Letter to the Editor

What about renter's rights?

Sunday, February 7, 2010

To the Editor:

Over the past few years, I have been through a lot with what I like to call, "slumlords."

Did you know that in Indiana, you have no rights as a renter?

Trying to find an affordable place is difficult enough, but to find an affordable place such as a three bedroom for $600 a month, that is not falling apart, is almost completely impossible.

Then you have landlords that refuse to fix the problem and treat you however they want, they can come to your door and scream and yell at you, terrify you, harass you.

I am a good renter. Yeah, sometimes my rent may be one to two days late, it has ever been over three days late, and that was because of a car accident I was in. I totaled my (car) and told my landlord that the rent would be three days late because of towing fees. I still paid the $50 plus $10 a day.

Which is another thing I don't understand. I have lived in several states and any place that I have rented there had been a 10-day grace period. As long as you paid your rent in that 10 days, everything was fine. Why do they not have that here?

Why is it your landlord can rent homes that should be torn down at ridiculous rates and us renters get stuck with them because there is nothing else?

If you try to screen your landlords, you get denied the home. I think there should be rules, laws and policies set in place to protect renters.

Landlords make us fill out an application to rent their homes, why can't we make them fill out applications to rent their homes? These people have entirely too much control. They think they can do whatever to whomever and nothing can be done about it.

The sad thing is, it's true. Renters have no rights. We break a lease because our landlords are slumlords, yell at us, harass us, but we are in the wrong.

We are expected to live like that. I can't believe that they can get away with this.

Heather McCreery,

Brazil