Here at the TRC, we rarely get clients that walk in bursting to tell us some good news. (Even though we love to hear it! Let us know if we helped you!) And, we've learned over the years, so very many things can go wrong.

Tenants have a right to exclusive possession in their unit (besides the law and the lease, no one can tell you how to live in your rental home*), and their landlord is supposed to make it so they can peacefully enjoy what happens inside that home, without interference from their surroundings (to the extent that the landlord has control over those things). 

We hear a wide range of problems that are, for us, resolvable under peaceful enjoyment, and those run from mundane ("I am an extremely quiet person and my upstairs neighbors walk when I wish they would be silent and still") to extreme ("a neighbor threw a knife through my wall"). 

But there's a way to do this! There's a method to the madness! There are cases that explain why judges look at these situations the way they do. All this and more, below.

We've got fridge issues and heat issues lined up in our emails today, and I'm combining them for one blog post for giggles, and also for the thrill of tangential hyperlinks.

Fridges: sometimes they die. But what about all the stuff that's inside? Is there someone who is responsible for that, if it's lost? (Also, is Wisconsin unique in its meat raffles?)

Heat: it was cold this weekend! And it's supposed to be again, soon. However, not all landlords have the heat on, and frozen tenants are calling us to ask when their heat must be on (spoiler: there's no date! It just has to be warm enough to maintain 67 degrees in your house!)

Last week, I wrote about mold, and quietly referenced "negligence," something that we talk about a lot here at the TRC, but the laws aren't real clear on. Negligence is a big deal in a lot of repair issues, so today I'm breaking it down. It can be really hard to hold someone financially responsible for a problem they could have prevented, but it's certainly possible, and today we're looking at how to do it.

Spoiler alert: everyone should write more letters. It's a lost art. It'll help you in the long run. Details below.