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ORIGINAL: slaveboyforyou

If you have gas in your place, you really should have a carbon monoxide detector.  It's not required everywhere, but they aren't that expensive.  Instead of haggling with your landlord over it; go buy you a smoke detector, carbon monoxide detector, and maybe a fire extinguisher.  Keep the receipt and subtract it from your rent. 

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ORIGINAL: FelineFae

i am living in a motel/apartment complex. my appartment often smells strongly of gas from the stove, even when the stove is off. The first time i notised this i asked the owner, he said that was normal. my mother in law thinks it a means to be concerned. i also fail to reckonize anything in the room as a smoke detecter, and there's a stove, but no fire extingisher.

i like the people that run this place, they seem to be descent folks, family business and such... but should these things be brought to their attention by a someone other than a code inspecter?

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I'd suggest working with him on this, if for no other reason than common courtesy. Find out what the law is in your state regarding fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, and carbon monoxide detectors, and if any of those things are not up to code, just go to him and say, "hey, we need to get a smoke detector in there; how about if I pick one up, take it off the rent, and give you the receipt?" Or some such. It sounds as though there's some sort of confrontation coming one way or the other, but if you plan on continuing to live there, there's no sense in making it any worse than it has to be. Especially since you say he seems like an alright guy.

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ORIGINAL: slaveboyforyou

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I'd suggest working with him on this, if for no other reason than common courtesy. Find out what the law is in your state regarding fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, and carbon monoxide detectors, and if any of those things are not up to code, just go to him and say, "hey, we need to get a smoke detector in there; how about if I pick one up, take it off the rent, and give you the receipt?" Or some such. It sounds as though there's some sort of confrontation coming one way or the other, but if you plan on continuing to live there, there's no sense in making it any worse than it has to be. Especially since you say he seems like an alright guy.

You're nicer than I am.  Landlords are always nice in the beginning.  Family run places are the ones that usually cut the most corners in my experience.  I don't negotiate with people when it comes to my health and safety.  It's bad advice to tell someone to work with someone while they are living in a potentially dangerous situation. 

I've had landlords pull that kind of crap with me in the past.  I have subtracted rent for the costs incurred when I've had to pay out of pocket for repairs and bills that are their obligation.  I've been threatened with eviction.  But it takes ten days to evict someone in this state.  Since they are keeping your security deposit anyway....think of the mischief you can get up to in a ten day time period.  You don't ever let anyone push you around like that. 

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ORIGINAL: Termyn8or

FR

CORRECTION ; You cannot deduct from the rent unless it is by mutual agreement or intervention of a court of law. Period.

The best advice here that I have seen is to call the gas company. YOU are their customer and they have a vested interest in seeing their product used safely and hopefully efficiently. What's more whatever the leak is, it is likely to be at your stove, not in the building's pipes. In most cases the gas company will be happy to tighten up your connections to eliminate any leaks, however I have not perved your profile so I don't know where you are. For example if you are in Canada I believe that flexpipe is illegal, that gas appliances must be hard piped all the way. That makes it plumbing and thus part of the building. That changes things a bit, but it is still highly unlikely that the leak is in the pipes.

Wherever you are, around here (Cleveland Ohio) the gas company has been proven to be very helpful in such matters in the past. If you are in the US and don't want, or are unable to deal with this yourself, they should be the first number you dial. If you smell gas anywhere but the kitchen, it could be something else, equally important, but harder to deal with. But if you rent that does not fall on you. That's the breaks and the landlord should not have a problem with fixing it, after all, if the place blows up he gets no more rent. The fact that you are friendly with them means nothing, if they have half a brain the will see it as "business is business" and everything should be fine.

Around here they have some highly sensitive gas leak detectors, that because of what happened a few years ago. A gas leak happened underground and when the snow came it pretty much bottled it up and it went into the house, and that house literally blew up, blew it right off the foundation. They go around from time to time doing random checks now. Why ? Simple, the house blowing up even though it had no plumbing faults makes a very strong case for an all electric home, in which case they no longer get to collect the gas bill every month. Money is at the root of everything.

Thus I think they will be as cooperative and helpful as is possible.

T

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ORIGINAL: lusciouslips19
This is not true. By law, at least in Illinois, If the renters dont fix a problem after they are notified, they have 2 weeks. After 2 weeks  you are allowed to submit reciepts and deduct from the rent

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ORIGINAL: ThatDaveGuy69

Uhm... am I the only person who looked at the OP's profile?  She says she is in Korea.  I doubt any laws from any of the 50 states would apply there.

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Uhm... am I the only person who looked at the OP's profile?  She says she is in Korea.  I doubt any laws from any of the 50 states would apply there.