see a lot less wayward kids.
And what's up with you and those glass blowing stores? I see some empty buildings up there at 23rd and Lee's Summit that you could probably start glass blowing at :)