Q I have been a tenant in an apartment building for more than 13 years. Two months ago, my landlord overheard me complain to my friend about a hot water problem in my rental unit. The landlord denies that there is a problem and refuses to even attempt to fix it. All he can tell me is that I should move out if I don't like living here. It has been more than 60 days and he still has not fixed the problem, but he did raise my rent. This is the first rent increase in nearly 10 years. Further, he will no longer collect my mail while I'm on the road working. Do I have rights based on a retaliatory rent increase or a reduction of services for not accepting my mail?

The fact that your landlord raised your rent recently is not unusual. Clearly the landlord has seen increased costs of doing business in the past 10 years and you didn't indicate that the new rent is above the market for your area. It is not illegal for the landlord to increase your rent as long as proper notice was given.

I regularly advise landlords not to accept tenants' mail or packages due to the landlord's liability if items are lost, stolen or damaged. Insurance companies even sell insurance for this type of service, so there clearly is some liability to the landlord should your mail or packages ever be damaged or stolen. The downsides for the landlord or management company are many compared with the minimal appreciation they will receive from most tenants. There is nothing you can do about this other than ask if he will do it in the future, but the decision is entirely up to the landlord.