RPA Tenant Rights Blog » Apartment Repair

patiently waiting but things keep getting worse

Tenant — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 04:56:29 +0000

my first time renting after looking into some different apartment complexes, it seemed as though moving into student living with 2 of my cousins seemed like the best choice, we would each have individual leases, near aged neighbors and our own bathrooms.

we were set to move in july 1st, we were told we wouldnt have many choices available, but would get a call as soon as they had some options ready. just a week prior we finally got a call, i had to work so 1 of my cousins (a lease holder) went to see our unit. he told me they only had 1 available, 4307. june 30 1 day prior! i get a call from the supervisor who i had been dealing with, said there was a hiccup and that the previous tenant had left their furniture! they needed 1 more day, maybe more to remove the property. july2nd, i get the call that the apt was ready, i alert my cousin to prepare to move in with all the stuff i bought to move in. his car was towed and had no way to accomplish this. he wasnt going to be able to afford the rent, so because i was visiting my bf and nothing could be done immediatly i just tried to enjoy my well deserved weekend the best i could, stress free. the office was closed july 4th so i called july 5th no answer, july 6th no answer, then after another try an answer; i explain the situation and ask what options we had.i called back a few hrs later with ideas to renegotiate my lease to a yr long so that my cousin who i co-signed for wouldnt be a burden and to delay the other cousins lease as much as possible. "tom" repeatedly cut me off, and refused to work with me until the cousin with the car problem had an answer for him. after getting ahold of that cousin we had agreed to work with the leasing agent to find the best solution rather then starting a legal war. so i called back on the 9th and wasnt able to get ahold of "tom" up until the 21st i wasnt able to get ahold of him, after message after message absolutly nothing.

i finally talked to tom who proceeded to conversate as if nothing was wrong, i was being as patient as possible expecting to be able to move in asap, and as easy as possible. not only was i told that they had another unit available, but that there were still 2 girls living there who were moving out in a week. expecting to be able to walk through and choose my own room on the 23rd, i wasnt able to until the 24th. i was told i had to give the $ order to the tenant, who also worked in the office, before i got my keys. there was no checklist whatso ever and the girl simply got her dog and took a walk, i was never told she had a dog! what if i was allergic or just didnt want a dog? i walked into my room and i was mortified. my parents came with me to help me move and i had paid to use the truck for the day so i left my stuff locked in the room. the room was still dirty, the blinds were damaged, there was a burn and stain on the carpet, there were human hairballs scattered in the hall and bathroom. someones eye solution and tissue was left there along with some comforter or blanket left on the bulit in desk. the room was much smaller then the model we were presented, if i knew it was that size i wouldnt have boughten a brand new bed just after signing the lease and being promised everything would be ready. in addition, the door showed signs of a possible break in, the doorknob was rickety and loose and the doorframe had chipped paint from what looked like it had been damaged due to a break in. i took pictures, locked the door and left a message about my complaints. monday mornin i call "tom" who hadnt recieved my message yet, after listening to my complaint, he said he would have it cleaned and i could be moved to another room but snapped at me when i proceeded to question the situation about the unit we were told we were assigned and why he ignored us for almost 2 weeks, he rushed me off the phone and after looking up complaints, i can see im not the one doing wrong, contrary to the way "tom" is portraying

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Basement flooding

Deborah Gallup — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 12:35:37 +0000

Moved in to house in Jan 08, and 2 weeks later, 2 inches of water in basement. Landord stated originally basement had some seepage, and to keep dehumidifier running. Have kept that running, Water has been pouring into basement with each rain. Sump pump was put in and helped some, with promises of fixing basement leakage for the last 6 months. Now mold is growing out of floors and walls. My question, is cost of moving all of my things from basement. Nowhere to put them and suggestion is to rent container to put things in while work is being done. Should landlord be responsible for that cost? I can’t afford it. All I have done for 6 months is to move things around in basement to keep from being destroyed. Now landlord says it is all my responsiblity to move things and pay for any expenses involved. Is that right?

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Bad Apartment!!

kathleen Ragheb — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 10:59:12 +0000

After considerable efforts to bring a solution to a problem of deteriorating living conditions (Requests started back in September of ’07), including exposed wires, missing dry wall, non closing windows, falling in ceiling over bathtub, no working lock, excessive trash in hallways, bed bugs, and dead rodents in heat registers, I moved our daughter out of her apartment. I never received a response from the owner’s, but the live-in building manager kept telling the tenant’s that he would fix things. We (Me and the other parent’s of the other children) had all of her, and the other tenants in the apartment’s furniture and rugs hauled away and disposed of for fear of transferring the bed bugs to their new residences. We contacted the Cambridge Housing Inspection Services and filed a complaint and the owner’s of the building were given a citation. Apparently this was not the first time this building had been cited for poor living conditions. The landlord was given a time frame to make the repairs in, then it was extended per CHIS, and the entire time our children had no where to live. My daughter and one of the other renters also suffered severe anxiety attacks and had to seek professional help, all of which has been documented. Again, we find ourselves with school starting, our children without a residence to live in and we were all scrambling to secure a place to live in a city where rentals are at a premium. We would up finding a place for our daughter and one of the other girl’s but at a higher monthly rental cost by $250 for each student.

We wrote to the landlord’s requesting our security deposits back and their written response was that they had no intentions of returning our security deposits and had used it for the last months rent, since we didn’t tell them we were moving out, and that I and one of the other renter’s still owed back rent. The back rent that was owed was being held in protest to get the landlord to give me a call so I could make a formal complaint hoping that hearing from a parent might hold more credence than hearing from a student as they made it perfectly clear that they paid no mind to the student tenants. I also was wondering about the laws saying that no more than two ‘families’ can live in one apartment? There were four 20 year olds, all from different families living under one roof.

I have not heard anything new from the landlord’s other than a letter, which came by regular mail, stating that they had no intention of returning our deposits, and expected the money in arrears to be paid. Plus we moved the children out in January, the letter was received in April, and it is now July……….. What should I do?

Deeply Concerned,

Kathy

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