First the floor under the water heater was rotted out.
And there was no earthquake strapping on it.
And it was leaning at an alarming angle.
And the property manager didn't want to do anything to fix it.
Then the ceiling fan broke.
And got "repaired."
Except now we can't use it on medium or high speeds, or it will fall out of the ceiling and possibly decapitate us all while we eat dinner.
Then we were promised new floors to replace the rotting ones in the bathroom.
And new carpet.
Those promises were made in May.
We're still waiting.
Then the kitchen faucet broke.
Then the dishwasher exploded and flooded our kitchen.
The landlord promised us a new dishwasher.
We're still waiting for that, too.
Last week our heater broke.
The electrician said it's 33 years old and if we call the gas company they will red tag it and turn it off, and the landlord will have to replace it.
Today the water heater smells disturbingly like burnt toast.
I checked the date on the water heater.
It's past due for being replaced, too.
We don't know what to do anymore. We love this condo, the location, the open feel of it, how big it is. We love the neighbors. Mostly. But every time we turn around something is broken, and our landlord is extremely slow on replacing things. A new dishwasher and new floors we can live without. But it's getting colder, and we cannot live without heat or hot water. And we also can't afford to wait until something explodes and brings this place tumbling down. I'm so totally discouraged. And I'm worried that all these repairs will cause our landlord to raise our rent, which we also can't afford. And which would be unfair, because all these repairs needing to be done right now are a result of years of neglect and cheapskate-ness on his part, and are not our fault at all. If you're the praying type, please pray for us. The economy and the season both make this a really bad time for this to happen. And at this point I'm beginning to worry about our safety and health.
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3 comments:
If I were you, I'd get a copy of the lease and go see an attorney. I'm sure part of the lease understanding is that the landlord will provide a livable space. If he's not living up to that, you shouldn't be responsible for paying rent.
Of course, I'm not a lawyer and I have no idea what the rental laws are like in California... but still, slumlords tend to be frowned upon. If all else fails, call the local newspaper/news station and get the guy some bad publicity. =)
And have a Merry Christmas!
Thanks for your support, Clint! I don't think it'll go that far, but it just might some day.... Nathan talked to our landlord today and he was surprisingly good about everything. We're getting a new water heater tomorrow. A huge part of the problem is that he lives in Texas and doesn't have any contacts around here to get work done in our place and wants us to find and hire people to do it. But we don't know anyone to do that kind of work either, and plus that's not our job (to essentially be our own property managers), so it all gets backed up because no one can find anyone to do the work that the other party's okay with. He tends to want to hire people that work for cheap and do a quick fix job, and we would rather hire people that charge more but do it right. It gets to be an impasse. Hopefully this will get cleared up fast.
Hey Kristy,
If that first part of your list of woes was poetry, I like it. It made me laugh, even though I know it's not supposed to be funny. Sounds awful. Phil and I don't use our gas heater. We use an electric one, and phil's my dishwasher.
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