canibringmydog t1_j6kgzzx wrote on January 30, 2023 at 11:31 PM

lol @ people saying RI tenants have the laws on their side. The law basically is on your side if the place is an uninhabitable shithole, and even then there's really no repercussions that go the landlord's way. Otherwise, you have to deal, and try to recoup anything in court after the fact.

I do not know if kitchen appliances are considered essential. If it is, you may be able to straight up break the lease, or rent somewhere else (I.E., hotel) while the stove is being replaced, and deduct it from your rent owed (this will suck, as he will most likely try to evict you by going that route - not saying he will be successful). If it is not essential, they give you a whopping $125 limit on doing the repairs yourself, after informing the landlord you are going to do so, and waiting 20 days for the landlord to get around to it.

You can go to RILS.ORG and call to see if you quality for legal help - if you don't, which you won't because the benchmark is so insanely low, they will still offer a free 30 minute consultation with an attorney affiliated with their program.

Edit: it’s considered not a “landlord friendly” state because it’s hard to evict people here lol 🙄

throwawayRI3742 OP t1_j6nfqg0 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 4:01 PM

I have the handbook readily available at all times and have referenced it numerous times in conversations but these assholes just laugh at me. I don’t even think the landlord knows what is going on to be honest - or that the company that takes 10% of our rent is a POS.

canibringmydog t1_j6o0myz wrote on January 31, 2023 at 6:09 PM

I have been writing to elected officials about the predatory landlords out here. They have a “if you don’t like it, fuckin move” mentality. And they’re right; someone will always fill the spot bc there’s simply not enough housing.

The people who think that this is a tenant friendly state have never lived outside of RI. I truly wish you the best!

fishythepete t1_j6p59be wrote on January 31, 2023 at 10:20 PM

In RI get what you bought. Sure, if you rent an illegal basement apartment your remedy is basically to leave, and that’s worse than a place where the remedy is the landlord gives you more than what you bought, protecting those who may not enter transactions with their eyes wide open.

But ultimately you get exactly what’s on the label, even if it means RI isn’t as good at protecting you from yourself. If the landlord doesn’t provide an essential service, escrow the cost of a new place or your increase in cost for takeout because your stove is busted and withhold from rent. That’s a remedy. So is a 20 day notice to cure if you’d rather leave.

As an adult I prefer contracts be enforced as if both parties were adults, but I admit the steep learning curve can be punishing.

canibringmydog t1_j6pjty6 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 11:58 PM

You move into a place. They say heats included. A year later they raise the rent, heat is no longer included, and split utilities among the apartments based on occupancy. Why? Bc there’s nothing explicitly saying they can’t do that.

Rent jumps from $900 to $1500 (so they can “renovate” lol and then successfully charge that much) to people who don’t know any better trying to save money by leaving Boston. Why again? Not because the landlords costs went up. Not because the people paying $900 were bad tenants, but because the landlord can.

Laundry machines were included in your rent, communal, but still, great, right? Wrong. They never work, they never will work, and your rent will not be reflecting that inconvenience. Why? Because there is nothing saying that’s illegal either.

So you opt to move. Congrats! You get to lose your deposit (because they always take as much of that as they can, right?). And now you get to put a new deposit on another apartment, but that landlord is charging first, last (if your credit score is too low) and security. But wait… that’s illegal in RI! Lol cry about it! No one cares.

These are just some of the things I have seen happen to my neighbors, and people I know within the last year or two. I truly do not know very many people. Tenants in this state get absolutely railed.