[fergotnfire]

My rental agreement states that internet service is included in the price of the rent. However the internet access is spotty at best, it does not work at all most days, and on days it does work, you can only open one window at a time which may or may not load. My apartment building is designed and mostly rented to college student because of it's proximity to campus, and many students in the building have online classes which require videos and access to internet for exams, papers and tests. It is not disclosed to residents until after the lease is signed that the internet provided is not strong enough for videos, streaming music, or instant message services. Is this considered a break in the lease? I feel like the landlord is taking advantage of the fact that mostly first time renters live in his buildings. Because the internet is included in the lease, do I not have a right to internet service that is adequate to load Google search pages in under 15 minutes?

More than one tenant has complained to the office about this issue, and the answer is always something along the lines of "we can't help it if the internet goes down sometimes, there are just too many people using the internet at one time". This is not the only problem in the building, but it is the most vital to a me as I work full time and go to school full time so every minute I have to study and do my work is vastly important. Thanks for any help you can offer!

Amy

[joypulv]

All you can do is sue in small claims, and you will probably lose. The landlord has provided what was stated, and the fact that it is spotty and slow won't matter much to a judge because it isn't heat or hot water or electricity or a lock, etc. In short, it's just not vital. You can try. But your best bet is to get a petition together, and maybe plan some action if you get everyone in the building. Power in numbers.

[joypulv]

Maybe one person in the building could get high speed and you could all share it wirelessly and all chip in.

[ScottGem]

I don't think this is enough to allow you to break the lease. But it may be enough to get you a refund.

I would get all the tenants (or the majority of them) together and file suit in small claims court for a refund equal to the cost of a monthly internet connection. This may get the landlord to improve the connection.

[Fr_Chuck]

Agree, if a group of students all went out and bought their own interent and sued as a group for a refund of that price.
After a demand letter to have it fixed.

[fergotnfire]

Am not looking to break my lease, I just want them to get a better bandwidth package. One tha will feasibly support the number of people in the building. The admin assistant in the office and I have discussed the issue and she stated to me that they purchased a lower bandwidth package because it was cheaper and the landlord assumed that thre would never be a time that every one was online long enough for it to affect the service we are supposed to receive.

[LisaB4657]

I think I would use a different method of dealing with this. I would send a certified letter to the landlord that the internet service in insufficient and almost completely unusable and if it is not replaced with usable service within 15 days then you will obtain your own service and deduct the cost of that service from the monthly rent.

If you can get the other people in the building to do the same then the landlord would take a big hit in rental income and might be persuaded to pay for the bigger package.

If he doesn't change the package and you have to get your own service then the worst that can happen is that the landlord will sue you for eviction for non-payment of rent and you can show the judge the rental agreement promising service, your correspondence giving him an opportunity to provide that service, and telling the judge that he failed to do so.