J
JK
Guest
Here's the issue: Last September we moved into some brand new "luxury" apartments in Pennsylvania. We signed a one-year lease. For new residents the first month's rent was free. In the lease was a home purchase clause: If we purchased a home after six months, we could leave the lease, but the free month of rent would become due.
Six months have passed and we are purchasing a home. Our stay here has not been pleasant. There were questionable sales tactics used to attract residents, the construction is shoddy, and certain maintenance issues were handled very slowly (in one case months). More importantly, in January my wife slipped on some water that had frozen in the parking lot, twisting her knee. We informed the leasing office of the incident in writing, asking them to follow up with us. A month passed with no response, so we inquired again. We were told that the water was from an underground spring they ran into while laying the parking lot, and there was nothing they could do about it.
My wife's knee has been checked out by a doctor (though they are not aware of this). He says the prognosis is good but some discomfort will persist, and to monitor it. There is no lost work, medical expenses, or anything like that.
I don't really want to sue anyone (but they don't need to know that). Yet, I don't think I should walk away without some compensation for all of these issues combined. I'm prepared to draft and send a certified letter to the owners (a small corporation in Ohio), reiterating these issues in detail and expressing my general dissatisfaction. In light of that, I want to request that they waive the first month's rent that will now be due. This is really all I want. If they think there's any chance that I may pursue legal action, then it seems like they would want to resolve this quickly - and one month's rent is a fairly easy way out.
These are my questions:
1. Is this a reasonable request? Should I handle this matter differently? Just blow it off?
2. Besides the details of the accident, do they have the right to any other information/documentation from me? What should I avoid telling/providing them at this point?
3. Is there a chance of resolving this without getting insurance companies or lawyers involved? I'm being careful to keep this sounding like a complaint, and not a case, since I'd like it handled as such. And I'm pretty explicit about how I'm willing to resolve this.
Thanks for any feedback at all.
-JK
Six months have passed and we are purchasing a home. Our stay here has not been pleasant. There were questionable sales tactics used to attract residents, the construction is shoddy, and certain maintenance issues were handled very slowly (in one case months). More importantly, in January my wife slipped on some water that had frozen in the parking lot, twisting her knee. We informed the leasing office of the incident in writing, asking them to follow up with us. A month passed with no response, so we inquired again. We were told that the water was from an underground spring they ran into while laying the parking lot, and there was nothing they could do about it.
My wife's knee has been checked out by a doctor (though they are not aware of this). He says the prognosis is good but some discomfort will persist, and to monitor it. There is no lost work, medical expenses, or anything like that.
I don't really want to sue anyone (but they don't need to know that). Yet, I don't think I should walk away without some compensation for all of these issues combined. I'm prepared to draft and send a certified letter to the owners (a small corporation in Ohio), reiterating these issues in detail and expressing my general dissatisfaction. In light of that, I want to request that they waive the first month's rent that will now be due. This is really all I want. If they think there's any chance that I may pursue legal action, then it seems like they would want to resolve this quickly - and one month's rent is a fairly easy way out.
These are my questions:
1. Is this a reasonable request? Should I handle this matter differently? Just blow it off?
2. Besides the details of the accident, do they have the right to any other information/documentation from me? What should I avoid telling/providing them at this point?
3. Is there a chance of resolving this without getting insurance companies or lawyers involved? I'm being careful to keep this sounding like a complaint, and not a case, since I'd like it handled as such. And I'm pretty explicit about how I'm willing to resolve this.
Thanks for any feedback at all.
-JK