3 ms·
> if winter comes early, you still have to wait for November 15 for when the heat gets turned on. This happens in the first world, too. In Minneapolis (where I
by graue 14y ago
> if winter comes early, you still have to wait for November 15 for when the heat gets turned on.
This happens in the first world, too. In Minneapolis (where I currently live) landlords are, on paper, required to provide at least 68°F starting October 1st. In my experience they turn on the heat a week or two after that, whenever they get around to it, basically. You have nothing for the cold late-September days. You don't control your heat in multifamily buildings, and sometimes it's more like 60° or below and you have to nag the landlord for a week to turn it up. There was a week right around Christmas where I could practically see my breath.
I imagine you can buy your way out of this by paying (a lot) more to rent a nicer, more modern place, but for many, of course, that's not an option.
- cbr 14y agoI don't know about Minneapolis, but in MA you can withhold rent if the landlord isn't meeting their obligations. (Downside is making the landlord-tenant relationship more adversarial.)
- graue 14y agoYup, MN has that, but the more you complain and fight with a landlord, the more likely they nail you on some technicality, and there goes $100+ of your security deposit on move-out. Then, even if their claim is clearly bogus, a court victory's far from assured and the filing fee would be almost as great as the amount you lost. Maybe I've just been unlucky but the housing law story in MN seems extremely unfavorable to tenants. Washington, DC was much better. I heard it has tenant-friendly laws but I never had to test that.