Renters Q: New lease. Horrible management company.
Hey all!
I have a question from a renter(me) stand point.
Me and my girlfriend looked at an apartment. It was vacant at the moment when we were looking at it and needed some cleaning and care. Some broken kitchen cabinets, dust (like a lot of it) everywhere, and paint isn't in its prime. Some light bulbs missing and such. We met few neighbors and learned that this unit have been vacant for a while.
We decided that the price point is pretty good and management company told us it would fix it and clean everything before we move in. We submitted our application and wrote down there what we saw during the short tour: a few kitchen cabinets are broken, unit could use a new paint, and needs to be cleaned. It was June 25-June 30 when we signed the lease agreement with move in date of July 12.
I was out of town for work the week of July 12 and my girlfriend actually picked up keys on July 11. On July 12 at 3pm she went there to take a look at it again and brought a box of personal things. Kitchen cabinets were fixed but nothing else was done. Not cleaned, not repainted, nothing. Except the toilet was freshly clogged and left (most likely by the handyman who was working on the cabinets as we found out later). I am saying freshly because I checked the water pressure in the bathroom when we were looking at it and it was not there and nobody lived there... She called the office, and the lady told my gf that she will call somebody and call her back. That not happened and management office didnt answer the phone that night anymore.
I came back from the work trip on Friday midnight and we already had the crew and truck lined up for us to move in on Saturday. We showed up there in the morning of Saturday (July 13) and after some rain overnight we found a puddle in one of the rooms. Roof was leaking. We also found out by the smell from the bathroom that it is clogged, not working and there is a surprise sitting in there. I called the management but there was no answer besides the number to call for after hours emergencies. I called the number and it is off with a voicemail message "send a text and I will get back to you ASAP". So i did that.
Because truck and crew was already there and couldn't be canceled I decided to move our stuff in and deal with all of that once its done. Nobody called or texted me back until Sunday (July 14) lunch time.
I was not at home then but I was able to talk with after hours plumber and he said he will come fix the toilet but cant really help with anything else. He did this part and told me to call management office the first thing in the morning. I did it and sent them the list of the things I have found over the course of the weekend:
1. Apartment was left very filthy (not cleaned what so ever).
2. Screen door knob is hanging loose.
3. Main outside door knob is hanging lose.
4. Roof is leaking.
5. Doorbell doesnt work.
6. One light in the bedroom doest work.
7. One light in the bathroom doesnt work.
8. Fridge is missing light bulb at all.
9. Neither of smoke detectors have a batteries. I cant test it if its working or not.
10. Air filter is very old and dirty.
11. No light bulbs in the ceiling fan in the balcony
12. When washer ends washing cycle it raises the water in the kitchen sink.
13. Clogged and not working toilet with a turd in it (fixed over the weekend)
Most of them aren't big things - like lights and batteries, or even to clean it ourself...but I feel like it all should have been in working condition and clean at least when I moved in....
I called them again on Monday and lady who answered told me it will be addressed shortly. So far nothing have been addressed.
Lease we signed is 1 year.
Is there anything I can do about this landlord/crappy management company? I feel like the price/location for the apartment is pretty good but getting into this kind of problems from the day of moving in and 0 care to make it right from the management company doesn't look very promising.
I feel a little bit frustrated and don't know where to even start or what to do. Can I hire a cleaning crew and send them the bill? Or buy all the lights and stuff and asked to reimburse me? What can I legally even do about any of this?
What would you do if you were in my shoes?