Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Virginia

My brother signed a two year lease to rent a house in Montpelier, Virginia. The first year of that lease is up 10/15/10. The landlord agreed to reduce the rent significantly if he performed some work around the dilapated property. As part of the yard maintenance he climbed a tree on April 17, 2010 to remove an old rusty metal bell that could have fallen on anyone. Unfortunately he fell 20-35 feet from the ladder and is now permanently disabled from that fall. He can no longer perform those duties, he has serious mobility issues and is unable to continue to live in the house unless there were major modifications to the three floors, four entryways, bathrooms, kitchen, and outdoor parking and accesses. He is financially unable to afford to make any modifications to the landlords home and also many of the modifications necessary would make the home undesirable to future renters. He and his fiance (an Interior Designer) have maintained the home beautifully. They have changed all the rusted broken light fixtures and kitchen sink and most of the faucets. Many lights and plugs and other items did not work which they fixed, and numerous other items. I must point out that the landlord approved every thing they did and paid for some of the materials. They provided some of the materials and all of the labor. My brother last week sent the landlord a 60 days notice of intent to terminate the lease due to his disability. My brother has kept the landlord informed of his condition the entire time. Also the lease states that the landlord shall not enter the home without my brother being there but the landlord has entered the home anyway with no reason or notice or even a knock on the door. He demanded the key for access from another tenant in the second home on the property. My brother's fiance was quite upset that he did this with her being there alone while my brother was in recovery. The landlord has also failed to provide many items in the lease such as a working dishwasher, and to have the pool open and operational by the beginning of the 2010 summer. The landlord is playing games with him and asking questions like what's in this for me, the new tenant's might not like the colors you painted (which were approved by the landlord), etc. The landlord did offer to reduce the rent if my brother would continue to live there but money is not the problem and obviously the landlord likes my brother as a tenant. My brother is under extreme stress due to his disability and learning to live with it and does not need this kind of cruel behavior from his landlord. What are my brothers rights in Virginia and under the ADA and what action should he take to stop this taunting landlord immediately and my brother be allowed to move to a single level apartment home? Please help, thank you in advance.


Asked on 8/30/10, 5:21 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Ryan Young Law Office of Ryan C. Young

Why don't you give me a call at 703-896-7667. I'm willing to help by writing a demand letter to the landlord.

Read more
Answered on 11/29/10, 6:10 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Landlord & Tenants questions and answers in Virginia