Wednesday, June 26, 2013

renting advice

ok, I need advice. When we moved into our new place (in April) our landlord was awesome and on top of the ball. He made it sound like he is super easy to get a hold of, he said he was retired and all he does is maintain these complexes (him and his brother went into business for duplexes and stuff, retired at like 40). Well, that has proved to be completely wrong! 

problem #1: When we moved in, the ice dispenser was dispensing ice that tasted completely disgusting. We let it run till it filled up the bucket, then emptied all the ice, and washed out the bucket. We thought that letting it run since it had been off a while would work. Well, that didnt work, and it still tastes really really gross. 

problem #2: we dont have a sink plunger/drain stopper thing in our bathroom. Didnt have one when we moved in, we asked him for one and he said yes, and still hasn't gotten it. And I am afraid my ring is gonna fall down the drain every time I wash my hands. 

problem #3: when we moved in the fire alarm detector was beeping really faintly. we thought it was just out of batteries, so we changed the batteries. after that, we pushed the test button and it wouldnt even work. we even lit a match next to it and it never went off. So, our fire alarm doesnt work. We told our landlord about it- he said he would come fix it, and still hasn't...

problem #4: our water tastes and smells like dirt and minerals. kinda sour sometimes too. I hate to drink it. Does anyone else in orem have water like that? or should we get ours checked? husband has noticed the smell and taste too. its bad. 

problem #5: we cant lock the deadbolts if we are both gone, because we cant unlock them from the outside. the normal lock is unlockable, but the deadbolts will NOT unlock however hard or long we try. We told the landlord about that- and guess what. STILL hasn't fixed it. 

Problem #6: the oven. I told you all about how Mia burnt her hand on the oven. We told the landlord about it and said she had to go to the burn clinic and I think that scared him so he came to check it out. he sent an appliance guy here and the guy said its just the cheapest oven you can buy so it doesnt have the proper thermal threading around it. he said he called the company and ordered a better thermal threading that would make it so that heat wouldnt escape out of the oven. Well that happened in the middle of April, and the landlord claims the part is still on back order. I doubt that. its been two months. Not only that but we got a freaking bill for OVER 700 dollars for the treatment of her burns on her hand- just for two fingers.. so I kinda want our landlords to pay that or give us a free month of rent because they STILL havent fixed the problem. The oven wasnt even open. She touched the drawer underneath, and thats how she got burnt. How were we supposed to know it would get hot enough in the drawer to cause 2nd and 3rd degree burns?? So, All this time, we have called, texted, and talked with the landlord in person. He doesnt respond to text although he did when we first moved in (he said that was a good way to get a hold of him). He doesnt return my calls, in person he says he will come fix it asap.. so I got mad and called the OWNER- which is his brother. I was way nice about it and told him all my concerns. He said he had no idea about any of these issues and he would call his brother to get all this done as soon as possible. He said he didnt know why he was waiting to get things done because "a new deadbolt is only like 20 bucks, he has authority to go get one I dont know why he is waiting to do it.." 

Well, that was a week ago. Landlord still hasn't fixed a dang thing. I told Kevin I would rather do it ourself and deduct labor and cost of the stuff off our rent. Or just not pay rent until it all gets done. So Kevin called the landlord today and he was kinda mean to my husband- told him to go get the alarm himself and deduct if off rent. and that the part was still on backorder. and that the deadbolts he would come see if his key worked in them first. and with the sink he would get to it when he had time. I AM SO MAD. What should we do?

I would love to just yell at them and tell them they are lazy, but I wont. I dont want to burn any bridges so that incase we need references in buying or renting a house later on we can use them... but I am really frustrated. At what point do you stop being so nice?

4 comments:

Jess Clark said...

Sounds like a pain in the rear (and finger, apparently). I've never really had a dead-beat landlord so I don't have any good suggestions other than what you've already done.

I wouldn't worry so much about "burning bridges" in this case, though, because you don't need references for buying a house. I don't know how strict people are with references in rentals -- it seems like the demand for renters is high enough that it wouldn't be an issue.

Sorry to hear the paradisaical move hasn't worked out as well as originally hoped.

Mike and Adrianne said...

I agree with Jess. I don't have any great advice either. Maybe just wait for a while and see how things go. You can always go the "kill them with kindness" route. Make them cookies with a note that says "thanks for helping us keep our apartment a great place to live" or something and then it might encourage them to want to keep doing things for you guys.

Michelle said...

First I would send him a NICE letter telling him about all these things so you have it in writing, maybe send it certified mail so you have a receipt that he received it. Then state a date you want the stuff fixed by, or you will fix all these things by yourself and send him the receipts so you can deduct the costs off your next month's rent. You can contact Legal Aid (free legal advice) as well to help you. Then if he doesn't respond to your letter by the date you stated to get it all fixed, then I would buy a water filter, smoke detector and change all your locks so they are working, fix whatever else is necessary, keep the receipts, send them in and deduct that amount off your rent. I wouldn't ask about the medical bills because you already had that covered by an outside source.

adamhclark said...

Gillian,

I unfortunately know a lot about this kind of issue. Send me a copy of your contract (via email) and I'll look at it and help you know what you can do. You have a lot of law on your side and My guess a little leaning and leverage in the right direction will get this taken care of in a hurry. Between city ordinances, state rental laws, contract law, and more, you can make these guys take notice. Give me a call.

Adam