Unfinished Apartment

[drewbs66]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Philadelphia, Pa

I currently am living in a new apartment that my landlords just "finished". I moved in a few days later then the agreed move in day, and after so, it did not get CO-ed for a couple weeks after. the original move in date started aug 25th, and i couldnt move in sept 1st. even when i moved in there were still workers in my apartment unit till around sept 22nd, and it did not get a co until around sept 22nd. Then the apartment still doesnt have mailboxes until oct 2nd, and the doorbells are still not installed. The landlords said they would look into compensation me for the inconvience but have lied before about when i would be able to move in. I just received an email from then telling me that they would not compensate me as the apartment was in a livable condition. I am in college, and they tend to screw over all their college age tenants. is there any compensation money that i should receive? I was also asked to leave for a few hours on certain days for the workers.

 

[Gail in Georgia]

Did you ever discuss the specifics on the "compensation" you were to receive (i.e., reduced rent for example) or get anything in writing because of this?

What did you discuss with them when you were not able to move in until September 1st?

Gail

 

[drewbs66]

Did you ever discuss the specifics on the "compensation" you were to receive (i.e., reduced rent for example) or get anything in writing because of this?

What did you discuss with them when you were not able to move in until September 1st?

Gail

the dates leading up to the move in date, everything they told me said that i was going to be able to move in aug 25th. however on aug 24th i went into the office to check in on the apartment and the moved my movein date to aug 29th. after this i went in aug 29th and they gave me the keys, however told me not to move in until sept 1st. however when i was moving in sept 1st they were painting the stairs making it unavailable to move in until sept 3rd. then when i went in to their office i asked for a rent reduction and they said they would talk to the owners of the properties (which is them, they just say the property owners as they dont want to act like they own it) for the reduction. However the workers were still in the property until sept 22nd, and around sept 10th i went in to ask them when the apartment would be done, and when the workers will be out, and they told me they didnt know. i then asked how the discussion was going, and they basically said they were still looking into it. then sometime in october i went in because the workers were fixing damages they caused to the kitchen island, which my properties managers blamed on me when they had the property CO-ed, i went in and asked when i was going to be able to set up the energy bill because it was not in PECO's (the energy provider) system (i do have electricity and water). During that conversation i asked again if they were going to give me an answer on the rent reduction and he said he would ask the property owners and made it seem like it was the first time we talked about it. i then emailed them last friday to see if they would give me an answer and they wrote back to me saying that the apartment was habitable and they would not give me any reduction on anything. However from sept 3rd- oct 20th or so i still had workers inside and outside my apartment unit which is my main concern.

 

[Gail in Georgia]

So...nothing was decided upon regarding a rent reduction, you moved in on September 3rd, lived there and now almost 2 months later are now asking what happened to any rent reduction?

Their claim that the unit was in "livable" condition may likely hold up on court because, well, you lived there (?correct?) during this work. You mention you had electricity and water during this time. It may have been an inconvenience for you to have workers around but I don't read where you had to go stay somewhere else while this work was being done.

Should they have given you a rent reduction as a courtesy? Perhaps. Would a court grant you one if you sued over this? Impossible to tell.

Gail