RPA Tenant Rights Blog » Apartment Complaint

Breaking My Lease

Kissalvoe — Fri, 17 Apr 2015 10:22:10 +0000

I have been with my apartment complex in Albuquerque, NM since May. We signed an 8 month lease and it ends as of January 31st. However, I do not want to stay that long. I don’t feel secure in staying for a few more months.

Several times we have placed work orders for maintenance to fix a door or our ceiling fan (the light no longer worked!). It took 4 weeks for them to even go LOOK at the fan. They said they would replace it the following week but never did. Two weeks later, there was a leak, apparently from our master bathroom toilet, which flooded our apartment and the apartment below us. The call went to the office around 10am. I leave for work at 5am and don’t use that bathroom other than for showers.

THe office never recorded our new contact numbers from months before. They were always able to get ahold of us through our agent/alternate contact, but not on this day! They never notified us of the problem. Maintenance went in the apartment and ruined things with their negligence. They threw wet items all over the bed, onto the living room floor, filled backpacks with expensive electronic equipment and left it in puddles of water.

I didn’t come home til after 6pm and when I did, I had no knowledge of what happened. My apartment was thrown upside down. The carpet was torn up and a blower was running to dry underneath. All of the lights (that worked) and fans in the house had been running all day. All without our knowledge.

I took a complaint to my apartment manager who said it was our fault. The negligence was on OUR part because we “left the water running”. I asked him if I was supposed to shut the water to the toilets off everytime I left the house. He said it was a leak we didn’t report. And why? BECAUSE IT WAS A LEAK WE HAD NO KNOWLEDGE ABOUT. When I left for work that morning, there was nothing out of place. The floor in the bathroom was completely dry. He refuses to take any responsibility for the fact that nobody bothered to contact us, the fact that the maintenance men were negligent and not only ruined things on their own (NOT due to water damage directly from the leak), and that they left all electricity running for 8 hours, using up resources that WE have to pay for.

On top of all of this, and the reason I really don’t want to stay… The master bedroom, where the carpet was lifted for the blower, smells like mold. It’s damp (two weeks later) and smells moldy. The apartment manager refuses to work with us at all. What can I do to either make him work with us or get our of our lease so we can move somewhere SAFE and free of mold?

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Tenants rights bed bugs

Paul — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 05:34:36 +0000

I am about 3 months into a 2 year lease and found bed bugs about a month and a half ago at the condo I’m renting. The owner claims that the bed bugs were not there before we came, but we did not have bed bugs before we moved in so I think its difficult if not impossible to prove if:a) We brought the bugs there b) The bugs were there alreadyc) The bugs arrived after we got thereSince I have a friend in the pest control industry I decided not to bother the land lord right away and just try to deal with the problem myself. Here is what we have personally done over the past month to get rid of the bed bugs:1) Sprayed the entire house 3 separate times. The cost of the chemicals at wholesale price was $70. Besides the cost spraying for bed bugs is time consuming and my wife developed an allergic reaction to the spray for which she needed to go to the doctor.2) Threw away our two year old mattress. It will probably cost $700-$900 to replace and we’ve been sleeping on an air mattress for the past month. We will continue to sleep on an uncomfortable air mattress until our lives are bed bug free.3) Laundered all our clothing and bedding twice. I estimate that this has cost us about $70.4) Sprayed bed bug foggers from Home Depot twice. Cost for foggers: $60.In summary we’ve spent a substantial amount of time and about $200 + the cost of a new mattress to deal with these pests on our own and they are still around. My two questions are:1) What legal rights do I have to request that my Landlord take care of the problem? Is it his responsibility or mine? I don’t plan on trying to charge him for the work/money I have already spent but it is obvious to me that this is a problem that needs the help of a professional pest control agent that specializes in bed bugs. 2) If my landlord does not or cannot rectify the bed bug problem am I entitled to break the lease without penalty?Thanks for any advice you might have. Paul

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Apartment Noise Complaint

Tenant — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 09:32:58 +0000

Dealing with Apartment Noise Complaint

One of the most common problems with Apartment living; is dealing with noisy neighbors or complaints from neighbors that you are being too noisy. Surprisingly, you might find that you have some unique rights to protect your quiet enjoyment.

How to Deal with a Noise Complaint Against you?

The first step would be to take reasonable measures to reduce the noise if possible. However, in many cases picky neighbors may be out of line if they are complaining about common noise such as walking, talking, showering, etc. In most states you have the right to reasonably walk and talk in your apartment. Although there may be quiet hours in your rental that doesn’t mean that you have to act as though you are in a library. What that means is that you should reduce activities that are loud such as practicing instruments, blasting music or TV, running blenders or saws, etc.

If you have received Noise Complaints for normal living conditions; you have the right to file a complaint with the RPA.

Receiving harassing notes or warnings from neighbors or management is most likely a violation of your quiet enjoyment. You have right to walk around your apartment, talk and even watch tv softly. Receiving a complaint from the neighbor or manager for standard living conditions should not happen. If the problem is becoming an issue in which you are afraid to enjoy your apartment reasonably you can file a complaint with the Rental Protection Agency to enforce your rights. When you file a formal complaint you not only inform management and your neighbor that you have right to reasonably use your rental during quiet hours; it also protects you from further negative actions against you.

If you need to file a formal complaint because you have received noise complaints against you; simply click on the Report Landlord button located at the top of the menu on this website.

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Bed bug infested furniture

Sleepy — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 01:03:57 +0000

I live in a senior building. Some to the tenants are disable. Some of my neighbors had a bed bug infestation and one of the couple was disabled. In the mean time the management informed the that they had to throw the furniture away which they did.

The couple threw away everything. The other neighbor threw her furniture away and replaced some of it. The landloard told her she had to throw her furniture again after they had treated it.

Now both of the neighbors were evicted.

Do they have any recourse, to get there furniture replace etc?

Thank you,
Concerned

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Rental Noise Complaint

KR — Mon, 27 May 2013 17:50:02 +0000

I have a man who has moved upstairs. He has several loud music complaints called in on him. I talked with the apartment office and they told me to talk to him myself. I finally got so fed up one night I walked upstairs and knocked. He didnt anser so I left a nice note on the door. Two weeks later the security company was called on him again and while coming into my apartment from work the security officer told me he had talked to the gentlemen (hes 53) and what happens is he gets drunk, passes out and leaves the music going. What else can I do.

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Noisy Apartment

Susan — Fri, 03 May 2013 11:42:01 +0000

Since moving into this apt. Oct. 2006, I have repeatedly (8-10 times) complained to the Mgr. about my noisy apartment due to children running, screaming, playing in the hallways and my very noisy upstairs neighbors. After each complaint, it would be bettter for a week or so, and then escalate back to the previous level of noise and disturbance again. There is no playground at this small complex, and my next-door neighbors allow their children to use the hallways for a playground, where they behave as if they are in a playground! They gather their friends from the other apts., sometimes as many as 5 or 6 of them will all run, play chase, kick balls, yelling and screaming the whole time. This is not only a serious disturbance, it’s a physical hazard. I’m disabled, and walk with difficulty, so I worry that we will collide and cause injury. I have mediation appt. tomorrow (Monday, 6-16) @ 4:00 between the Mgr., the lady next door and myself. My upstairs neighbor has 4 or 5 children, all of whom stay with him several days (and nights) a week…in a 1-bdr apt!!! They stomp, throw things, drop things, move furniture, play music so loud I can’t talk on the phone or hear my t.v. My questions: What legal steps should I take if the mediation does no good? My apartment noise complaint is driving me crazy. What legal steps is my Mgr. obliged to take? If I am forced to move because of this, can I force the apt. complex owner (Weidner Investment Svcs.) to pay my moving expenses? I have been looking at other places to move, specifically 55+ places, and unfortunately the one I’ve found that I want to move to is also owned by Weidner. If I were to force them to pay my moving expenses, could they refuse to rent to me in another property they own? I love my apartment, and the complex. It’s clean, well-maintained, in a great location, and has fabulous veiws of the mountains. And except for a couple of families, the neighbors are all very quiet. I do not want to move! If I do, it is only because of the problems I’ve told you about, and I’ve told the Mgr. this. Please help, and thank you ahead of time for any advice.

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have a legitimate complaint

Teresa — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 03:59:58 +0000

I am needing to find out if i  have a legitimate complaint , I am renting a house and before i rented it the landlord told me the rent was $400 but before i moved in they raised the rent because they said they were putting more money into the house doing alot more repairs. I have been living here for 3 1/2 months and none of the repairs have been done. I keep asking when are they gonna be completed and was told they are not going to be able to do all the repairs that they told me they were gonna do. The main one is putting the garage doors up to the two car garage that I have. Im still paying storage every month because Im not able to use the garage.  Can I do anything about this

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bed bugs in apartments

Wren — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 23:56:45 +0000

Hi,
It seems that you have dealt with many bedbug issues. I am having a similar problem as many others. I was the main contact for a large house with 6 bedrooms. My boyfriend and I were the main names on the lease with agreement that we would rent out the other rooms to cover retn. One of my housemates discovered bed bugs in apartments on August 6th. After treating their own room out of pocket, we waited two weeks to find out if everything was in the clear. Then, we discovered them in my son’s room. On August 22, we emailed the landlord. The treatment did not happen until October 8th – 47 days later. I had to move the children out of the house, especially because they started school on Sept 5th. Everyone in the house paid for half o the costs of one treatment and the landlord paid half the other half of the cost. However, one room became vacant during this time as a lady decided to move out. When that happened, I spoke with my landlord over the phone and explained that I could not cover the full rent if the room was empty and that I was going to find a temporary rental until everything was taken care of. He verbally agreed to a rent reduction of $1000 out of $3000. I sent the rent check for $200 in Sept and Oct. Now, he is claiming that I owe him the $2000 after one room remained empty and I had to pay rent elsewhere. Let me know your thoughts.

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Landlord responsibilities for bed bugs

Joe — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 02:52:38 +0000

I have been living in this apartment for 5 months now and during this last month or so I have been getting bit by bed bugs. The landlord says there was never a problem with bed bugs before i moved in, however all the furniture i bought has been in the apartment since i moved in and i’m just now getting bit. Can the landlord get away with blaming me for the problem (even though i completely clean my apartment once a week) making me get rid of the only furniture i have and only steam cleaning the carpets afterwards to save him money on an exterminator?

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bed bugs landlord responsibility

Michael — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 02:36:31 +0000

Who is responsible for the extermination of bed bugs in an apartment dwelling in Rhode Island. The landloard or the tenant?

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