Multiple problems with our apartment. Please help.

[KittyNin]

From PA

We're having multiple issues with our apartment complex. We just want out of this hellhole.

-First, apartment is nothing like described. Bathroom is filled with mold due to the bath facade having giant cracks (complained about that when we first moved in - they sent a guy to put caulk over the cracks which lasted about a week). Stained carpet, carpet coming up at the edges, etc.

-When lease renewed, rent went up, no big deal. Their online pay portal, however, does not tell you how much you owe each month. Apparently we accidently had put in about $20 less than what we owed. Our mistake, but we find this out via a call at 6pm after the balance has accumulated to over $100 and they are threatening to take us to court if we don't pay by the next day. They claim to have 'hand-delivered' small-balance notices (which means, they shove them in the vicinity of under your door) but we never got them. I was extremely pissed at how this was handled, because that's NOT how you let someone know they owe you money. But we took care of it, and had one of the office people tell us the correct amount of rent. Change the online payment to that number. Should be the end of it, right?

-Nope! Next month we actually receive a small balance notice. Storm down to the office to figure out what the hell it's about. Apparently the last guy did not tell us the correct amount! He forgot to include pet rent! What a surprise. Pay and change the amount again.

-We have been having issues with our downstairs neighbor coming up and hammering on our door anytime the apartment is anything but silent, at times like 6, 7, 8 pm. We have a dog, who we had before this guy moved in (never a word from whoever lived there before), and he comes up here everytime he hears her at all, not for barking! She doesn't bark! (Unlike the dog above US!) If he hears her run around in the slightest, he's upstairs hammering on our door, claiming it sounds like 'a bunch of rocks'. She's only 40lbs. She's not ripping around the house excessively, she occasionally gets excited when we get home and has a quick turn around the house. Then he comes up and hammers on the door, and is apparently too stupid to realize this get her wound up (as it would any dog). We have talked about filing harassment charges against this guy because of the total unreasonableness of him coming up in the early evening all the time, and is very aggressive and rude. I think the latest this has ever occurred has been slightly before 9pm. (He is in his 20's, and doesn't work or go to school, no children.)

-Today at 6:15 (after the office is closed) we hear the ruckus of something being jammed under the door. Go check and it's a claim that we are constantly throwing tennis balls for the dog at 1am!! HA! We're both college students and get up very early--we are not awake a 1 am, and neither is the dog! We run out to catch the person who shoved this under our door and she basically snottily tells us that she doesn't have to talk to use because the office is closed.

What can we do? We want out of here. Can I file harassment charges on this unreasonable guy downstairs? What can I do about these incredibly unprofessional people at the office, and is there any way we can make them let us out of this lease?

I am uncomfortable in my own home and feel like I have to try to keep the dog from even moving. We don't play music or have parties. Our neighbors are very loud at times, but I find that if I just endure for a few minutes they quiet down again, because I'm a reasonable human being who understands I will hear my neighbors sometimes, and they have the right to make noise within certain limits. The guy below us doesn't seem to understand the basic concept that you *will* hear a little everyday noise from other people, that that's just a fact of living in an apartment. I am so incredibly frustrated. My landlords are slumlords and I need to know what I can do about it.

 

[quincy]

From PA

-First, apartment is nothing like described. Bathroom is filled with mold due to the bath facade having giant cracks (complained about that when we first moved in - they sent a guy to put caulk over the cracks which lasted about a week). Stained carpet, carpet coming up at the edges, etc. ...

-When lease renewed, rent went up, no big deal.

You did not look at the apartment prior to renting it?

Why did you renew your lease if you were experiencing all of these problems?

 

[FarmerJ]

If your units carpet is creating a safety risk - trip hazard then call your city inspections desk, if the bathroom has problems w water damaging things then take pics if its things you cant control so that way you have proof like tiles that have no grout but caulk added to try to seal them or caulking jobs that failed, take pics of that too. As far as the one who pounds on your door send your LL a certified letter telling them that he has been coming to your door pounding on it complaining of routine noises and you are not making excessive noise in apartment. Call the police if you must to complain of harassment. Problems with the online payment system fine , unless your lease requires you to use it then don't , instead send them the rent via confirmed mail delivery w post office ( yes that means writing a check out) and make sure it is sent so it arrives not late.

 

[KittyNin]

Thank you, farmerJ, for being the only person to offer any actual advice rather than merely berating me for my imagined lifestyle. I really, truly appreciate it.

 

[quincy]

Thank you, farmerJ, for being the only person to offer any actual advice rather than merely berating me for my imagined lifestyle. I really, truly appreciate it.

I'm sorry, KittyNin, but how exactly did the two questions I asked you "berate" you for your lifestyle?

And why didn't you answer them?

I asked serious questions, the answers of which could help determine what you can legitimately do and what you can't.

Finally, where did Gail in Georgia's post go? I hope that, if her post was reported for some reason (and it should not have been), it is returned soon to its place in the thread.

 

[KittyNin]

Had nothing to do with you, quincy, I did answer your questions but got a message that the post had to be reviewed by a moderator before it would show up. So I am not sure where it went, or why my other posts so far doe't need to be.

I reported Gail's post because it was not constructive, offered no advice, adding nothing to the conversation, and was merely rudeness from someone with nothing better to do than be a jerk to people asking for advice. Since a moderator removed it, I would assume they believed that it did not belong here.

In response (again) to your questions:

We were shown a model apartment, but we were not told and there was no indication that it was model. We did not find out until we were signing the final paperwork that we were getting a unit other than the one we were shown, when there was just a different apartment number on the lease, however by that time, since we moved here from many hours away, it was too late to start our search over again. It was either take it or end up with no place to live.

Except for the problems with the apartment not being in great condition, everything else has occurred since the lease renewal. We were not having 'all these' problem at the time we decided to renew the lease. Moving costs a lot and prior to renewing to lease we never had any huge issues, so considering what our area is like (very little housing that's affordable, there's a lot of colleges around here so the prices are very high on most places to keep student out) we felt that we were better off in our place than most of our friends were in theirs, so decided to stay.

 

[Zigner]

Reporting posts that you don't agree with isn't going to win you any friends.

 

[Just Blue]

Had nothing to do with you, quincy, I did answer your questions but got a message that the post had to be reviewed by a moderator before it would show up. So I am not sure where it went, or why my other posts so far doe't need to be.

I reported Gail's post because it was not constructive, offered no advice, adding nothing to the conversation, and was merely rudeness from someone with nothing better to do than be a jerk to people asking for advice. Since a moderator removed it, I would assume they believed that it did not belong here.In response (again) to your questions:

We were shown a model apartment, but we were not told and there was no indication that it was model. We did not find out until we were signing the final paperwork that we were getting a unit other than the one we were shown, when there was just a different apartment number on the lease, however by that time, since we moved here from many hours away, it was too late to start our search over again. It was either take it or end up with no place to live.

Except for the problems with the apartment not being in great condition, everything else has occurred since the lease renewal. We were not having 'all these' problem at the time we decided to renew the lease. Moving costs a lot and prior to renewing to lease we never had any huge issues, so considering what our area is like (very little housing that's affordable, there's a lot of colleges around here so the prices are very high on most places to keep student out) we felt that we were better off in our place than most of our friends were in theirs, so decided to stay.

You should hire an attorney to assist you. Good luck and Merry Christmas.

BTW: When a report is done the post is gone till Admin has a chance to review.

 

[KittyNin]

Well, thank you all for your blatant hostility. You have been so incredibly helpful. Enjoy your miserable lives.

 

[Just Blue]

Well, thank you all for your blatant hostility. You have been so incredibly helpful. Enjoy your miserable lives.

Glad we could assist. Enjoy your life as well.

Also enjoy the cost of an attorney. Will run you around 200-500 hundred an hour.

Manners cost less don't they???

 

[Just Blue]

Ahhh...Not the OPs first rude time.

https://forum.freeadvice.com/parking-tickets-non-moving-violations-44/expired-registration-601828.html

 

[os478]

But just maybe, if they're big enough jerks, the law will bend to suit him/her .

 

[quincy]

But just maybe, if they're big enough jerks, the law will bend to suit him/her .

If they are big enough jerks, they will probably not have to make another decision on whether to renew their lease, at any rate.

It will be smart when KittyNin is looking for another place to live to make sure to check out the actual apartment they will be renting before signing the lease. I know that many apartment complexes will have a model apartment that is shown to prospective tenants but the prospective tenants can and should insist on seeing the actual unit before a lease is signed.

Once the lease is signed, it can be harder to object to the condition of the apartment and it can be harder to get any obvious defects repaired - the type of defects that are noticeable on an ordinary inspection of the premises (like torn or stained carpeting). In fact in some states (I am pretty sure this does not apply to Pennsylvania but I haven't checked), the signing of the lease by a tenant can actually waive the tenant's right to require a landlord make these types of repairs to the unit.

As to obnoxious neighbors, every apartment complex has them. A landlord may not be able to do a whole lot to control the behavior of his tenants, unless or until the neighbors clearly violate a term of the lease. Continued harassment by a neighbor is sometimes best addressed through a report to the police.

One additional note: No one should call a landlord a "slumlord" without knowing what that term means. If published publicly and applied incorrectly, there is a (perhaps unlikely) chance it could cause economic harm to the landlord and lead to a legal action by the landlord against the publisher of the words.

 

[Just Blue]

If they are big enough jerks, they will probably not have to make another decision on whether to renew their lease, at any rate.

It will be smart when KittyNin is looking for another place to live to make sure to check out the actual apartment they will be renting before signing the lease. I know that many apartment complexes will have a model apartment that is shown to prospective tenants but the prospective tenants can and should insist on seeing the actual unit before a lease is signed.

Once the lease is signed, it can be harder to object to the condition of the apartment and it can be harder to get any obvious defects repaired - the type of defects that are noticeable on an ordinary inspection of the premises (like torn or stained carpeting). In fact in some states (I am pretty sure this does not apply to Pennsylvania but I haven't checked), the signing of the lease by a tenant can actually waive the tenant's right to require a landlord make these types of repairs to the unit.

As to obnoxious neighbors, every apartment complex has them. A landlord may not be able to do a whole lot to control the behavior of his tenants, unless or until the neighbors clearly violate a term of the lease. Continued harassment by a neighbor is sometimes best addressed through a report to the police.

One additional note: No one should call a landlord a "slumlord" without knowing what that term means. If published publicly and applied incorrectly, there is a (perhaps unlikely) chance it could cause economic harm to the landlord and lead to a legal action by the landlord against the publisher of the words.

As always Quincy...You are a font of knowledge. Thanks...