Housing 101: Tenants Get the Last Laugh (all the way to the bank)

Milwaukee, WIMaybe you're late with your rent one month, and your landlord gives you a hard time, or the guy turns out to be an s.o.b. and you can't take it anymore, so you start looking for alternate housing. Instead, you might consider looking around for some legal help, and fighting back.

One would assume that being a landlord is a statement that you've arrived - a member in good standing of the 'income property club'. People line up to rent your house or apartment, you take their money, slap a bit of paint on the walls from time to time, and otherwise enjoy your station along the avenues of Easy Street.

But it isn't that easy, is it? And you know who's in the driver's seat, don't you?

The tenants, of course.

Yes renters, you may think your landlord has got it made, but in actual fact it is you, the tenant, who really calls the shots. Of course, you have certain responsibilities as well - paying your rent in a timely fashion, being reasonably good neighbours and taking reasonable care of the property you are renting. You live there after all, and regardless of who owns the place, there is a certain pride that comes with one's home.

But just because you don't have the deed in your back pocket, and you may have come begging the landlord to take you in off the street, doesn't mean you don't have any rights.

You have rights-a-plenty.

Federal law protects you from discrimination against race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, having children, being pregnant, having a physical or mental disability -and that includes alcohol and past drug addiction. An increasing number of states and cities have enacted laws preventing discrimination as to marital status and sexual orientation.

And even if the sign says 'No Pets,' your seeing-eye dog gets to live with you too, whether the owner of the building likes it, or not.

Sounds good so far?

There are also regulations that require that a place must be decent to live in. That means no unsafe conditions like mould, mildew, holes in the roof or the floor, or even lead in the paint, or plumbing. Old houses are notorious for their old lead pipes, or even copper piping where lead solder is used, and old leaded paint ingested by a child could lead to low IQ, learning disabilities, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD), mental retardation, or brain damage. It is your landlord's responsibility to make it right.

No rats, or other vermin that could be a threat to you, or your family are allowed. Same with bugs and any other kind of infestation, and the outlawed pests could even include the landlord. You have a right to your privacy, and with the exception of an emergency situation, no landlord can indiscriminately come into your home - even if he owns it - without your permission, and without reasonable notice given.

Remember those rights you have?

A woman in South Carolina discovered that her landlord was bugging her apartment complex. She figured it was an invasion of her privacy, so she sued. Judy Johnson is asking for $100 for each day of the violation, or U.S. $10,000 - whichever is greater. She still lives there. Judy just got tired of her landlord bugging her--literally.

An even bigger lawsuit has just resulted in a restitution offer in Milwaukee - a class-action lawsuit brought against one of the most notorious landlords in the city. Already owing back taxes and a carpetbag full of fines, Timothy J. Brophy Jr. has agreed to fund a $300,000 kitty to compensate current and former tenants as his penance for providing living spaces unfit for human habitation. That was actually the case for one Milwaukee woman, who paid Brophy her first month's rent and security deposit when she signed her lease in November of 2004. However, unbeknownst to Jessica Wineberg, who brought the lawsuit, there had been numerous building code violations levied against Brophy dating back to June of that year. Shortly after she moved in, Wineberg was paid a visit by the city's building authority, who informed her that her apartment was deemed unfit for human habitation, and therefore she had to either leave the premises or face stiff fines.

She moved. But she also sued.

The settlement not only compensates Wineberg for her losses, but also includes anyone who ever signed a lease with Brophy and lost rent money, or security deposits dating back to March of 2000.

Not all landlords are that bad. But for the ones who gleefully take your money on time every month and force you to live in deplorable conditions - or inflict harassment - remember that you have rights. A lot of them. The law is on your side and lawyers are here to help you.