Quote Originally Posted by Hamtragedy View Post
All of this begs the question? Why did you move to such a place in the first place? To everyone else, if you notice glaring problems during a walk-thru and the landlord says he will correct them once you move in, there is a 50-50 chance he will actually do so.

Secondly, you are entitled to your deposit back. If the landlord is a decent landlord, he will deal with the deficiencies. If he's a slumlord or an idiot, you will more than likely have to take him to court, which means you may not see that $$ for a very long time.

Many cities' implementation of certifying rentals is fairly recent. Good landlords may or may not follow the law directly because it can be a money grab by the municipality, usually in compliance and inspection fees which can be as much as $300/yr, which may not seem like much, but if you include property taxes, garbage collection fees, maintenance costs, or rising insurance rates, it's just one more cost that may affect the landlord's ability to keep the rent affordable given the neighborhood. Having said that, many municipalities require certification before the landlord can proceed with the eviction process. Kind of a double edged-sword.

The landlord tenant relationship is a fine balance. Potential tenants should look for a conscientious landlord. The last thing a landlord wants is a slum-tenant, which there also appears to be no shortage of .
We weren't aware of the electrical problems, etc. until after moving in. After we moved in, an arc from an outlet fried our television and comcast equipment when a guy came out to install our cable. The property management company sent out a guy who barely even looked at anything and of course tried to say that what happened was the fault of Comcast and not faulty electrical wiring, but we have had several problems with the breaker since then. Also, I am not the one that signed the lease for this place. I would have demanded items like a walk-through checklist, but the lady renting this place is elderly and was clearly unaware of these requirements. Upon looking through the Madison Heights inspection checklist, I have noted a number of other violations including no fire extinguisher, windows without screens, inadequate fire alarms, etc.