I moved into an apartment last summer. We have had a number of issues, a handful have been resolved. None resolved in a timely manner. I will try to be as succinct and clear as possible, because there's a lot and I'm writing this from my phone.
We have a basement apartment and the buildings circuit breaker is a closet in my bedroom. This winter the heating and electricity would go out daily. I would switch the breaker whenever it would go out if I was at home at the time. One day, my brother was in his room, heard something outside of his room. It was a neighbor going into my room. I was livid. The neighbors were able to get in because the plate on the lock was messed up and even when locked the door could just be pulled open. This continued for months. We let the landlord know multiple times, but it took him four months to fix the lock.
The neighbors were smoking marijuana and cigarettes in the units. The smell was pretty obvious. Only one person in our building smokes, every person knows who that person is. The landlord tells us that we cannot use the side yard anymore because when we smoke cigarettes outside it's traveling into the building. The logic was absurd. We figured it's not worth it to argue. The smell persisted even after we left.
The refrigerator went out and it took the landlord two days to respond, and another 24 hours to replace it with a refrigerator that he had in our buildings garage. We lost over $200 worth of food. He offered to pay $50 and refused anything over that, even after we showed him our receipts.
There has been a persistent rodent and mice problem since the first week we moved in. This isn't a mouse here or there. This is mice running around above the drop ceilings in my bedroom. I am not exaggerating when I say that there have been nights that it's been so bad that I had to sleep in the living room. Despite many many many requests to fix the issue the landlord put down some traps and poison twice in eleven months, and refuses to hire an exterminator.
A month ago we received a lease renewal notice. The letter stated that there would be a rent increase because of increasing property taxes and utility costs. The landlord immediately started showing the apartment, which goes against the lease. The landlords wife has shown the apartment with an hours notice sometimes, without notice. I mentioned that she agreed to 24 hours notice, the lease states reasonable notice. Her response was "For the periods between 9-5 I DO NOT even have to give you any notice. Only if it's after 5." the lease clearly states that she cannot show the apartment outside of 9-5 M-F without our permission. We disagreed but I remained respectful and reminded her that proper notice protects and benefits both parties.
The most recent issue came when I looked the ad up on Craigslist and the apartment was listed/advertised for $100 less per month than she required us to pay to renew. When I asked her about it she rescinded the renewal saying that our dogs smell has ruined the apartment. Every tenant in our building except for one has a dog. We paid the deposit. We wash our dog weekly. The smell is from the standing water in the storage room following rain and the dead mice in the ceilings and walls.
It seems like this is blatant price discrimination and denial of housing. We have paid our rent on time every month and put up with all types of non-sense.
Is the this a violation of the fair housing act?
Tl;Dr- the landlord charged us a higher fee than advertised to renew the lease. When asked about it she rescinded the lease renewal.
Submitted June 09, 2015 at 04:42AM by webberstimeout http://ift.tt/1G8mdkb RealEstate
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