OK, well two weeks late on rent is not horrible. I wouldn't beat yourself up over it. But I wouldn't get comfortable with it either. If you can come up with the full rent plus late fee, it's far better to get things juggled around so that you're back on track & rent is always on time again. And saving yourself that late fee, depending on how much it is, would pay part or all of a phone or water bill, buy a tank of gas, etc. Those late fees add up so you're actually paying higher rent. It probably sounds like goofy advice, but if push comes to shove, pay a smaller bill late one month (but only one month) so you can get back on track. Like the phone or water bill. They won't shut your water or phone off if only one month late. Keep a roof over your heads first, let all else come second. Then when back on track it would put you in a better negotiating position. As for the trash recepticles. There's 4 cans and 1 recycling bin. The LL said it's everyone's job to take it down to the curb and up again. The more I read the less I like about this situation and here's why (and it's just my impression, please don't take it as gospel). First, you've got a genuinely disruptive situation with a neighbor upstairs and your LL tosses out threat of eviction if you two don't quit quibbling. It's just not cool to threaten to yank someone out of their house unless there are genuine, serious lease infractions that can be proved in court. I don't know for sure because I'm not there and don't see/know all the facts, but it almost sounds like bullying on his part. Get on track with your rent, continue to abide by your lease, and don't let yourself be bullied. You have rights here as well. If he says it's "everyone's" responsibility to take care of the trash - perfect. So we can also interpret that your LL never said, or wrote down, that your father is responsible for taking other unit's trash to the curb. So tell Dad to knock if off. I know it sounds trite, but this girl is running all over you guys and she knows it. Stand up for yourselves! Get together with unit #3 that also complained if you can, let them know you're taking out your garbage and nothing more. Ask if they will take out theirs, and let that girl in #2 deal with consequences of not managing her own mess. Honestly, it just comes across like your LL treating you all like kids on a playground. Yes, everyone needs to get along. But it goes a lot deeper than that. We're not talking about play time and everyone gets to go home when it's over. We're talking about the place that you eat and sleep and call home, and you've got a right to some peace and quiet. And you are not your neighbor's slave and do not have to do garbage detail for them. As for damages, We've done none nor Violated our lease.. ... Damages Done to this apt we're being fixed but then stopped. this was 3yrs ago, and he stated this summer he'd be around alot to do the repairs, but it has yet to happen. Can you be very specific about that? I get that you haven't done any damage, but what kinds of repairs are you talking about? I copied this from your first post above: As for the repair problems, The windows need to be replaced badly he's saying he'll do it but it's been 4 yrs now and nothing. The kitchen cabinets are dead and need fixing or replacing. not getting done. Bedroom door is coming apart. The bathroom tile needs to be replaced. I think it also might have mold behind the wall. I mean hell this apt has been falling apart befor we even moved in. What precisely is wrong with the windows? Old, leak, broken? What does "dead" kitchen cabinets mean? Teasing you here for a little levity, but I just don't get "dead" cabinets. ;D Bedroom door coming apart: is it split, coming off the hinges? What exactly is wrong with bathroom tile? Cracked? Allowing leaks for mold? Just plain ugly? Do you feel safe linking to photos? If you can be much more specific about exactly what kinds of issues these are, especially when you are talking about going to Board of Health, it would help. (Tho it sounds like a Code or Town Building inspector issue more than Board of Health, but without specifics it's hard to say.) I understand the economy is bad right now but he has two other places "Apparently" and he claims not to have the money. Is this possible?...This question is for you moonshadow. Is it possible not to have enough money even though, he claims to have this place and two others? Well, sure, about anything is possible. Depends on what he's doing with the $. He's human. He could be irresponsible, could have a problem and is gambling it all away. (I heard from an applicant once that they lost the house they were in because owner gambled her own + rent money away, so rental house + her own home were repossessed because she failed to pay mortgage and taxes.) Or he could be responsible and he's gotten walloped by the system. Maybe he's got properties financed and mortgage hit balloon period and payments went sky high. Or (as happened in our County) the way property taxes were assessed underwent major restructuring. Some areas of the County property taxes quadrupled. It was like a punch in the gut for everyone who owned any kind of real estate because of stupidity and local gov't saying "oops, our bad". A lot of people lost their own homes over it, and this was several years back when economy was booming. We have several properties and the taxes went so high instead of paying 2 installments per year I was paying 4, and that went on for 3 years. Still, I made sure I budgeted so I had enough to pay taxes, insurance and repairs expenses plus extra if something big happened like a roof replacement, but during that time none of it went in our pockets. There just wasn't any left. (Plus, like every LL in the County, I had to raise rents to cover that tax mess or we would have gone belly up. So renters were impacted in my area as well. Everyone suffered.) I guess what I'm saying is anything is possible. But a responsible LL will budget his $, make sure there is enough for expenses/repairs, and charge rents accordingly to cover all that. It's no secret how many properties your LL owns (it will be on record with your County and is public info, accessible online at your County's site or via Assessor or Recorder's office.) But please don't assume that if he owns multiple properties he's rolling in dough. I can assure you, I get that a lot and it just ain't necessarily so. Still, it matters with respect to the laws and what is required of him to keep your home safe and habitable, so that's what we'll stay focused on. ;-) So if you can elaborate on conditions you're living in, that would help.

but you can certainly understand the original poster's not wanting to prepare her home for viewing by a potential buyer only to discover the person couldn't possibly be a buyer, just someone using her home as entertainment. (& if I had my very nice upscale home on the market & my agent told me that the person who wanted to see it had said the exact words you used, I'd decline the showing rather than "spend my time" preparing the home for someone who "didn't know if he was buying anything".) Yes, I certainly see the sellers POV, only clarifying the seller with those restrictions may lose a buyer. I wonder why a seller wants to take that chance in this market. When I had my "very nice upscale home on the market" I never prescreened any showing. I left that to the agent who was spending more time showing than I was preparing. As the owner, one can always decline a showing but IMHO it is foolish to be too selective. Doesn't everyone not know if they are a buyer when they view a house, if ones knows beforehand, why bother viewing the house? Am I missing something here? But, as I said, I've never been declined a viewing or even asked to submit a letter before viewing. I usually go directly to the listing agent to view a property and never ask an agent to drive me around, just meet me at the front door to open it. I've never contacted an agent to view a house as entertainment, too much work for me. I can get my viewing entertainment at Open Houses, but lately I don't even go to those.

"After my last parent died, by biggest regret was not having walking away from both of them completely at 18 years of age. All those additional years of trying, and caregiving, only resulted in more heartache and damage. Nothing good came of it." My father is still alive but I have a similar regret. Both of my parents were completely dysfunctional, abusive, and if I had a do-over knowing what I know now, I would walk away in my late teens before they did even more damage to me.Some of the worst decisions I ever made was from fear of my parents, parents who did nothing but instill a sense of fear and neglect in me. Catherine, I could be wrong but I suspect because of her age, you are worried she will pass away without you resolving the relationship. I felt the same way with my mother, I jumped through hoops to make things right and she still died without ever giving me what I needed from her, to basically feel loved and accepted on some level. Losing the opportunity to "fix things" was one of the hardest things about her death. But eventually I realized that she was never going to give me what I needed, she just wanted to keep manipulating me and abusing me because that was her thing, that was her power over me and she wasn't going to give that up. If you haven't got from her what you've always wanted and needed by now, it isn't coming.

Does this person not understand that you are essentially doing what a flipper would do ie improve the house and its value - why on earth would you sell it and let them get the sweat equity? The appraiser should be there only to appraise - not there in any advisory role. If they are overstepping then you may want to file a complaint for such unprofessional behavior - or maybe not if it would jeopardize your loan. To come up with a good "to do" list for yourself, you may want to hire a home inspector with experience and knowledge about old house construction - they should be able to give a range of options for how to prioritize and get the work done - as well as ballpark costs and even some recommendations for who to hire. Ideally this should have/could have happened with your home inspection prior to purchase, but its not too late to do it now. Make sure they love and know old houses - not all do, you can generally tell by talking w/ them by phone first who does and who doesnt.