security gate locks me out of my complex and management is unhelpful.

[justalayman]

if there was more, try again but don't preview your post


if there wasn't more, there needs to be

 

[mrp5117]

okay lets try this again

I don't know why my post didn't show up, I have recreated it to the best of my recollection:
I live in a so called gated community in St. Petersburg FL. There is a security gate at the entrance which has not worked properly in the 2 years I have lived here (not at all in the first year and a half). Over the past 6 months or so they have been trying to fix the gate without any real success.

On a couple of occasions, I have returned home to find the gate closed and unresponsive to my keycard. This causes no small amount of inconvenience, as I have to wait by the street until someone comes out, then race thru the exit gate before it closes. I have voiced my concerns to the property management, and they are unhelpful. They say the gate works, which it clearly does not, and that I am doing something which causes me to be "locked out of the system", which is patently ridiculous.

I have several months left on my lease, and do not necessarily wish to move (actually, I would move in a heartbeat, but my wife likes it here). All I want is to be able to access the property I pay rent for, at the times I wish to access it.

Does the landlord have the responsibility to insure access to a legal tenant? What recourse do I have if this continues?

 

[Zigner]

On a couple of occasions you have been slightly inconvenienced.

 

[Ohiogal]

I don't know why my post didn't show up, I have recreated it to the best of my recollection:
I live in a so called gated community in St. Petersburg FL. There is a security gate at the entrance which has not worked properly in the 2 years I have lived here (not at all in the first year and a half). Over the past 6 months or so they have been trying to fix the gate without any real success.

On a couple of occasions, I have returned home to find the gate closed and unresponsive to my keycard. This causes no small amount of inconvenience, as I have to wait by the street until someone comes out, then race thru the exit gate before it closes. I have voiced my concerns to the property management, and they are unhelpful. They say the gate works, which it clearly does not, and that I am doing something which causes me to be "locked out of the system", which is patently ridiculous.

I have several months left on my lease, and do not necessarily wish to move (actually, I would move in a heartbeat, but my wife likes it here). All I want is to be able to access the property I pay rent for, at the times I wish to access it.

Does the landlord have the responsibility to insure access to a legal tenant? What recourse do I have if this continues?

Have you informed the landlord in WRITING of the issue? Not email but by mail, return receipt requested?

 

[mrp5117]

Have you informed the landlord in WRITING of the issue? Not email but by mail, return receipt requested?

I would be happy to, if it would be of any help. What impact would such a step have?

 

[mrp5117]

I would think empathy would be a more appropriate response, especially if it happened twice in 2 weeks, as is my case

 

[Zigner]

Just because I'm feeling a tiny little bit sympathetic...

Put your repair request in writing with a traceable method of delivery. That way you can prove that you made the request. It makes it much harder for management to ignore.

 

[Just Blue]

then I would think empathy would be a more appropriate response, especially if it happened twice in 2 weeks, as is my case

That is not what you posted in your opening post.

 

[mrp5117]

Just because I'm feeling a tiny little bit sympathetic...

Put your repair request in writing with a traceable method of delivery. That way you can prove that you made the request. It makes it much harder for management to ignore.

Thank you.

 

[justalayman]

did you ever stop to think you might actually be the problem like they suggested?


Does anybody else have this problem? If not, look at what you are doing to cause the problem.

If others are having the problem; how many and how often?

 

[mrp5117]

That is not what you posted in your opening post.

Sorry I was not more specific. As I stated my original post did not appear, and I was reconstructing it from memory; in any event, I fail to see how the timeline of the incidents has any impact on the responsibility of the property management to insure that legal, rent paying residents be able to enter the residence they have leased.
I was apparently mistaken in thinking that this could be a helpful resource.

 

[mrp5117]

did you ever stop to think you might actually be the problem like they suggested?


Does anybody else have this problem? If not, look at what you are doing to cause the problem.

If others are having the problem; how many and how often?

I unfortunately do not have the time or resources to poll the several hundred residents of this complex to find out their experiences with the gate.
To open the gate, one simply places the keycard on the receiver, and the gate is supposed to open. That is why I categorized it as ridiculous that I am somehow at fault.

 

[justalayman]

Sorry I was not more specific. As I stated my original post did not appear, and I was reconstructing it from memory; in any event, I fail to see how the timeline of the incidents has any impact on the responsibility of the property management to insure that legal, rent paying residents be able to enter the residence they have leased.
I was apparently mistaken in thinking that this could be a helpful resource.

it can be an excellent resource

what zigner posted, while not necessarily an answer, did attempt to give you a different perspective of your issue. A couple times over a couple years. It is not a huge issue that one should be getting all up in arms about. Sometimes life gives you lemons. You can either make lemonade where you have the opportunity to add some sugar and make it sweeter or you can just slice it open and suck on it and gripe about how sour it is. Your choice.


Remember, nobody is being paid to offer any assistance. You get what you get. Take what helps, ignore the rest, just like any other thing in life.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Perhaps you should call your wife to come and open the gate from the inside so you won't need to wait long. In fact, you could develop a group of neighbors that let each other in when it happens.

 

[Zigner]

That is why I categorized it as ridiculous that I am somehow at fault.

Let me rephrase.

Perhaps it is a problem unique to you.

I used to call in to an online bulletin board system (yes, I'm that old). On occasion, the system would crash. When it came back up, the sysop occasionally messaged me asking what I did to crash the system. In my younger years, I took offense. In hindsight, I can see that he was right. It WAS something that I did that crashed the system, just not intentionally. The sysop was just trying to troubleshoot.