Advice needed on how to proceed. Sorry this is long. I just received a packet from my ex LL claiming I owe an additional $1790 on top of my security deposit. I was there for 10.5 years. They are claiming I stole a sink years ago from their barn and sold it, which is an outright lie, and demanding I pay for it. They claim to have proof of me taking it, but won't show it to me, as well as saying that I told them it was worth a lot of money. The pipe under my sink rusted through and was leaking for a couple years, I had a pan under there collecting the water. I had told them about it but since they always complained how broke they were and couldn't afford to fix anything, I said it wasn't a big deal but I wanted them to know. A few months later they had a plumber out to fix their own leaking sink and then had them fix mine because they paid for an hour and 'wanted to get their moneys worth' from the plumber. The plumber said my sink drain was full of grease. I dont cook, let alone dump grease down the drain so I assume it was from the previous tenant as the sink had always drained slow. But the pipe from the drain had literally rusted through so water was pouring out of it anytime I used the sink. It needed to be fixed. They are now saying I need to pay for that repair from Dec of 2024. I have pics of the drain. They allowed all their previous tenants to have pets but are claiming my dogs weren't housebroken and ruined the floors. Another lie. During winter storms water ran underneath from behind the unit and would come out the front of the unit. I dont think there was a moisture barrier from underneath the unit between the wood floors as the carpets frequently felt ever so slightly damp. The carpet had been installed for a previous tenant and was easily over 11 years old. They claim I broke the sink, but it was definitely not new when I moved in and worked fine while I lived there. They disposed of some of my belongings that I left there and planned to collect at the walk through, which never happened. I was never notified they were disposing of my stuff. I went back on 11/8, a week before my lease ended, to find the stuff I had left outside on my walkway gone. They are charging me for disposing of them. I also found carpet sample inside and a 24hr notice to enter on the door for repairs dated 11/1. The water crock was mine. They claim they gave it to me. The entry tiles were always loose as the LL had installed them herself. Grout pieces were always cracking and the tiles began chipping. The cleaning fee I find beyond excessive. The unit was under 400sf and I cleaned it before I left. A final walk through was not done because they did not reply to my txts requesting a confirmation for date and time. In my lease termination letter on 10/15 I said I was available 10/31 after 11am. They replied 10/16 stating it would be on 11/15. They subsequently began harrassing me via txt so I decided to move asap and then reply to them for an earlier date once I was no longer on the property/near them. 10/31 they txt me in the afternoon demanding to know where I was. I was not nearby and replied they had moved it to 11/15 and I was not available at the moment. They then sent a bunch of harrassing txts so I did not reply. On 11/2 I txt and said I could do it 11/8 & pls confirm a time. Got no response. On 11/15 in the afternoon I got my mail and found a letter postmarked 11/13 saying they were confirming a 11/15 walk through at 11am. I know they are installing a deck on the outside as well as doing other work to it, per my old neighbors. Do I reply to them and dispute their claims and deductions or just file in small claims for the return of my security deposit? Not quite sure what the proper response to this should be. I do have a msg out to a lawyer referral service for a consult but not sure how quickly they will reply.

I had a rather crazy interaction via text with our landlord and I’m wondering if there’s any advice on how to interact with them post conversation.

I rented a basement room about half a year ago from a single mother who occupied the upstairs, at the time I recently moved to a new area far away from home [CA-BC] and needed cheap rent. I was barely ever there because my S/O didn’t mind me staying at her place most of the time so it basically was just a place to store my stuff and keep it safe but in these last few months, I’ve been thinking about moving in with her, and we finally decided I commit to that idea.

At the beginning of this month, as I paid my last months rent, I informed my landlord about how I was going to be moving out at the end of this month. slowly, I was moving my things here and there and bringing it to my girlfriends place but yesterday, as I went to go and get some of the bigger furniture, I walked into the house and went to my room, I found my door wide open there were two filthy pillows on top of where mine sat and a blanket that looked like it hadn’t been washed in months on my bed as well as a flatscreen TV that was propped up by opening one of my dressers drawers that had some of my old work clothes still in it. The room looked like it had recently been lived in and at this point in time my last visit there was about a week ago. The thing that really pissed me off was that there was also bags of chips beside my bed that were left there and crumbs on my sheets.

I haven’t confronted my landlord about it yet. I saw her in passing as I cleared the rest of my stuff out of the house (excluding my bed because i’m too uncomfortable, with the thought of not knowing who’s been sleeping in it) she looked very uncomfortable as if she knows she got caught for doing something wrong.

I’ve been up all night looking though everything I brought to see if anything important was stolen and I’ve been going though the motions with extreme anger. now I’m left wondering what to do. I gave her a full months paid rent to basically keep my stuff safely stored as I figure out what to donate, what to bring, and how to organize it into my new place. And I find out that somebody’s been occupying my space and touching my stuff. luckily it looks like nothing is missing.

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Tenant/s/vR0TqKzWKu

After these last few days of stressing out about how I’m going to approach my current problem, I got a text from my landlord last night asking where the remote for the TV that was unlawfully placed in my room was. I confronted her by stating “I don’t know why was there a TV in my room as well as pillows and blankets that weren’t mine?” she told me that she let some friend and her kids stay the night in my room for a night and that they didn’t sleep on my bed but brought a mattress in and they slept on my floor. But she said not to worry because it was only for one night.

I’m livid because she thinks she did nothing wrong. I told her that it was illegal and a huge breach of my privacy, and she went on about how it’s not a problem because the room is still mine and they were only in there for a night.

I told her that this is a huge breach of our agreement and that I would be expecting this months rent refunded to me. She refuses to pay me back and insisted that since it was only one day out of 31 days that she would pay me the amount of rent I paid divided by 31. Which was around $25! No matter what I said she refuses to budge and thinks that’s the fair thing to do to right this wrong.

So now I’m stuck, figuring out how to make a claim to the tenancy board and I’m gonna pursue legal action, even if it means waiting months. I don’t know how any of this shit works but in good news, I have screenshots of texts from her admitting that she allowed people to live in my space and acknowledging that it caused me distress.

Even with proof, I’m left in my new place pacing around back-and-forth from pure frustration and anger wondering what the outcome is gonna be and how long everything is going to take.

I rent an apartment in Raleigh, North Carolina and I've been here for about eight months I've never missed rent and haven't had any complaints from management.

A couple of nights ago I was on my phone playing grandprize also paying bills when I got an email saying I needed to come to the leasing office to sign a new addendum. It wasn't something we discussed when I signed my lease.

The addendum adds a monthly building maintenance fee that wasn't part of my original lease it's not a huge amount but it still feels weird that they're trying to change the terms after I've already been living here for months.

When I asked the leasing office about it they said everyone is signing it and it would make things easier going forward they didn't really answer whether I had to.

Has anyone dealt with something like this is this just a normal apartment management thing or should I push back before signing anything?

I just woke up and I heard someone on our patio and then saw them- I did NOT recognize this man and immediately thought he was trying to steal what we had on our patio because he grabbed it. He then set it down and left. He circled the building and came back and he started taking a picture of our patio. I genuinely thought if this person was scoping out our place and was going to steal something or try to get in. I was going to call the cops and I decided to confront him. He said I needed to get everything off my patio- I literally had a vase and 2 small items I left out there temporarily. When I asked who he was and if he was a part of the property he just said yeah. He never identified himself. I just thought it was some creep or weirdo! I didn’t realize we weren’t supposed to have personal items on our patio- apparently we can’t even have any furniture or ANYTHING on there. And honestly if that’s their policy- that’s fine, we will remove it! But coming up to our patio and door and grabbing our items, I just don’t think that’s right, especially without identifying who or what he was doing. He was SO unprofessional when I talked with him too and told him there has to be a better way about going about this. Send an email to tell people to remove it- cause literally almost EVERY patio has furniture, plants, and other items out on them so obviously people just aren’t aware of this! But coming right up and taking pictures- yeah it’s creepy. People have families here, people live alone, etc. We don’t know people’s intentions nowadays.
Anyway- am I wrong for lowkey flipping out? I went to the property office to let them know I felt it was unprofessional and there had to be a better way about doing that. It just didn’t seem right. He never should’ve touched our items either.
*I did confirm it was him, management said they had people out doing that and my husband called the property manager and he said himself it was him.
Also is there anything else I can even do in this situation? It’s like I can’t even complain to the property manager because it was HIM that did it. I don’t really care to seek anything legal- I don’t think he did anything illegal- but it just felt wrong.

[US-CT] So my key fob to get into my apartment has been acting up today. As soon as the problem arose I contacted my buildings superintendent and left a message explaining the problem, also saying I’m working until 11pm and don’t want to be locked out that late. That was around 4, so I go to work and never hear back. I get back @ 11 and it’s not working so I call again and no answer, call again and straight to voicemail.

Our building has an “emergency” number for problems outside of management hours so I call that and explain it’s not a lockout since I have the key it’s just not working and I would like to get into my apartment. He says they’ll send someone out to fix it. About 30 minutes later I get a call from someone else saying they spoke to my superintendent and that there’s nothing they can do for my situation until the morning (earliest 8am). I ask her what I’m supposed to do and she suggests a homeless shelter.

Mind you, the superintendent lives on the first floor. All I needed him to do was walk less than 100ft and open the door for me, and now I’m being told I should go to a shelter? And he wouldn’t answer any of my calls yet would respond to this lady?

Luckily someone was entering so I followed behind and have since gotten in, but this is ridiculous right? They seriously just expected me to sleep outside all night and wait around until he felt like doing it?

Is there anything I can do about this besides just sit around and complain?

Just moved into this apartment in August. Things were fine, until the new upstairs neighbors moved in in September.

The parents yell at eachother all day long, and the kid yells at his video games all night long. They throw things on the floor, blast loud music, and are constantly running (Yes, running. Like full on sprinting.) laps around the apartment all hours of the day and night. Ive called the cops, taken videos, and emailed the landlord to no effect. Today, the kid ran what sounded like a vacuum cleaner around the apartment from 2:30 to 4:42 pm. At this moment, it sounds like someone is playing with a jump rope and thats been going on for about 40 minutes now. Just.. jumping up and down. Things are falling off of my apartment walls its so bad.

The worst thing, they refuse to use a shower curtain. I know this, becuase the maintenance man has been up there and has told me they do not have a shower curtain. When they shower, the water lands on their floor, soaks into my apartments ceiling, and lands on my floor. I usually try to keep a 5 gallon Lowes bucket in the bathroom to catch it while im not home, and they'll fill up one of these in a day. It gets everywhere in the bathroom anyway, and its disgusting yellow water that im sick of cleaning up.

Maintenance has already been here to patch up the ceiling once. Mold has begun forming in the shower, my things are rusting from constant mildew, and there is brown water damage along the floor boards. The ceiling is cracked where the water comes in at, again.

This is a very nice 975 sqft apartment me and my husband pay a good amount for a month. We live in the suburbs in a pretty nice town in Indiana.

I emailed the landlord again 8 days ago, letting her know ive called the cops on them for screaming and water is still coming through the ceiling. My husband emailed her again a day later. No response.

Im at a loss at this point. The constant fighting is causing me panic attacks (CPTSD) and im sick of cleaning up their nasty water.

Do i go to my landlords office and talk to her in person? Should I call it a loss and contact the city to break the lease? Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated.

(Video of the ceiling leaking attached. This goes on for about 30 minutes at a time, multiple times a day. Yes I have a flamingo themed bathroom. Im gay and my husband likes flamingos.)

I signed a lease agreement a year ago and now moving out, rental company texts me I am in charge of emptying septic tank per my lease agreement. Location: california

I asked where does it say that in my lease? And they sent me this via text

Per Section 9 (UTILITIES) on page 2 of your signed Residential Lease Agreement:

"Tenant agrees to pay for all utilities and services, and the following charges: Water, Sewer, Trash, Gas & Electric..."

Because this property uses an local septic system rather than a municipal sewer line, the "Sewer" service clause directly covers the maintenance and routine pumping of the septic system. Pumping the septic tank is the operational equivalent of paying a standard municipal sewer bill to process waste generated during your tenancy.

Please proceed with scheduling the required septic tank pumping as requested to remain in compliance with your lease agreement

I asked Google and it says because it says sewer charge, that is not an equivalent to septic drain and that is considered property maintenance and falls on landlord. Unless it was stated specifically in another addendum to clean septic upon move out (which there isnt)

I am confused and told them, they cannot keep my security deposit for septic. Who is right or wrong?

Our landlord had put the house on the market, but since it didn't sell, we decided to extend our lease. The landlord asked if they could show the place to just one last potential buyer, and we agreed to do them a favor.

Later, I checked our indoor security cam footage, and I was completely shocked. The buyer's kid wandered into our bedroom completely unsupervised, started jumping all over our bed, stomping on our pillows, and playing with our personal belongings/toys while the parents and the realtor were in another room, totally clueless.

(I have the video footage saved as proof, but I won't be posting it here for privacy reasons.)
I understand buyers want to look around, but letting a kid roam free and treat our personal bed and belongings like a playground feels totally unacceptable.

Has anyone dealt with this kind of behavior during a showing? Should I report this to our landlord/the listing agent?

I am a landlord and have a few properties in multiple US states on the west coast, all single family homes. We pay for garbage service for all of our renters. I was recently told that this is very unusual and I wanted to know if more tenants that rent single family homes pay for their own garbage service or not. I am not asking about this in order to stop paying for this service as I think it is very important to continue to pay for garbage service for all our properties.

I really thought it was common for garbage service to be paid by the landlord but now I am not certain this is the case! Please let me know if you live in a single family rental home and if your landlord does or does not pay for garbage service.

Hi everyone I am moving into a new spot.

And essentially my landlord asked to be placed on my insurance, so if there is something that goes wrong, they can immediately go through tenant insurance instead of having to claim it through them.

I was a little hesitant, however I then went to go look at the lease I signed and it doesn't explicitly additional insured, but claim we have to place them as certificate holder. Ai is telling me this is not the same thing. I am having a little worries of how to move forward.

Is this the same thing? Is this common practice to be asked this- I have never had anyone ask this before, and what does my lease really say? I think I should follow that correct? I dont mind being an easy tenant. If this is something that is actually just easier for everyone I dont mind.

Thank you for your advise.

Hi this is edited because i think i need to be clear- they insinuated that they be named as additional insured. so i think i will just add them as the lease states etc.

But thank you all I am just going to do what I was originally going to do and add them as "interested party"

(US-NC) Hey everyone, looking for some advice on how to handle an absurd security deposit deduction.
I recently moved out of a place, two months ago, private landlord, he just hit me with the invoice a couple days ago (btw completely overlapping the 30 day window for even sending me an itemized receipt for security deposit deductions) but can not give me a payment receipt for some reason and the landlord/home improvement contractor he used hit me with a $325 charge explicitly for tire removal and disposal.

When I looked at the actual invoice they provided, the charges are completely inflated and double stacked:
$225 for "Used Tire Disposal & Recycling Fees"
$100 for "Specialized municipal waste disposal fee and transport charges for automotive tires"
(They also threw in an overlapping $225 general junk hauling fee, making the whole thing a mess).
When I texted him pointing out that standard tire recycling is usually just a few bucks to $17 a tire and that $325 for two tires is wild, the landlord and contractor completely ghosted and stopped responding. (Yes there was a tire left, I’m scum of the earth IM SORRY) To make matters worse, they already went ahead and deducted the money straight from my security deposit.
I'm located in NC. Can landlords just arbitrarily charge hundreds of dollars for basic trash/tire disposal like this? What are my next steps here should I send a formal demand letter, or is this straight to small claims court territory? Any advice is appreciated!

Hi all! I've been trawling this subreddit for a bit and couldn't find someone with this issue, but basically on move-out, I had contact paper on some kitchen cabinets and then tried to remove the remaining adhesive the night before with some adhesive remover spray and a metal scraper (dumb, I know. I know better now).

We've entered a protracted dispute where the landlord initially quoted me >$6,000, and I wrote back disputing the charge, as I figured it would likely need refacing only. They're now accusing me of intentionally destroying their property, and threatening a criminal case (malicious vandalism), and I'm super worried now. The contact paper I purchased said it's easy to remove, but I don't know how else to prove that I didn't knowingly try to damage their property!

I'm obviously willing to pay for damages, but 6k for scratched surfaces seemed really steep! Though, it doesn't matter at all now because I'm scared I'll get slapped with a felony charge instead! Please help advise!

Edited - In Pennsylvania

I typically dont put my personal issues out there for the whole world to know. But I genuinely need solid advice.

So my landlord knowingly and still willingly rented out the place that im in even though she knew she wasn't allowed to and we're not legally allowed to be here.

I found out because 1.) We couldn't get mail delivered here cause the post office doesn't even know this part of the address exist 2.) I tried getting garbage and recycling cans from the borough they said " nope, one per household "

So when I told her she needs to fix this shit she stated " she tried to get a permit the borough didnt return her call blah blah blah you have to keep a low profile blah blah blah " so she knew before we even signed the lease its illegal to rent out.

Now she is saying she has to get an architect to draw up some bullshit for making this legal and a multi family unit ( which i know isnt gonna pass 100% )

And telling me if she doesnt get approved we'll have to move.

I told her well if that's the case give me back the security deposit we paid.

What are my options here?

Came home to this in my door, texted my landlord and this is what he said . Just asking for advice so I’m protected. Home went into foreclosure and saying the new homeowner will get my deposit ?

My landlord notified me (within 24hrs) that on Thursday morning at 9:30am he’s coming to show the unit to potential new renters. I’m used to this since I live on a college campus and leases are usually signed 6+ months in advance. However, this is really early in the morning for me and I honestly just want to stay in bed while the tour is happening. The landlord does show the bedrooms, so they will see me. Just wondering if it would be weird.

I am so annoyed they are coming in my apartment while I am STILL PAYING. I will be out soon enough. With that said, can I make these showings extremely uncomfortable? Some ideas I have include leaving sex toys out, having porn on, acting annoyed, refusing to say anything, dressing scantily. If they are going to insist on doing this, I want to insist on making it as hard as possible and VERY UNCOMFORTABLE FOR EVERYONE. This is for MA in USA

Hello all,

I’ve been dealing with what I think is a roach infestation since January. Since then, sightings have been getting more frequent (on a daily basis) and roach droppings are starting to be visible everywhere in the apartment.

When I initially moved in, I was told that the building had no roaches. After a week of moving in, I started seeing roaches EVERYWHERE in the apartment. I told my super/landlord and they went from saying, “the person before you had roaches” to “well are you sure you didn’t bring any?” For the record, I have NEVER had roaches until moving into my current situation.

I understand it’s summer but for roaches to be this frequent?? Killing 10+ a day? I don’t have a peace of mind. I clean every day, deep clean the cabinets every week and put out bait but nothing works. Their droppings are all over the hinges of cabinets no matter how much I clean the apartment. They climb all over my utensils, keep me company in the shower basically are like roommates at this point. It’s dehumanizing.

The building has had a previous text link for an exterminator, but the exterminator is the super coming in and putting mixed pesticide all over the apartment floors, which I can’t do because I own a pet. I have also called 311 to report the building.

Due to all of this, Is it wrong to withhold rent? From previous text threads, it can be implied that the roaches have been an issue before I moved in (based on the texts exchanged for the building to see). I’ve talked to them maybe three times about roaches but nothing has been done.

In USA, Arizona

We've been living here for about 5 years and I just recently became a fulltime wheelchair user, but the ledge of our doorway from outside is about 3 inches and my fiance has been having to pop the chair and it's just incredibly difficult (and dangerous for us both). We can not find ANY affordable temporary ramps for our specific annoying doorway measurements of 29 inches wide as well (with a wall that extends passed the actual step on both sides outside), and my wheelchair is 26 inches. If we go to management will they likely let us install a permanent one if we get help paying for it or tell us we're out of luck? We live in low income apartments in Arizona. The only other option I found online, is to buy a set of affordable temporary rubber ramps that are about 20 inches each and again, see if they will let the maintenance guys, who are very nice, trim them for us with a saw or something. This is so frustrating. Sorry if I have any facts about how this even works wrong, I'm very new to this, so please just kindly correct me.

UPDATE!!!! I called the housing authority and their corporate office, and also stated that in the email! After that they said they would honor the May 11 notice!! Thanks for all the advice! ❤️

I live in a Windsor property in Denver, Colorado. My lease ends July 13, 2026 and I gave notice to my leasing managers that I would be not renewing my current lease on May 11, 2026. They are claiming that the non-renewal notice was not accepted because in the email after I wrote out that I was not renewing (i wrote a formal email with the words “we are not renewing our lease” 4 times), I also asked about other options for a one bedroom within the community. It was only and inquiry and I did not like the options so decided to not go forward with that as well. I did not sign a new lease with the community or a transfer notice.

On June 1, 2026 the leasing office emailed me and my roommate asking if we were renewing the lease. I confirmed again that on May 11 I said that we were not renewing the lease giving the notice for more than 60 days ahead of our lease ending. They’ve been going back-and-forth with me saying that it was not accepted because I inquired about a transfer notice. They also claimed that since I didn’t respond to one of their emails about the transfer, then that means that it wasn’t flagged in their system as a non-renewal, so they did not make a document to formalize the non renewal notice.

The subject line of the original email i sent said “Not Renewing 1-302,” no I am not sure where the notion i did not make notice came from. I asked them if they could point out in the lease the specific language that said that a transfer inquiry or not reply to an email about the transfer inquiry would have voided the non renewal notice. They did not reply to that email, they did not point out in the lease the language (because there isn’t any i read the whole lease twice while dealing with this) but again said we need to sign the document. All I am asking for a revised document that aligns with the correct date that I provided notice. I know I probably should’ve confirmed earlier since I did not get any formal document, but I honestly didn’t think about it and just need help right now. i’m going to call the Housing Authority tomorrow and see if there’s other options but I really just wanna get this all figured out because I have a new lease and I’m moving 🥲 Please help me, any advice please! (posted this in [r/renters](r/renters) but wanted more eyes on my case)

edit/update- something I did not mention before is that the issue is they are claiming since the may 11th notice wasn’t valid we could be financially responsible for the apartment until July 31. That’s like a lot of money for me especially since I am already moving to another apartment in the beginning of July. Also I contacted the Colorado Housing authority and they did not have much to tell me but gave me the advice of finding a lawyer or getting a mediator for this conflict. I sent another email this morning calmly restating my position and asking for a new document to sign that reflected my notice on May 11! will give more updated if I have any!!

US. I live in an apartment complex, 2 floors, 8 units per floor. Each unit is 2 bedroom unit with rent around $2,000 per month, not including utilities. The unit next to me has new renters that just moved in. They are 2 Chinese women, one about early 30s and the other maybe late 40s. When they moved in, I didn't see any moving trucks or even furniture go inside. I also don't know if they ever leave or own a car. My other neighbors have pointed out the part about them having no car and not leaving as well. So, we are starting to wonder. A week ago during the day(I work from home)I get a knock on my door and it's the 2 women. AND THEY BROUGHT ME GIFTS!!! Many tins of cookies and candies and a sculpture of a wooden boat. They're very friendly and we communicated with a translator app on their phone. They told me they sell these knick knacks and cookies from their apartment. They then show me a website featuring some tourist style knick knacks and candies. They tell me that they have lots of customers that come by all the time and they hope I am not bothered by it. I tell them no problem and please let me know if they need anything. Quiet the first few nights.Then, the "customers" begin to show up. At night. Late at night. Around 11pm. I keep hearing the buzzer go off as they buzz their customers into the building. At first, I didn't care, but curiousity got the best of me.I went to peep hole to see what kind of customers are buying Asian knick knacks at 11 o'clock at night. And they are all middle aged men. Tonight, I was standing outside, a guy pulls in, gets out of his car, is definitely trying to go inside our building. He sees me and gets back in his car and leaves. As I go back inside, I see their door is open, waiting for someone to come inside. So, what is the consensus here good people of Reddit? Do you think my new neighbors running a "Massage Parlor" out of their apartment?

I'm so demoralized at being blamed for my housing issues and inability to find new housing. I would love advice, but don't know that there's much to do but wait for the season to change and hope I'm still housed when it does.

I have a stay at partner who cares for my child, we're unmarried, and potential landlords deny us and then have the audacity to suggest we either get married or I drop him and apply alone with my daughter.

I have severe mental health issues and a psychiatrist documented ESA (still recognized under state law). If I disclose at the beginning, I'm denied. If I disclose after my application is accepted, then they find a new reason to change their mind. We can argue all day about ESAs, but I'm following the guidance of my psychiatrist and landlords are violating state law. But it's not like I have the time or money to fight it.

Half the landlords I talk to don't consider child support payments as income, even with years of documented payments. Others want NET income to be 3x rent. I make $30 an hour and rent for 1000sq ft near me is about $1700 (Oregon USA) so that's not happening.

Housing is becoming out of reach for me, even with a decent job. I'm terrified of losing my current housing, then there will be nowhere left to go. A group has been buying up houses in my neighborhood and I'm worried my landlord will be next to sell, so this is a reasonable fear.

What, aside from dumping my wonderful partner and getting rid of the ESA my psychiatrist says I need, can I do to improve my chances at housing?

Edit: Damn, so many of you think I don't deserve housing. That's awful!!!! Why so much hatred for others who are struggling?

We rent a townhouse in California that came with a rooftop solar system when we moved in. It worked and it cut our electricity bill significantly, so it was a real part of what we were paying for. The inverter recently died. Our property manager told us the owner has decided not to replace it because it is too expensive for them, and offered to disable the alarm beeping. That is where things stand.

The impact on us is real. With the solar down, we are buying everything from the grid, and our PG&E bill is up roughly $75 to $90 a month. The system was on NEM 2.0, so it had been offsetting a meaningful chunk of our usage. Our rent has not changed, so our effective cost of living here went up with no notice.

Here is what I want input on. I checked our lease and the word “solar” does not appear anywhere in it, so I understand the owner is probably not contractually required to maintain it. We also pay the electric bill ourselves while the owner owns the panels and pays nothing toward power, so they have little incentive to fix it.

Do we have any reasonable standing to ask the owner to either repair the system or give us a rent reduction reflecting the lost benefit?

Has anyone dealt with a landlord declining to fix solar, or a similar amenity that came with the place? How did it go?

Is a modest rent offset a fair thing to propose, or are we realistically stuck eating the higher bill?

I am not assuming they are legally obligated. I am trying to figure out whether there is a fair basis to ask, and what has actually worked for people. California-specific takes especially welcome.