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I'm renting half of a duplex, and for the past two-three months the roof, siding, and balcony have been in they process of being replaced. Contractors show up with no warning, including Saturdays. Sometimes nobody shows up for a week, so i have no idea when someone will be here. I came out of the shower one Saturday to find people removing the door in my bedroom to my balcony! I'm also expected to not park in my driveway this entire time, and my garage is often blocked. I have asked repeatedly to be told a schedule in advance, but they never do.

In addition to that, the contractors have killed most of my landscaping, broke my walkway lights, leave garbage everywhere, and overall make my yard completely unusable. i came home one day to find most everything that had been hanging on my (interior) walls on the floor, mostly in pieces. I still haven't been able to safely hang anything back up.

My windows and glass doors are without insulation, so they block sound and insulate about as well as an open window. The gaps around then have also let in many pests. There are lots of other issues, such as drywall screws that have popped out, no porch lights for months, no access to balcony, knocked out internet, and so on.

I understand that landlords need to maintain their property, and I'm supportive of that. However, surely they have some duty to minimize the impact on tenants? They can't just drag it out for months, prevent using half the property, and expect me to pay full rent all the while, can they?

So my question is how can I get the landlord to finish the maintenance in a timely manner, keep me appraised of the schedule, and compensate me for not being able to use the property I've been paying for? Is it even possible? Am I being unreasonable?

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  • I'm on the app so I can't see tag descriptions. If they're wrong, let meet know how best to fix them, and I will.
    – Kat
    Sep 19, 2016 at 8:04
  • My repairs were not nearly this awful, just a week kicked out. Luckily I could crash with my parents and didn't have to get a hotel or anything. I just asked if they would like to reimburse me for the rent separately or apply it to next month. Just go forward with the assumption they pay you back, negotiate about when, not if. Comment because your landlord might be meaner than mine Oct 24, 2016 at 2:54

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