Current Events > Is it normal for your landlord's handyman to talk shit about you to the landlord

(+) Yeah! (+)

Backstory: Moved in at the beginning of the year and they let us move in early for no added cost towards the end of the month. But in doing so it basically cut into this handyman's work (I'm assuming, he's shit tho so it probably wouldnt have been fixed regardless) and they left a bunch of shit unfixed (sprinklers, 2 stove burners, entire light fixtures and ceiling fans dont work, garage door opener doesn't respond to clickers, fireplace etc.) Whatever. I contact the dude often to try and get stuff fixed and he says he'll fix it "this week" and then blows me off for weeks to months just to eventually never fix anything lol he's fixed absolutely nothing since we've been here.

More recently we got a letter from the HOA saying we need to paint the house because it doesn't match the current standards. Landlord tried to fight it, didn't win. So now the handyman has to come here to paint. When he came to check on the paint he noticed the plants were dying in the front and immediately called the landlord to inform her. They were aware the irrigation system was fucked (and I mean FUCKED, working sprinklers were just hitting rocks and not a single plant was getting water) and they put it on us to fix it. I didn't want a fight because we're paying $400 less than what goes around here so I ate the bill and got someone to replace the entire front irrigation system.

Jump to today (like a month and a half after the HOA notice lol), he's painting the house and he's on the phone with the landlord the entire time just talking shit. We have a handful of dog poop on the backyard side area of the house and I overheard him complain to the landlord about it. He complained I wouldn't let him keep the garage door open (the one that he wouldn't be able to close without jumping over the sensor) to paint the trim while I was gone from the house. Complained about my dog staring at him from the window lmao I can hear all this from where I'm at inside the house because he talks on speaker phone.

The landlord and the handyman are super close friends apparently so I feel like I can't tell her that he's a fucking drunk pos (when we moved in there was at least 3 cases worth of Miller Highlife in the trash) that doesn't do his job. Feel like I'm in a bind. Landlord hasn't contacted me personally about anything yet but I really don't want it to get that far.

I guess this is more a #blogfaqs than anything. Can't wait for this dude to be done painting, I'll never call his dumb ass ever again.
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Fuck that prick. Tell him to pick up the shit if it bothers him so much.

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that's shitty. fuck him and wouldn't worry one bit about his feelings. air your shit out to the landlord. I wouldnt take an ounce of shit off that guy...

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Yeah I'm really close to complaining to the landlord but I feel like it will fall on deaf ears. I'm not going to try and get him to fix anything anymore though. I just want him out of my life lol

He put off painting the house for so long because "his son has back issues" which I don't necessarily believe but I was super understanding regardless. I took off time from work when he eventually got back to me saying he'd be here on certain days only for him to blow me off. And then he comes here just to talk shit when all I've been is very kind to him. I'm guessing he does it to cover his own ass for not fixing shit.
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You should do it. Tell her this guy is literally outside talking all sorts of shit and its pretty unprofessional and borderline trashy.

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SSJPurple posted...

You should do it. Tell her this guy is literally outside talking all sorts of shit and its pretty unprofessional and borderline trashy.

What has me tripped up on that is that he was openly talking shit on speaker to her. So she already knows because she was a party to it lol and I'm sure she would deny it if I were to bring that up to her. When i went out back to smoke and say what's up to him today he got off the phone immediately, and not in a way to be polite to either of us.
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Smashingpmkns posted...

What has me tripped up on that is that he was openly talking shit on speaker to her. So she already knows because she was a party to it lol and I'm sure she would deny it if I were to bring that up to her. When i went out back to smoke and say what's up to him today he got off the phone immediately, and not in a way to be polite to either of us.

Still do it. You tell her exactly what you have told this thread. She may know and not care, but her hearing from somebody that her worker is extremely unprofessional might get her thinking as it reflects on her too.

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You're right. I'm gonna bring it up to her when he's done painting. Probably gonna tell her I don't need his services anymore either.
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Why are you paying rent if they refuse to complete the repairs from before you even moved in?

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Should have came up behind him while he was still on speaker. Let him know you could hear everything. I mean he's allowed to not like you and he's allowed to vent about it to his boss, but doing it while he's at your house is something he should be embarrassed about. And the lack of quality in his work is something you should take up with the landlord, because you're paying for that through your rent.

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divot1338 posted...

Why are you paying rent if they refuse to complete the repairs from before you even moved in?

Tbh I'm afraid she'll retaliate by raising rent eventually, I also don't know how she can fuck me in the future if I do decide to stop paying rent. My bro rents a different place from her as well for at least 5 years now in a more sought out and more expensive area in town, not necessarily nicer just more hip. She hasn't raised his rent ever and he's probably the only person in that area (maybe even in the whole city) paying sub $1k a month at this point. He never gets them to fix anything in the house and never contacts her outside of making sure she cashes the rent. He's maybe had to deal with this guy a quarter of the times I've had to his entire time living in that house.
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Do the opener clickers have fresh batteries in them?

If so have you tried reprogramming them?

Sometimes the code gets erased and just needs to be recoded which is pretty easy usually.


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they must not have been happy with your tip.

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You need to move out.

Really you need to figure out how to stop renting but for now leave.

Create a paper trail showing she is refusing to complete repairs.

Then get a lease setup before telling her so she cant cause trouble and then leave.

If she so much as says a word break out the papers, explain you will be taking her to court if she does anything, and leave.

And post reviews of her everywhere you can think of.

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Mistere Man posted...

Do the opener clickers have fresh batteries in them?

If so have you tried reprogramming them?

Sometimes the code gets erased and just needs to be recoded which is pretty easy usually.

We've purchased a few clickers to see if they were the issue but it's the actual unit that has an issue with its receiver.

divot1338 posted...

You need to move out.

Really you need to figure out how to stop renting but for now leave.

Create a paper trail showing she is refusing to complete repairs.

Then get a lease setup before telling her so she cant cause trouble and then leave.

If she so much as says a word break out the papers, explain you will be taking her to court if she does anything, and leave.

And post reviews of her everywhere you can think of.

I totally would but we (me and my gf) can't afford anywhere else atm. It's extremely cheap for the area and we're taking advantage in order to save for our own house within the next 2 or so years. Anywhere else would have us living paycheck to paycheck or would just be a way worse house.

We're extremely lucky to get this house in the area it is in for what we're paying, it just sucks we have to deal with this garbage.
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Smashingpmkns posted...

We've purchased a few clickers to see if they were the issue but it's the actual unit that has an issue with its receiver

Ok thank you, and sorry for asking.

Now that is a big issue then may need a new unit, but I am definitely no expert. Sorry again I just wanted to check as sometimes issues can have simple fixes.

My family has a rental property that I do small repairs on, and we had a new roof put on, and something happened that caused the power to be out in several rooms. They wanted to call an electrician, but I asked have they checked the circuit breaker? as it could have blown from the roofers. I was assured they had checked that so we called an electrician out, and it turns out it was just a blown breaker like I said, and they didnt think to check it like I was told.

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Mistere Man posted...

I was assured they had checked that so we called an electrician out, and it turns out it was just a blown breaker like I said, and they didnt think to check it like I was told.

They always say that and theyre always lying.

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