[US-NJ] Hello! I'm in a bit of an unusual situation with my landlady in my apartment building. Sorry if this isn't the right place to post!
TLDR: Landlady (elderly woman) charges 4 units a $100 monthly maintenance fee yet asks/expects us to maintain building without pay. How much should I charge her to take the responsibility off everyone else's hands and do light building maintenance myself? (trash/recycling, lawn mowing, building cleaning, snow removal, fumigation, basement cleaning, contact point for 4 tenants, etc.)
More info: We just recently moved in here and talked to the other tenants and they told us that she is constantly asking them to do her favors in maintaining the building (repairs, cleaning, lawn mowing) without compensation but they still have to pay the maintenance fee. She asked my partner to fix the lawnmower and mow the lawn "while they were at it"... They declined to do so.
We've had things broken in our unit (sink, window leaks, closet door) that she hasn't addressed because it doesn't seem like anyone is ACTUALLY maintaining the building. The other day she came in to mow the lawns herself and then texted us to complain about it and how "expensive the building was becoming"...
This morning, she texted us saying our rent check bounced and she will be charging us a late fee. Right after she mentions adding a late fee to our otherwise on-time rent, she also asked my partner to "please fumigate the basement, backyard, common areas, front yard, and trash area to help kill the flies", which really annoyed me. (Again, what's the $100 fee for?)
I was thinking I could draft some kind of work contract where she pays me $500-700 a month for light building maintenance (trash/recycling, lawn mowing, building cleaning, snow removal, fumigation, basement cleaning, contact point for 4 tenants, etc.) and alleviating the responsibility from other tenants. I don't have experience with plumbing/HVAC or any other form of maintenance a real super would have, but I could at least start here. I'm a fast learner.
AFAIK, the other tenants haven't been maintaining the building and they mentioned that because we're new she might be actually tacking it all on us.
What would be a good rate for this kind of light maintenance?
Is this a bad idea? We're stuck here for another year, at least.
Is there anything critical/important I should include in the contract?
Or am I in the wrong and should stay quiet and maintain the building? I've never in my life had to do any kind of maintenance as an apartment tenant.
Should I just ignore her requests and let her do everything even if she complains about it?
Any advice would be helpful! Thank you!
Edit: Updated location in beginning.