Illegal To Force Renters To Work In Exchange For Rent In USA

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By NJoG

U.S. Labor Laws are Federal, usually overridden by state laws, as each state is a sovereign unto itself, just as we, the people of the USA are the sovereign and the Federal Government is supposed to work for us. (When is the last time that happened, really?)

Warlords used to exist in Europe (recall El Cid?) and warlords still exist in the Middle East, but, they do not and are not allowed to exist in the United States of America.

In each of the 50 states, landlord/tenant laws vary, however, being forced to work in exchange for rent is absurd! Being forced to work in exchange for rent is illegal and can result in a lawsuit against the landlord with the renter owning the rental property in the end with a commercial lien (and the renter could end up owning the landlord's abode and other assets as well). You have to be on the payroll and all the nifty withholdings employed to receive even a "rent credit".

The only reason I can think a landlord would force a renter to work in exchange for rent is the landlord is dumber than a bag of hair, makes Hitler look like a rabble-rouser, and the renter is being taken advantage of because he is an illegal alien who cannot speak and/or understand English. (ALL illegal aliens are protected against such nincompoopery by the Constitution of the United States of America and state landlord/tenant laws to boot.)

I have managed real estate property for over two years in Oregon and I can say with absolute confidence no landlord here is legally allowed to force a tenant to do anything. I am not even allowed to refer to children as children -- I must refer to them as younger tenants under the control of primary tenant(s). Even if a tenant is evicted in this state, the landlord must have a court order and the local law enforcement agency does the evicting.

My advice is visit your state's government web site and look up the landlord/tenant laws. Then, print them out. If they are out of date, go to your local library and ask where the most up-to-date copy is. Request and acquire a copy.

If you have a landlord who is attempting to do what is mentioned in the Requested article from two months ago, post this landlord's name on the IREM website, better yet, I am an IREM member and I will post it for you -- just email me with all the information and we will go from there, okay?

~Nan


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marisuewrites profile image

marisuewrites  says:
18 months ago

wow, strict laws, this is good information. I used to manage HUD and FHA housing when I was going to college. Rules were becoming more strict then everyday...

Can a landlord and rentor make an agreement that if the rentor does painting and repair on the home, it can be taken off the rent? Or is that dangerous territory too?

just wondering... Good hub, tenant and landlord beware!!

marisuewrites profile image

marisuewrites  says:
16 months ago

i also just read, that you can't take a person credit card for rent when paying ahead. hmmm do you know anything about that?

NJoG profile image

NJoG  says:
16 months ago

marisue, i can only assume "paying ahead" could mean a reservation deposit, which becomes a security deposit at move-in time. all monies for reservation/security deposits are placed in a special account separate from rental revenue monies. putting these two monies in the same account is commingling of funds and illegal in most states. two other reasons for not accepting credit card payment for paying ahead may be: it is illegal in some states; the inconvenience of returning any monies if the tenant leaves the property early by terminating the rental/lease agreement, or, is issued 30-day-no-cause to vacate, or eviction.

i hope this answered your question. landlord/tenant laws differ from state to state and i do good to keep up with these law in the state which i reside. [grin]

Christine  says:
10 months ago

I have a situation that is very close to this. I need help asap and don't know what to do? It is a very long story and I need answers to my problem now. We took a job as maintenance. The man wanted us to live on one of his properties. We discussed a writen contract/lease ...x amt of hours wages in exchange for the unit we would live in anything over that he would pay us. He seemed to be a nice man and it sounded like it would be a good opportunity. He had a sense of urgency for us to get started right away. He said that he would have to draw up the agreement and bring it to us to sign.

During the meanwhile, we made arrangements to move. We put us a deposit on the electric. The electric couldn't be turned on without an inspection so we had to wait for it to be turned on. During this time ...we had to get the place cleaned up and made ready to move into. ( This is a 4plex ) So we actually went to work a week before we could move in. After we got moved in then our nightmare began.

1st we asked about the lease/contract were were to sign. He said he forgot it and not to worry. Then we worked on a couple of his other properties. Code enforcement showed up hunting him because he didn't have a certificate of occupancy and such violations as plexiglass windows and other stuff that we didn't know about. I gave them his wifes phone no. ( I did take date and time stamped photos and video of the entire property thank god ! ) Anyway ... once he had us here and doing all of this work for him, he starts asking us to do things that we were not licensed to do. HE actually threatend to kick us out if we didn't do what he told us. ( part of it was electrical and the other plumbing ) We explained that we were not licensed and he would have to get someone else to do it. He was slightly upset with us. In Texas you can get a 4000.00 fine for doing plumbing without a license and permit.

To make a long story short. We had spent alot of money moving in, we find out after the electric was turned on that the ac and heat wasn't working properly. He refused to have it repaired, spen the colder days of winter without heat, making all of his repairs, never receiving wages only rent on a place that is not up to code or even close. Full of black mold, windows leak, roaches that are ungodly, plexiglass in 1/3 of the windows and not secure.

Then here recently I had enough because he didn't pay his water bill and a lock was put on the meter. notified him on the phone the water had been cut off and he didn't remedy it so I called code enforcement. Code enforcement called him and told him to turn it on. He didn't but he did bring a vacate notice stating the reason he was evicting us was because we owed him 600.00 ( 100.00 per month). We haven't ever received a bill from him, or a statement from him saying we owed a water bill, he had never said to us hey you owe me 100.00 for this months water bill. Plus we have not lived here 6 months we have only lived her 4 months as of the 13th of January ! He says that we only have an oral contract.

Another thing is that I have not been able to get him to give us a receipt for rent, I can't get him to geive us proof of residence ( all I have is our electric bills)

I spefically told him that I needed proof for governmental agencies, I needed to get classified at our county hospital so I could get medical care I needed etc .... I also told him that just a simple letter stating that we exchanged our work and wages for 650.00 month rent would satisfy the hospital. He told me no that his accountant would not let him do that. Because ...he didn't pay us with cash. Rent only ! I don't believe him. Anyways, after checking this man out and the public records ...my nightmare got even worse than that ... I am finding out that he will probably get a way with what he has been doing to us.

All I can do is prove that we have only lived here 4 months, not 6 and there is no way we could owe a water bill of 600.00 at 100.00 a month. I can prove I called code enforcement before he gave us the bogus eviction saying we owe him for water. I have photos of what the property looked like the very 1 st day we walked the property ..a couple of days later, it took us three months to get it cleaned up and all the trash hauled away and there was alot !

And although we were hired to do maintenance, we cannot do it without materials needed ( code enforcement know this ) We cannot make repairs that we don't have a license to do and we have proof that we told him this in writing multiple times. Oh ... and he and his wife have different last names, multiple properties, they cya in court and with code enforcement. And I also have proof that not more than 20 days after we moved in he listed the property for sale with mls and caldwell banker. I searched the address and found it on their website. I t spefically shows the date it was listed. And he is also evicting his newest tenant who couldn't get his electric turned on for 2 weeks, spent christmas in the dark and the coldest days of winter without adequate heat. It is the 1st of Jan before he got his electric on. This man is the biggest slumlord I have ever seen. I am not saying that because of what he has done to us but because I see how he treats all of his other tenants.

Please help if you can

thechildnme@yahoo.com

NJoG profile image

NJoG  says:
10 months ago

Christine, thanks for your comment.

There are a lot of unscrupulous, seedy, greedy landlords "out there" and you certainly have run into one of the many; and, these people always seem nice at first contact.  (I hope his socks rot!)

I live in Oregon, so, I only know the landlord / tenant laws in this state.(I used to live in Texas, and all I can say is Oregon and Texas are a lot alike -- each thinks that it's own little country.)

Do you have a copy of the landlord/tenant laws for Texas?  If not, get one.  You should be able to get a copy off the Internet.  This is important.  I do not know the laws in Texas, but, I am assuming the only way he can have you evicted is by court order, and the sheriff does it, not the landlord; and, anything to the contrary may be nothing more than blowing smoke up your skirt.

How did you find this job?  Did you answer an advert?  Have you saved the advert?  If you haven't saved the advert, can you get a copy of it from somewhere?

Did you sign ANYTHING with this landlord? 

Have you contacted the Labor Board in Texas?  If not, do it.

Report this sucker to every agency, state representative, U.S. representative, state senator, U.S. senator you can think of and find; and keep it up, because they all have two more years before they want to be re-elected.  From what you have told me, this gentleman (and I use the term loosely) has no ethics whatsoever.  Send me his name and address, and any other pertinent information privately in an email - I will report him, and shame him, and keep you out of it.

My guess this landlord does not have a real estate license and/or a broker license.  (May not be required in Texas, but is in Oregon and in Montana -- my first cousin (retired USAF Captain) in Montana (one of the wildest states left) has a real estate license with 21st Century and he owns 5 properties which he rents.)

Okay, I'm off my soap box now.

Does this landlord even have a business license?  If not, there's one thing for which he can be reported.

It sounds as if you may have to nail him from the "back door". 

As for your timed and dated photos, was this with a digital camera?  Some courts will not accept photos from a digital camera because the court is convinced they can be altered.  (Any photo from any camera can be altered with a scanner and computer.)  Regardless, keep your photos handy.

His accountant probably said nothing for he knew nothing.  Your rent that he gave you, plus a wage for maintenace work, would have been a rent credit which he could have deducted off his income tax.  So, I'm inlcined to believe he did his own taxes, and he does his own accouting.

You need to find an attorney.  You can find attorneys for free in Texas counties.  But, if you contact your Labor Board, they may provide you with a really good attorney at no cost to you whatsoever.

Sweetheart?  I hope what little bit of information I have given you helps you.  Nobody should have to go through this.  And, don't forget -- send me his name in a private email -- 2 or three heads and hands are better than one.

~Nan

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