By LifeAndLemons95 - 18/08/2016 08:23 - Denmark

Today, I was wondering why my cheap and overall great apartment had been available for so long. After some research, it's now pretty clear: my landlord is, apparently, a well-known slumlord. FML
I agree, your life sucks 14 306
You deserved it 1 400

LifeAndLemons95 tells us more.

Hi! I'm the OP (as you can probably tell) and I should probably explain some things. This happened a while back but it's a great lesson in being more critical. First, #8 is very right with the explanation of the term. Also, I said "cheap" because it was actually affordable and quite fair in size contrary to many others where you're promised 13m2 for about 450$ more or less. Second, I didn't sign the lease. I only checked to see if they were actually legit owners of the place since many get scammed that way. I didn't think about checking if they were actually good at what they're doing. That was pretty naive of me and definitely a lesson learned. I'm very sorry for all of you who had to experience this, and I hope you're in a better apartment now where you feel like you're heard and respected. Also, thank you to all of you who showed me sympathy even if you didn't know how it turned out. It's really sweet of you. :) Last, I'd like to say that I'm not ungrateful and I'd never dare to be! I'm easily excited and I am thankful for all fortunes in life. It's not an issue of being grateful or not but rather about being in a situation that is safe and comfortable. I didn't feel either of those when I found out and I had to react to that. I hope you understand! Okay. Ramble over. I hope that cleared up a bit of your questions!

Top comments

A slumlord (or slum landlord) is a derogatory term for a landlord, generally an absentee landlord with more than one property, who attempts to maximize profit by minimizing spending on property maintenance, often in deteriorating neighborhoods. so basically, the landlord is never around and doesnt really give a shit. If you need help or something breaks down, good luck getting help from your landlord, as they will ignore your calls and try to fix things as cheaply and poorly done as possible if they do ever get around to fixing it. I once had a slumlord and the tenant on top of me had a leak in their dishwasher so every time they did a load of dishes it leaked into my apartment and flooded my kitchen. It took 6 months of both of us complaining for anything to be done about it. Then he got his friend to fix the issue, rather than a plumber, and it happened again within 2 months. I left as soon as my lease was up and now my landlord fixes any issues I have within a week of me reporting the issue.

Comments

Isn't this a good thing? Nobody would be ever stupid enough to break into a slumlord's building

Glad you didn't sign your lease. I'm in a really crappy situation right now with a slumlord. For example, I let my landlord know that we had a mouse infestation (yes, I keep my house clean) and he told me to either set traps or get a cat. =| I'm fairly certain the infestation happened before I moved in too. The plumbing doesn't work well, but the landlord just keeps doing temporary fixes instead of addressing the actual issue. We had to get our own window unit a/c and space heater, because there was no central heat or a/c in the house. etc I could keep going on, but I won't. We've been stuck here for years, but housing is scarce and extremely expensive in my area. This house has a yard and allows pets and is half the price of even the crappiest apartments in the area so we're just stuck.

I'm really, really sorry to hear that you're struggling with your landlord and your overall situation. It might seem very hopeless for you right now, but I'm rooting for you to find a home you'd be more comfortable in. I know it's extremely difficult to find a cheap place where pets are allowed (it's the same situation here), but I'm really hoping for you to find something, even if it does seem to happen rarely. :( Your landlord sounds like they're a fan of the "cheaper" solutions which in itself can make one wonder why on Earth they'd want to be in this kind of business to begin with... I'm not quite sure of tenants' rights in other countries than Denmark, but I think you should look up some options. In Denmark, there's an organisation dedicated to help tenants take action against a landlord or maybe just a single issue within the apartment. Maybe you have something similar to go to? If there is something similar, I'd recommend talking to them. I've heard many people say that organisations like that helped them when they thought they would never get their problems fixed. It's worth a shot, right? Once again, I'm sorry for the late response and I really hope it'll get better, #37!

Sorry for the delay in response. I just saw this. Thanks for the advice. It's worth a try, right?

Geckosrock99 33

So you're on the Internet and can't Google things? Don't be so lazy.

Geckosrock99 33

Google it. You're on the Internet.