I(28f) moved into my basement apartment in September. For some background, my roommate(26m) found the apartment and put down a deposit before finding me to move in too, so I didn't see the place in person before moving in. It looked really nice in pictures, and my roommate said he liked it, so I foolishly thought it would be alright. The management company that owns/handles the building told us that they would have it professionally cleaned before we moved in on 9/1. When we arrived, we found the place has not been cleaned at all, and was frankly really gross. We documented with pictures, and asked to be credited on our next month's rent, as we had to go get cleaning supplies and do it ourselves. The company refused, but offered to send in their cleaners, free of charge, which they eventually did, but after all our things were moved in. We also suspect it is an illegal apartment, as we had to install our own smoke detectors (we were reimbursed) since there were none in the apartment itself or in the laundry room in the hall by the stairs.
2 days into our lease, water came in through one of the light fixtures in my bedroom ceiling. I informed the management company, and they sent someone to fix it over the course of several days, while I was left to sleep on the couch. They sent workers with almost no notice (emailed at 9am about workers coming at 10am), despite me informing them on multiple occasions that I work nights and therefore would be asleep in the early mornings and unable to respond to notifications. This meant that on 2 separate occasions, I was woken up by strange men in my apartment, and unable to use my room to change until they left. I tried to be agreeable about all of this, despite the lack of care given by my management company. I didn't make a fuss and we moved on. Luckily, this was before my new bed was delivered.
Then, last Tuesday night (I guess technically Wednesday morning, as it was about 12:30am), I got home from work and found that there was water coming down through the canopy over my bed. It had completely soaked through my bedding, as well as my (brand new) memory foam mattress. I took down the canopy and found rusty water coming in through a small nail hole in a portion of my ceiling that is lower than the rest to house a pipe. I drained 2 pint glasses of brown water before the dripping slowed enough to allow me to go get a larger pot to place under the leak. I stripped the bed, moved it as much to the side as I possibly could (it's a queen bed in a Boston apartment, so there's only so far in any direction it can go), flipped the mattress up against the wall to keep it out of the way and let it dry, moved all other furniture away from the area or out of the room, and left to drive to my parents' house in the suburbs. The next day, I made my management company aware via email (they prefer this method of communication, and if you call will refer you to email). After 2 hours, I hadn't heard back, so I called, and spoke to a person that hadn't hear of me, my email, or even my apartment. I re-explained the issue, and he said he'd let someone know, and they would get someone out the next day to fix it.
The next day, I received an email from them, saying "We just cut a hole in your ceiling and fixed a small leak that we found but that was only a tiny leaking problem. It should not have caused all that much water since we only noticed two drops form the small leak we patched. We will leave the ceiling open for the weekend and come back early next week to reinvestigate and see if anything has changed. If not, we will patch up the ceiling and clean up the dry wall again". When I replied, I asked for a timeline on repairs, as I was unable to live in the apartment as it was (open drywall, undiagnosed leak), and I wanted to know when work would be done, so I could coordinate coming back for clothes and personal effects. I also sent photos of the amount of water collected, as well as my stained mattress, and asked about the source of the leak, again reminding them it was the 2nd one. I finally asked about reimbursement, as I was under the impression that if repairs are being done to the apartment (for an issue I am not the cause of), the have to either pro-rate your rent, or provide accommodation, or something? They replied saying that "The only job that is left to do in your room is patch the hole in your ceiling, which will take approximately 2 hours. I suggest you push your bed frame into the corner of your room.." and asking what reimbursements I was referring to. This was on Monday.
Tuesday night, after work, I went by my apartment to get clothes, since I had initially only packed enough for a couple days, and had now been out 6. I found the hole in my ceiling still there, a foot from where the leak occurred. I also found the things I had hanging on my wall (art & a ukulele) had fallen to the ground where they stayed (luckily undamaged). There was drywall dust everywhere, and my bed had been moved from against the wall to back on my frame, closer to the repair area, and therefor covered in dust as well.
It has now been a full week that I have been unable to sleep in my apartment. No confirmation of the estimated completion of repairs has been communicated, nor have they even confirmed when workers will be in the apartment. No offer of compensation, or pro-rating of my rent has been made, despite me reiterating in each email that the room is not habitable. I am writing a response now, but my parents are encouraging me to withhold rent over this, and to ask for them to pay to at least have my mattress professionally cleaned, if not replaced. I agree I shouldn't have to pay for the full month, but I don't know what rights I have, and I don't want to make idle threats. What can/should I do here?
TL:DR - I have been displaced from my apartment for a week now, due to a leaking ceiling (the 2nd in 3 months), and my building's management company is being slow/dismissive about repairs, and playing dumb on compensation/reimbursement. Need some advice about tenant rights!
Submitted November 28, 2019 at 03:44AM by Torballss https://ift.tt/2L0XXKB
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