angelfish03
Junior Member
I live in Indiana.
In April of 2006 I moved into a loft apartment where the living/dining room was downstairs and bed and bath were upstairs. In November of 2006, while I was out of town, the toilet tank cracked and when I opened my front door, the entire apartment was soaked and the ceiling was caved in - the apartment was not livable. The management intimidated my by trying to blame the malfunction on me and moved me into another unit. The unit was dirty, but it was dry and had power, so I didn't complain. Unfortunately, due to the hasty move, there was no inspection done before I moved in. I had various other problems while I lived there due to the bad management, such as the pool not being open even though we were paying for it, etc.
The last straw came in May of this year when I noticed that the carpet in my dining room was soaked. Maintenance came and did some investigating and the toilet tank had cracked in the vacant apartment next to mine. That apartment collapsed like my old one had (that they tried to blame on me) and my carpet through most of the downstairs was soaked to the point that water puddled around your feet when you walked on it. Maintenance sucked some of the water out, but it was late on a Friday night, so he just left my furniture in the middle of the room and put one fan on the carpet and told me to call to schedule a carpet cleaning. I called on Saturday morning and was told to call back. I called back the next week and left a message. My call was returned and I was told to call later to schedule the cleaning. Meanwhile, I was staying at a friend's house because my carpet was still wet and my furniture was in the middle of my apartment. It was starting to smell. I finally called the health department who called them and I came home from work and the carpet had been "cleaned." It took a week, I had to throw a fit, and it still smelled funny. My lease was up in July, so I dealt with it. I had to do a month-to-month until I found a new place, so they charged me an additional $50 a month. I asked if they would waive the fee since I had been a good tentant, always paid my rent early, had TWO apartment floodings, and had been paying for a pool that was not even open - they told me no. I later found out that a friend of mine who lived with his roommate at the same complex in a two bedroom apartment was only being charged $25 for a month-to-month lease.
This is where it gets real good.
I gave written notice on July 24th that I was going to vacate on August 31st and I made 2 copies: when I gave them the letter, I had them sign and date my copy to prove receipt. The forwarding address was on the letter, as well as a phone number. I moved into my new apartment on August 1st and spent the remaining month moving the small things, cleaning, filling nail holes, and getting the carpet cleaned (I provided them with a copy of the receipt). I left the apartment in far better condition than what I moved in, even though I can't prove it due to the hasty move.
Anyway, after the 45th day passed and I still hadn't heard anything from the apartment, I sent a certified letter that included a copy of the law where they now owe me 100% of the deposit. I also kept a copy of this for myself. The letter was signed for on Monday the 19th of October. I called on Thursday to leave a message inquiring about my deposit - the call was never returned. I called on the night of the 20th and left a message and then a friend and I went to the complex on Wednesday the 21st (today) and the apartment manager is on vacation and the leasing agent said there is nothing she can do. The maintenance guy that was there from their main office started poking around and then asked if I had gotten an itemization because he remembered writing one up for the apartment (what they could have found, I have no idea). I told him not only had I received nothing, but all my efforts to contact management had gone ignored. I asked if they sent it certified and he said they never send anything certified. Sounds like bull to me. They "claim" they sent it, but never bothered to get proof? Come on now! Then he was saying he would look into it and if he finds the itemization I can come pick up that amount of the security deposit, but I think that's ridiculous because Indiana law says they now have to give me 100%, right?
At this point, can I sue for more than my security deposit? They are being deceitful and illegally keeping my money and I am spending all this time and frustration trying to get it back, not to mention all the other money they got out of my unfairly and all the times I was put out of my apartment due to these "floods" that were clearly some kind of malfunction because they seemed to always happen in vacant apartments. Please help!!
Sorry I wrote a book, there's just so much to explain!
In April of 2006 I moved into a loft apartment where the living/dining room was downstairs and bed and bath were upstairs. In November of 2006, while I was out of town, the toilet tank cracked and when I opened my front door, the entire apartment was soaked and the ceiling was caved in - the apartment was not livable. The management intimidated my by trying to blame the malfunction on me and moved me into another unit. The unit was dirty, but it was dry and had power, so I didn't complain. Unfortunately, due to the hasty move, there was no inspection done before I moved in. I had various other problems while I lived there due to the bad management, such as the pool not being open even though we were paying for it, etc.
The last straw came in May of this year when I noticed that the carpet in my dining room was soaked. Maintenance came and did some investigating and the toilet tank had cracked in the vacant apartment next to mine. That apartment collapsed like my old one had (that they tried to blame on me) and my carpet through most of the downstairs was soaked to the point that water puddled around your feet when you walked on it. Maintenance sucked some of the water out, but it was late on a Friday night, so he just left my furniture in the middle of the room and put one fan on the carpet and told me to call to schedule a carpet cleaning. I called on Saturday morning and was told to call back. I called back the next week and left a message. My call was returned and I was told to call later to schedule the cleaning. Meanwhile, I was staying at a friend's house because my carpet was still wet and my furniture was in the middle of my apartment. It was starting to smell. I finally called the health department who called them and I came home from work and the carpet had been "cleaned." It took a week, I had to throw a fit, and it still smelled funny. My lease was up in July, so I dealt with it. I had to do a month-to-month until I found a new place, so they charged me an additional $50 a month. I asked if they would waive the fee since I had been a good tentant, always paid my rent early, had TWO apartment floodings, and had been paying for a pool that was not even open - they told me no. I later found out that a friend of mine who lived with his roommate at the same complex in a two bedroom apartment was only being charged $25 for a month-to-month lease.
This is where it gets real good.
I gave written notice on July 24th that I was going to vacate on August 31st and I made 2 copies: when I gave them the letter, I had them sign and date my copy to prove receipt. The forwarding address was on the letter, as well as a phone number. I moved into my new apartment on August 1st and spent the remaining month moving the small things, cleaning, filling nail holes, and getting the carpet cleaned (I provided them with a copy of the receipt). I left the apartment in far better condition than what I moved in, even though I can't prove it due to the hasty move.
Anyway, after the 45th day passed and I still hadn't heard anything from the apartment, I sent a certified letter that included a copy of the law where they now owe me 100% of the deposit. I also kept a copy of this for myself. The letter was signed for on Monday the 19th of October. I called on Thursday to leave a message inquiring about my deposit - the call was never returned. I called on the night of the 20th and left a message and then a friend and I went to the complex on Wednesday the 21st (today) and the apartment manager is on vacation and the leasing agent said there is nothing she can do. The maintenance guy that was there from their main office started poking around and then asked if I had gotten an itemization because he remembered writing one up for the apartment (what they could have found, I have no idea). I told him not only had I received nothing, but all my efforts to contact management had gone ignored. I asked if they sent it certified and he said they never send anything certified. Sounds like bull to me. They "claim" they sent it, but never bothered to get proof? Come on now! Then he was saying he would look into it and if he finds the itemization I can come pick up that amount of the security deposit, but I think that's ridiculous because Indiana law says they now have to give me 100%, right?
At this point, can I sue for more than my security deposit? They are being deceitful and illegally keeping my money and I am spending all this time and frustration trying to get it back, not to mention all the other money they got out of my unfairly and all the times I was put out of my apartment due to these "floods" that were clearly some kind of malfunction because they seemed to always happen in vacant apartments. Please help!!
Sorry I wrote a book, there's just so much to explain!
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