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Sept 22, 2003 Lately I have been in pursuit of gaining as much knowledge as possible for an upcoming hearing over my landlords. I am surprised and impressed by the amount of rights a tenant indeed has and that one doesnt have to take abuse or harassment just because they have someone calling themselves a landlord. For the last year it has been quite difficult living where we are. Previously to moving here from Oregon, I had visited my fiancie several times and this place was deemed quiet and comfortable. When my son and I made the move it was right in the middle of a transformation from one landlord who was wonderful, professional, and overall a caring individual to a younger couple. At the time we were sorry to see the first landlord leave but his job required him to move elsewhere and sell the property. After a few weeks of just adjusting to the move and recuperating from two months of cleaning, packing, and paperwork, we realized that the once quiet and comfortable home was changed. We know had living above us two people who played loud horrible music with a deep base, weekend partiers, and a host of irritations came our way. The last thing I wanted to do was clean, pack up, and move again! I had just done that to get here and I was still just trying to collect myself from all the changes. Shortly thereafter my sweetheart got laid off, jobs were scare, money became scarce and finally he had to quit so he could find work that would allow him to start back with paychecks again. Once November first hit we basically dealt with five months of a long cold winter and that created a depression in all of us. We didnt feel like it was our home and my sweetie had lived there for a year prior, it was all due to the change of landlords. They didnt care if they kept us awake to all hours of the night nor that the central vacuum without a muffler they installed sounded throughout our bottom part so that anything we were doing was interrupted by this loud horrible noise. As a writer I spend the majority of the day in my workroom where I plunk away at the keys doing the various jobs I have. I am a writer, editor, co- editor of anthologies, write articles for several print and online magazines, I am a moderator of a horror group, a book reviewer for three major places, and am currently working on a novel. In short I am quite busy, rely on peace and quiet, and expect a little courtesy given to the fact that I work at home. The request was never met and my productivity has slowed down as a result. In July the landlord decided he would completely tear up the backyard. For twelve days straight I got to listen to scraping, banging, rearing of engines, dump trucks bringing and dropping off gravel and rocks, dust and dirt spread through the house covering our inside furniture. I had to close all the windows as my asthma and allergies were taking its toll. Both my son and sweetheart developed bronchial coughing and irritation due to the debris floating through the air. The noise was consistent from 8am until almost 9pm and not once did he ever ask if there was a good time for me nor were we made aware of the date this was to take place. Everyday instead of doing my writing and work I had to drive around running errands, coming up with things to do so I wouldnt be home. I took my son to many different day camps so he wouldnt have to deal with all the debris and noise. Gone were the days of playing badmitton, bocche ball, croquet, catch, and kicking around the soccer ball. We couldnt have friends over for a barbecue, sit outside in the evening, or read a book in the sunshine during the day. Writing was impossible for me as it was like trying to come up with a scientific formula while a marching band is playing all around you. How easy is it for you to concentrate with that amount of constant noise? I didnt think I was being unreasonable at all here. This was my home and I hated to be there, felt like a visitor, and to top it all off, he wouldnt turn the air conditioner on. We couldnt open the windows, there was no air, noise all day, no use of a backyard, and music boomed inside. What could possibly be fun or comfortable living through all of that? Soon we decided that even though financially and personally it was a bad time, we needed to get out of here. Unfortunately we have to give a sixty-day notice and in looking around other properties, most of them wanted someone to move in immediately. We couldnt afford to pay rent twice in a month to two different places and it was coming at a bad time for all of us. The last thing I wanted to do was send my son to another new school. Our only alternative was to look up the tenant protection act and there we found a wonderful array of rights that were ours to utilize. Between late night parties, excessive noise, a torn up yard, no use of front yard, debris in the air, no air conditioner, loud booming music playing, and listening to the backyard being drilled, ripped up, and loud heavy equipment moving back and forth for twelve hours a day, we had found or limit. On top of that was a broken refrigerator that we had asked to have fixed since the day we moved in and a year and a half later we still have the broken fridge. There is a difference when you want to move as opposed being forced to the realization that the only alternative is to move and it just seems so daunting. We gave our sixty-day notice, began searching for a new place and filed a report to the tribunal. Hopefully we will receive a little compensation for the abuse and irritation we have put up with. What I expect from a landlord is care and concern for a tenants living. Our comfort was never given a second look and our lives have been turned upside down as a result. Fortunately we found a new place to move that will allow us all the comforts we should have had while living here, in a nice neighborhood, and the landlords are a family with high values and standards. I know we will be happy and the peace and quiet in the new place is almost unbelievable! I urge all tenants to really look over the rights you have and make sure you arent being taken advantage of. I never felt violated before and never felt the need to check my rights, but Im glad I am educated now and will never allow anyone to walk on me the way I have been. My family and I are torn between the excitement of leaving all this stress and the workload of cleaning, packing, moving, and unpacking that will be involved over the next months. Feeling like a visitor in your own home is not the way to live. Know your rights! ------------ About the author: Nancy Jackson is a full time author with works in Twilight Times, Anotherealm, Lost Souls, and various anthologies including Labor Pool Horror Tales, Broken Mirrors, and the Romancing the Soul series. Email Nancy Jackson: coryann93@yahoo.com Comment on this column in the forum. Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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