For Matt Trinacty, who has lived and rented in Boston for the past 10 years, it's no secret that city living isn't always an affordable option.
"It is really high-priced to live in Boston," Trinacty said. "Apartments are old and run-down, and landlords have been renting them [out] for a while."
While most students reserve their gripes for when they write rent checks, last summer, Trinacty struck out at landlords by launching a website that allows people to post and read reviews of landlords, a concept preventing future tenants from dealing with the frustration of a dishonest or difficult landlord.
Trinacty said his site,
Landlordreview.com, is still in progress, but is starting to gain momentum. Registration is free, and anyone can search for landlords in 13 U.S. cities, with new locations added regularly.
From what he has seen, Trinacty said some landlords have a tendency to take advantage of young renters, many of whom are willing to pay more for older houses that they will live in for a short period of time.
"They don't care how bad they treat a tenant because they know it will be rented next year because of the number of people here," he said.
Trinacty said he is hoping to change that by creating a community of informed tenants, which will ultimately hold landlords accountable.
"They know that they can do whatever they want [to tenants] and are able to fill an apartment next year, and that's just wrong," he said. "They shouldn't be able to do that."
"I want tenants to communicate and look out for each other's backs … to take the power away from the landlord," Trinacty said.
It is possible to search by a number of criteria on the site, including overall rating, competency or courteousness of the landlord. The site lists all Boston neighborhoods and several surrounding cities.
Trinacty said it's better to identify and avoid a bad landlord before getting roped into a lease.
He said he was "lucky" to get away from one of his last landlords, who he referred to as a "terror."
Some users view the website as a forum for angry tenants to vent about their landlords.
"'Disrespectful of tenants, closed minded, fabricates lies to get out of confrontations" are the words of another renter posted on the website. Another reviewer called his/her landlord a "two-faced psycho, a liar and a thief."
To avoid false accusations and slander, Trinacty requires people to register before writing reviews on the portal.
"There needs to be some kind of accountability for people who are reviewing," he said. "My biggest fear is for someone to call a landlord a drug dealer or a child molester when venting. [Reviews] need to be related to the landlord."
The site is not only full of horror stories. It welcomes good reviews and allows tenants to read positive feedback that promotes favorable landlords.
"My current landlord is good," Trinacty said, "and I want to get that information out there. People don't think that good landlords exist. But now I can tell people to go to this guy and he will take care of you and that's a good piece of information."
Freshman graphic design major Kristin Richardson said she liked the idea behind the service.
"It's a good idea. Renting is a two-way street and you need both parties to be reliable," Richardson said.
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