Originally Printed: April 6, 2005
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 13 years of experience. She operates her law practice from her new office in town, as well her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers, to the best of her abilities. Please forward your questions to maxinedev@msn.com.
Q. Last year, I had a brand new mobile home installed on my 2.5 acre parcel of land. Unfortunately, some of the piers installed under the house have cracked and are crumbling. I am afraid the others will do the same and the house will collapse. I believe the constant rain of the past two months may have been a contributing factor to this phenomena. What can I do?
A. You are short on details as to any warranties given to you by the manufacturer or the installer of the mobile home. Installation of a mobile home should come with a warranty of some kind, especially with respect to materials used and their compatibility with their end use. You need to look to the relationship between the manufacturer of your mobile home and the company that installed it on your land. Are they one and the same? How much experience did the installer have installing mobile homes, and with this particular type of mobile home? Is the land the mobile home installed on stable, or has the rain undermined or caused the soil to collapse under the house?
Q. I have been renting a house for the last 15 years. It is now time to repaint and to have the carpeting changed, as the existing carpet is torn and ragged and the paint is peeling in several areas. I have asked the owner of the house to do so but he refuses to spend any money. My rent is $1,300 a month and should not be ashamed of the conditions in which I am living. What should I do?
A. If no painting has been done in 15 years and the condition of the carpet is such that it presents a danger to you, the owner owes you new carpeting and a new painting job. If after you have given him a 30-day notice, he still refuses to do anything, you can proceed with doing the work necessary and deduct it from the rent. If the work costs more than $1,300, then do it over a longer period of time so as to get all of your money back from the rent. No one should be required to live with peeling paint and torn carpeting. Rent of $1,300 a month is a substantial sum and you are entitled to habitable quarters for that kind of money.
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