Do all landlords suck?

Or is it just the ones I've had the misfortune of dealing with? I'm just curious if anyone has ever rented a home for an extended period of time (a year or more) and not ended up hating their landlord.

I rented to a tenant and ended up hating her when she skipped out on 2 months rent.

I've heard that side of things too. Nightmare tenants who don't pay rent or destroy the property suck.

I've just had so many landlords that don't want to maintain their properties. I just don't get it. If you don't want to honor a lease (tenants and landlords both), don't sign one.

They seem to suck about as much as renters do.

I've heard nightmare stories from friends, but I've actually never had a bad landlord. Maybe I've just been lucky.

I know what you're saying but the nature of the landlord tenant relationship isn't equitable enough to allow for equal assholery, IMO.

I've had four apartments in the last 8 years...and have only had one bad landlord.

I would suggest that before you rent from somebody...you ask the other tenants (if there are any) how the landlord is to deal with....and you might want to ask people in the neighboring buildings what they've heard as far as the landlord. Shit...call the closest realtor and see if they'll give up any dirt.

Next....and I can't stress this enough: do a thorough walk-through of the apartment and document all existing damages and/or wear before signing a lease. The landlord who is friendly & smiling when you SIGN the lease...may NOT have the same demeanor when it's time to move out & collect the deposit.

Finally....listen to your gut. If something is telling you that there's just something not right about this landlord....keep looking elsewhere.

It's been about 50/50 for me. My landlord for the last 7 years is pretty damn cool. He's one of those "If I don't hear from you, and you don't hear from me, we're both happy people" types. I let his secretary know about property issues and they are taken care of quickly. And when times got very tough in a short amount of time and the rent was late, they said "it's okay, we trust you guys to get it to us, you're good people".

That being said, he does not live or pay his mortgage off of our rent, and I would never expect that kind of leeway from a landlord that did.

I have an awesome landlord. Holy crap, I am thankful for it too.

I definitely should have followed my gut when the guy kept flaking on meeting with us to sign the lease and didn't have a definite move-in date until the last minute and when we were about to move in, claimed that the house would be ready for move-in the day after the previous decade-long tenant moved out.

He's been hesitant to make necessary repairs, i.e. many of the windows are completely sealed shut with poly/stain or paint. When I've brought up issues like this, he says that "it's a hundred year old house." Yeah, because being able to open the windows is totally cosmetic.

Anyway, now he's threatened to give us a 30 day notice because he's selling the house. We have a one-year lease with 8 months left on it. I've seen a lawyer and he says the guy has no right to evict us as long as we continue to honor the lease.

It just sucks because now we have to choose between breaking a lease and living in a house where we're not wanted.

I hear what you're saying, but NPR fucked me up about actual owner/landlords versus management companies. And I've only had management companies for a long time. So I guess I'm bitter.

Sorry about your bullshit.

I have had nice landlords before.
I don't have one right now.
In fact, if she wasn't family I'd probably sue her.

mine is pretty cool, he doesnt bother me at all, for anything. and even the one time i was late on my rent (by a day), he made sure i didnt feel bad about it

Not all landlords suck but mine is a major fucking asshole
Landlord Faces Lawsuit for Harassment

They sued me and lost. I love the smell of beaten landlords!

^^ I remember that happening a lot when I lived in NYC. Glad they lost, fuckers.

yes, but they rarely swallow.

I'll second this. What I end up doing is taking multiple photos of everything. Take two copies of the photos and put them each in an envelope and send both envelopes to yourself via registered mail. It's a cheap way to help prove when the photos were taken.

If there's a dispute when you move out, the landlord gets to open the first envelope and if they still want to claim damages, the judge gets to open the second.

So far, I've been really lucky. Hell, my last landlord actually called me to make sure I collected my security deposit.

-ReAct
"Knocks on wood."

It started out cool for me, approved quickly, nice apt. then I got laid off, found a part time job, got fired, denied ANY benefits, found another job told the leasing agent in an e-mail and by phone I'm working I'll catch up, she agreed then got an eviction notice.

I know it's all about money but something about the worst recession since the depression seems to elude them.

Must be nice to have sooooooo much money to have vacant apartments for months, rather than have tenants that get behind every now and then ESPECIALLY in a recession.

I lived in Detroit and had THE coolest landlord, property manager too.

Just like the lawyer told me in court America is turning into a 3rd world country.

Ultra rich and ultra poor.

Lesson learned don't lease, don't sub-lease, don't roommate, don't beleive anything your leasing agent tells you.
Just go to work come home pay the rent.

But that being that I'm paying the money owed to my subleaser then NEVER renting from this company again.

Shocking with the moniker of lord of the land that they would act superior.

On the flipside, must be sleepness night after sleepness night relying on the financial soundness of strangers for your livelihood. especially in this economy.

The one time I forgot to send my rent check, my landlord called to see if I was okay and then asked if I needed anything fixed or replaced and assured me that he'd be out within the next couple of days to cut mow the lawn.

The other tenants, on the other hand...

In January it started raining in my living (again) and my slumlord is still "on my way over right away."

I sing "Let's Lynch the Landlord" once a week here.

It was raining in my living room. Not in my living. That's a whole other story.

Motherfuck is still on his way over either way.