Renters in Pontiac have new options to fight back against landlords who violate their rights
(CBS DETROIT) - Renters experiencing challenges with apartment management or landlords in Pontiac now have enforceable options for addressing their complaints.
The City of Pontiac recently adopted housing ordinances which state that all rental properties must be registered through the City of Pontiac, and have safety inspections every three years, or when a new tenant moves in. If a property owner is proven to be negligent on property maintenance, renters can report mismanagement to code enforcement and place their rent money into an escrow account through the Pontiac City Treasurer's Office.
At a town hall, Pontiac Mayor Tim Greimel talked to residents about how they can fight back against landlords who are not keeping properties up to code or other issues.
"We've doubled the number of code enforcement and rental unit inspectors that we have as a city," said Mayor Greimel. "We also want to empower our tenants to stand up for themselves, to know their rights and make sure that they have the tools needed to enforce their rights in court."
Cassandra Bradford-Daniels said she had to fight back against a landlord she said wasn't addressing the problem causing cold air to come into her home. She said once she did start a legal process, the landlord tried to evict her, but she knew her rights.
"She attempted to evict me. I had a lease. My rent was not behind," said Bradford-Daniels. "I had escrowed her and everything, sent her certified letters about what I was going to do about the repair of the front door, which was causing me a $600 gas bill. She wanted to mess my credit up by evicting me. But guess what? I won. She had to give in my deposit back. And I kept that first money escrow that she put in there."