No 24 hour notice to enter 2 days in a row

[aptwoes]

What is the name of your state? OR

We live in an apt complex and for 2 days in a row maintenance came into our apartment without notifying us first hand with a 24 hour notice. the first time it happened I went and discussed it with the landlord and gave her a written note saying we require a 24 hour notice before entry. she seemed to take it seriously. Until it happened again the next day. They were not even entering for an emergency reason, the lights in the hallway were out. The second time it happened i went and discussed it again and she said there was 'nothing she could do'. She seems to mistake my kindness for weakness, so I am going to go over her head and contact the housing authority about it.

My question is would any of you take it this far, or would you just let it roll off your back? We're both pretty upset about it, we work every day and we don't appreciate unannounced visits. we put no work order in either so that is not a valid excuse on her part. She tried construing it as an emergency when I talked to her.

 

[BL]

Since you under the Housing Authority , what does you lease/Attachments/rules and regulations , say what is to occur ?

Was it just the hall lights were out ?

Are they on separate breakers ?

Since it was only the second occurrence , keep note of it , but if becomes a habit , then send a letter to administration and CC: to the manager .

 

[Cvillecpm]

Maintenance entering to find a problem without notice should not be an issue and yes, you are making a big deal out of NOTHING. Frankly, PHA/onsite mgmt should note your "complaints" in your file and consider them when lease renewal time comes.

If you both work, then get out of PUBLIC housing and have a lease that puts you under the OR L-T rules/regulations....you are a PITA

 

[Alaska landlord]

As long as other tax payers are paying your bills, the least you can be is to be compliant and recognized that electrical problems know no apartment boundaries. It is not likely that you would have gotten a notice since the management did not know if it would be necessary to enter your apt. Did you expect the electricians to quit work to issue you a notice? In addition, no lights in the hallway is indeed an emergency since it could present a liability issue if someone were to fall in the dark. Look for posted notices of electrical work being conducted in your building.

 

[NEOhioChick]

Maintenance entering to find a problem without notice should not be an issue and yes, you are making a big deal out of NOTHING. Frankly, PHA/onsite mgmt should note your "complaints" in your file and consider them when lease renewal time comes.

If you both work, then get out of PUBLIC housing and have a lease that puts you under the OR L-T rules/regulations....you are a PITA

Your kidding right? (That has to be my new line for this board) I don't care where you live, public housing or not they have the SAME RIGHTS as any tenant would in that state. I would not want maintenance coming to my house without a 24 hour notice, unless it was an emergency. A hallway light out is not an emergency (and I know this because I once called because my basement was flooded and they said THAT wasn't even an emergency, no way is a light bulb out an emergency.) I even lived in public housing once and they gave us like a week notice. They are not being a PITA, the maintenance people are not following the law. Apparently even with both of them working they can't afford to live out of public housing, so if you think that they should why don't you help them with their rent money?

 

[MIRAKALES]

The letter to the Housing Authority can request the precautions needed to secure the premises from unauthorized access. Explain that the premises have been accessed multiple times without prior notice and that you want to ensure that this is not standard practice. Request to know who entered the premises of both occasions and for what purpose. It may be the case of a lack of security or it could be unscheduled maintenance.

 

[aptwoes]

thanks for all of your advice, but I made a really dumb mistake, I called and left 3 messages with the housing authority.

first message I explained the situation and said we were upset about it, but I looked back at this and thought that I was a little harsh in my wording. so the second time I told them It was my mistake and that we had recieved a notice in our mailbox, which we did the day after it happened... But I made it sound like we had recieved it but I had not checked the mail box (I just wasn't thinking, I don't want trouble with the landlord here)

and the third time I mentioned I had not clarified myself properly and should like to speak with a live person when they are available.

I realize I sound like I have some kind of mental disorder leaving messages like this to the housing authority... I am so mentally worn out lately I can't seem to think straight.

Anyways, I am a little confused at the varied responses here, I would really like a solid & general consensus on what we should do now. Should I just have my (notably more intelligent) girlfriend call them on monday and clarify the details of the situation, and then have her mention that I was just really upset at the time and didn't want to cause trouble with the landlord?

OR should we send the note in like the above poster mentioned?

By the way we are actually going to be seeking a new apartment in the summer, when we moved here my last job was just winding down until I was finally laid off about 5 months ago, I just got a new job about 4 weeks ago. I really don't mean to be a pain in the ass and thats why I don't want to get housing authority involved, thats why I left the second message!

 

[Alaska landlord]

Forget-about-it.

You will only make it worst.

Or if it will make you feel better just call and say ;

This is the crazy lady in apt #123. I didn't leave those multiple messages, it was one of my alternate personalities. I have spoken to them and they won't be bothering you again. Thank you for your time.

 

[aptwoes]

I did get a little bit of a laugh out of your post, but please bear with me, I am young and inexperienced & I have a tendancy of being passive and there-for walked on, I just don't really know how to handle this kind of situation. If anyone else could chime in I would really appreciate it.

 

[Cvillecpm]

"I don't care where you live, public housing or not they have the SAME RIGHTS as any tenant would in that state."

Actually YOU DO NOT....you have a PHA lease and rules and regulations that are not necessarily the ones that attach to leases of most OR tenants...you need to read your lease and rules and regulations....and remember MANAGEMENT RULES!!.

DO NOT KID yourself that the PHA does not have a file on you AND that your PITA weekend calls will go unnoticed...I'll bet they are played at first coffee break of the day for a BIG LAUGH!!!

 

[BL]

I did get a little bit of a laugh out of your post, but please bear with me, I am young and inexperienced & I have a tendancy of being passive and there-for walked on, I just don't really know how to handle this kind of situation. If anyone else could chime in I would really appreciate it.

Let it be for now as I stated .

If you look at your attachments and rules and regulations , or it may be in your lease itself , they most likely are to give you notice(s) of some sort , unless an emergency.

You do not say if you just moved in recently or not , but it's not unusual for this type of thing to happen now and then . I'm sure your not the only tenant it has happened to .

If it becomes the norm , first take your papers about notice(s) to the manager and assert your tenant rights .

 

[aptwoes]

"I don't care where you live, public housing or not they have the SAME RIGHTS as any tenant would in that state."

Actually YOU DO NOT....you have a PHA lease and rules and regulations that are not necessarily the ones that attach to leases of most OR tenants...you need to read your lease and rules and regulations....and remember MANAGEMENT RULES!!.

DO NOT KID yourself that the PHA does not have a file on you AND that your PITA weekend calls will go unnoticed...I'll bet they are played at first coffee break of the day for a BIG LAUGH!!!

I hope that all they amount to is a laugh I want to let this roll of my back as well!

I think that maybe you have the wrong impression though, because I really did not call up in a foul mood or anything, I did not act angry or pissed. I just mentioned that we were upset and also that we did not know the policy here and if that was the norm.

Also, I am really on good terms with my landlord, before this incident occured I would regularly go and chat with her when I got my mail and we were very friendly, she would also tell us how much she loved our decorations, flowers & what not.

I know that I probably deserve a bit of flaming here because of the way I came off in my original post but in all honesty I just want to work with them and my time spent here has been really great for the most part.