Job Discussion Forums

[Ladybug]

The housing provided by my school is OK, but twice things have broken and twice the school has insisted I pay for it. The first time, I was at fault, and I said OK. The second time, the breakage was not my fault, and even though I only have to pay a small amount of money to fix something, I think it's a matter of principle that the school pays for the upkeep of the apartment, or asks my landlord to pay for things.

My thinking is that this is not my apartment really, the school will most likely use the apartment again when I go (maybe) and so they should be responsible for either paying for broken items or the landlord should pay.

But then one of the main problems is that my landlord has been completely delinquent in paying for the rent. I have regularly received pink past due notices in my mailbox and once even received a note from the management company's lawyer, probably about collecting back rent.

Where I am from, and when I lived in Korea, I understood that it was the landlord's obligation to fix things that had been broken as a result of wear and tear and not gross negligence or vandalism.

Am I right in my beliefs or have I just been lucky in my schools' forms of generosity before?

Is there any sort of "bill of rights" a tenant has with its employer if the employer provides housing?

Thanks for your help. I'm very interested in understanding this issue more clearly. If I am responsible for paying then fine, but if not, I'd definitely like to know as well. And if anyone can, please provide links and resources so if needed, I can show my school.

Thanks!

[bellabella]

are you still working for deborah? when i was in their accomodation they got the land lord to pay for everything that was broken. but they were for things that there was no way i could have broken. i.e. toliet exploding water all over the place, fridge leaking water all over the floor. i haven't had anything go wrong in my current place but other friends that rent have their landlord pay for anything that is considered wear and tear. so i think you need to have a talk to your principal.