Rumor has it that my landlord is obligated by law to pay for at least the materials if I wish to paint my dirty walls.
I live in Washington State and would appreciate any advice which would force my slum-lord to pay for the brushes, drop-cloths, paint, etc.
Well, I live in Washington State, and I don’t know what the laws are where you live, but when I begged my landlord to paint my apartment walls(which had been painted blood red by the previous renter) I returned to my front door one day from school and there was a 5 gallon paint bucket sitting outside my door. I asked him about drop clothes and rollers and he said that I was to bring him a reciept and he would deduct it from my rent.
So you see the problem here: He would pay for the supplies but I was supposed to donate my own time. As for any law, there is none. You rent the apartment “as is”. The only place where there would be room for discussion is if he informed you that, for instance, the water was “crystal clear” and it actually came out milky white and must settle for five minutes before it became “crystal clear”(gotta love Manhattan 
). You could take him to court and sue him for misrepresentation. Of course, you never hear landlords in NYC talking about the water quality because they are bathing in the same stuff.
That’s all I am bargaining for is materials. My time is cheap.
Deduction from rent, sounds good to me 
My question is: Is my landlord obligated by law to allow me to deduct the cost of materials from my rent ?
Laws regarding apartments tend to be set at the local level. The state may have some legislation about building safety / minimum standards for habitability, but would probably not cover paint.
If your landlord is a small time operator (one or two buildings, lives on site), you can probably negotiate. If he’s big time (owns lots of properties, or you live in a huge complex), they’ve probably got rules hammered out by their lawyers which are totally to their advantage.
See if there is a Tenant’s Union in your city.
– Beruang
I’m in the land lording business (I’ve always hated that term though).
Every state has different laws regarding the rental of properties. Rumor is rumor, you wouldn’t believe some of the things I hear. I would advise a bit of research before taking on your landlord, bad relations are hard to get over.
You don’t give much information IBBen. How long have you lived there? What city do you live in? Do you rent a house, apartment, what? Do the landlords own other properties or just the one you rent? Why in the world would you agree to rent a place with filthy walls in the first place?
Until I know more details, I’ll share the following. You will be in deep if you paint the walls without WRITTEN authorization and can be held responsible for putting it back to what the landlord says was there prior to your moving in.
You shouldn’t just paint over dirty walls, the new paint will come right off.
Here are some ideas that may get better response.
Write a polite letter to your landlord suggesting that perhaps this situation has somehow escaped their attention and is there a chance they could do something about it? Chances are, if the walls are that bad, they will cover the entire cost including labor.
If you get no or a negative response, try your rumor method.
Might it not be easier to simply wash the walls? I’m not defending your landlord mind you, I simply don’t know enough of the situation.
I live in Idaho, but if you can’t find information on your own, e-mail me and I’ll help you find it.
From my perspective, it’s always better to keep the lines of communication open. Most of all, you probably don’t want to piss off your landlord, It’s amazing what harm can be done.
I have been in situations where the space was awesome but there had been hoardes of smokers that lived there before and there was grease and tobacco smoke caked on the walls.
TSP® brand(I think) makes a cleaner that contains TriSodium-Phosphate(hence the name) that is available at all paint stores. It is applied with a wet sponge from a diluted mixture in a bucket and acts like bleach on dirty walls. The results truly are amazing. Even if you plan to paint the walls you should definitely use some TSP® before hand so the paint will stick. It may also help with the smell(if there is one).
I’ve been a landlady & also a painting contractor since 1979.
I would generally not let a tenant paint unless I was pretty sure s/he knew how to do a decent job.
A bad paint job is hard to undo. Is this an apartment complex, house, what? Apartment complexes generally stick to one particular paint type & colour & either have outside contractors or maintenance staff do it…you could ask your landlord nicely & see what he says. If you point out that you are more likely to stay put if he lets you clean up the place, he may go for it. Do you have a lease?
Chances are he is not obligated. Laws differ from one municipality to another. In Colorado, generally, a rental unit can be a filthy pit…as long as there is heat, water & a working toilet, he is not obligated to paint, get rid of cockroaches, clean carpets, replace old flooring, etc.