apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Okay, here's one: I moved into a new apartment in Rogers Park at the start of the month. I love it. It's bigger than any place I've ever lived in, but still in my budget. Nicely maintained on the inside, good paint job, great floors, etc.

But I come home Saturday night and there's a puddle of water on the bedroom floor, and leaks around not only the bedroom window, but all along the bedroom wall that faces the west...there are now huge water marks, not to mention a 3-foot split in the plaster/paint that opened up (I'm assuming along a seam in the drywall). One of the baseboards is also ruined.

Someone is supposed to come out to fix the roof today (hopefully). According to the landlord, they had this problem last year and had fixed the roof, but apparently the "fix" wasn't so good around my bedroom (obviously).

My question is: How do I approach my new landlord to make sure that they don't just try to spackle/paint over the problem areas in the wall, but actually replace the drywall and waterlogged wood around the window? (I'm really worried about mold forming).

Also, should I be asking for a reduced rate on my rent for this month? If so, how much? It's still inhabitable so far, just ugly and inconvenient.

I just moved out of a terrible apartment (so bad that I didn't unpack for a whole year and lived out of boxes). I was really excited to find this new place, because it seemed so great and like a place I could stay in for a long time. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude, but this is really demoralizing (and I definitely don't have the money or energy to think about breaking a lease or moving again so soon).

nicolson- do you know anyone who knows construction that could possibly be there with you while the repairs are made? That way you can ensure you aren't given the run-around in terms of repairs and and get a "second opinion" as to the quality of the fix.

Anyone know of any good forums or web boards revolving around the home or home design?

Another question: I live in a Lincoln Park walkup I'm moving out of this weekend. My landlord never gave me a walk-through. I had a non-refundable move-in fee of $200, with no walk-through. There are still giant holes left in the wall from the previous tenant (he had neon beer signs everywhere, from what I remember when I first toured the apartment before renting it). Can the landlord attempt to charge me for the repair of these holes?

I was wondering when the fall cure was going to start. Anyone know?

Moet, the landlord can attempt to charge you for the holes in the wall. If you didn't turn in a condition form mentioning these holes existed already it is a he-said/she-said situation. I worked in apartment rentals for a long time and people would cause damage then try to say it was there when they moved in...yet they hadn't noted it on their move-in form...so they got the bill. Even if there was a lightbulb out and they didn't call in to have it replaced before they moved, they would get charged for the new bulb. I always thought that was rip, but that is what management did. I would just try to repair the holes myself...spackle is pretty inexpensive.

Nicholson.....no you can't ask for a reduced rate on your apartment. I mean, you can ask, but he doesn't have to give it to you. If it made the apartment unliveable then your landlord would be obligated to either get you another unit temporarily or pay for a hotel, but since it is just ugly to look at and not an actual hazard, he is under no obligation to lower the rent. The way they look at is...if you owned a home and your roof leaked, could you ask for money off your mortgage? No...so you can't expect money off your rent. They are also under no obligation to repair the damage to your specifications....they are going to repair it to the extent they deem necessary...i.e. minimally. That is the one thing that really drives me nuts about apartment living...you are at your landlord's mercy.

I had a hornet's nest that was inside one of the beams on my balcony and the apartment mgmt wouldn't do anything about it...they didn't want to pay for a pro and they didn't want to send their guys...they told me to wait until winter and they would take my balcony apart to get it out...which meant I had zero use of my beautiful balcony with a great lake view ALL summer...the hornets showed up in May!!! When I expressed my anger and told them that my rent included use of my balcony, they told me too bad so sad. So I grabbed a can of hornet spray and sprayed like a crazy person until there were a million dead hornets littering my balcony....THEN mgmt came out and sealed the holes...except they did a horrible job..very ugly yellow foam seeping out of all the holes...so I told them to scrape it all away and I sealed it myself so you couldn't even tell. No rent reduction for all this trouble.

I bet they will just tell you to set up a fan to dry out the wood and then just paint over the marks...that is what the last property I worked for did...they don't want to replace anything unless they have to. One of the residents had a sewer back up and mgmt just brought a few window fans...they didn't even want to clean the carpet. And this was a 'luxury' complex in Oak Brook Terrace..

Thanks amiencc--turns out they are going to have to re-tuck point the building, then they will get around to fixing the wall--in OCTOBER! In the meantime I guess we're supposed to hope it doesn't rain hard.

I've got the fans going. I'm a little less worried about mold (turns out it's not drywall, but plaster--at least according to the landlord.) I am pretty upset though--I mean, I just moved in here.

Nicolson - I hope you have renter's insurance! It is your only protection [for your things] against your landlord's shoddy repairs.

nicolson- take pictures. They are worth having if things get worse and they don't cooperate. Also, check out the tenant laws in your state. I was in NY and had major issues. Most states actually favor the tenant, not the landlord.

"if it made the apartment unliveable then your landlord would be obligated to either get you another unit temporarily or pay for a hotel, but since it is just ugly to look at and not an actual hazard, he is under no obligation to lower the rent."
Don't know where you live, but That is not the case in NY. You pay rent for a certain number of amenities, and if you don't have access to them at all times while you live there, the management company may be obligated to reduce your rent- if you ask and know your rights.

Thank you, aimecc!

By the way, aimecc, I didn't have a move-in form. I didn't have a walk-through. I didn't do anything except pay a $200 move in fee which is nonrefundable.

Sorry I keep posting... need to finish my thoughts! lol Anyway, I will try spackle. My only concern is that my walls are cream, and the spackle is pretty white, correct? Maybe it will look worse!

Moet
You should demand a move in form. That is the only way you can prove you didn't make the holes or any other problems. That and/or take a photo of the holes with the front page of the newspaper in the shot to prove the day.

Enamorada,

Good ideas for moving in, but moetbubble is moving out. It's a little too late to implement those suggestions for this apartment, but (moetbubble, take note) they can be done for the next apartment.

Moetbubble, fill in the holes and then try to find a little can of tester paint in a color similar to your walls. Touch it up so it's not quite so noticeable. Better (as in the spots less noticeable) would be to just paint all of the walls. Again, use similar colored paint so it's not obvious you painted in there (and air out your apartment so it doesn't smell like it).

Just ask your landlord what kind and color paint they used...they don't have to know why you are asking :). If they are going to repaint inbetween tenants anyway, then they should be happy with just spackle...with the apartments I worked for, we wouldn't charge anyone for smaller holes. The general rule was as long as you can't stick a finger in it, it's fine. But individual unit owners may get more picky just because they can. My guess would be if they didn't care about the holes when the last tenant left, they won't care about the holes when you leave, but without that move-in form it certainly gets tricky.

But.....!

Actually, if they have your $200 move-in fee and it is non refundable anyway....I wouldn't even bother fixing the holes! That is typically what a move-in fee is for, to cover cleaning, paint, patch, carpet clean inbetween tenants..though it really is a shame they didn't actually use the previous tenants move-in fee to prep the unit for you!

Teeze, I wish that were the case in Illinois! I think New York is kind of a creature all it's own when it comes to tenancy laws and doesn't really mirror the rest of the country.. I live in the same area as Moet does (well, suburbs...not the city) and amenities are considered a 'bonus', not rent-provided. Which we all know is bupkus, of course.

And in Moet's case, Moet still has access to the unit and to the bedroom, it's just not as pretty as it was before the storm. But it is still functional, as in there is still a wall and a window with no threat of cave-in. So there is no reason to take rent off except as a "we're sorry" which is not very likely.

I want my rent lowered because my upstairs neighbors are awful...AWFUL....but no such luck. The people on the other side of the building get to live in peace, while I live in the midst of constant noise from upstairs, yet I pay the same rent as the people on the 'good' side of the building while getting less value...If renters were entitled to rent off for every complaint then landlords would be giving more free rent than actually getting rent.

And in Illinois, the law favors the landlord, not the tenant......though it does help to know when the law IS on your side! I've used it a few times to my benefit with my current landlord....

Moet, if they don't want to fix the roof until October (!!!) then pick up renters insurance and see if maybe the landlord will at least foot the bill for a month as a good-will gesture until the roof gets fixed. His insurance won't cover any of your stuff if something bad happens because of that roof :(

@nicolson, if they are willing to re-tuck the mortar joints, well, that's pretty good. That's an expensive and laborious process (and noisy, so be prepared for a few days of that). Hopefully it fixes the problem. Also, it's something done by a professional, so that's why the wait until October. As far as mold goes, if the problem gets fixed, there's not much to worry about. Mold needs a steady supply of moisture. One leak (on a day with record-breaking amounts of rain) isn't likely to cause major problems. All-in-all, it sounds like you have a landlord willing to address the issue and spend a fair amount to fix it.

Hey amiecc, I think you have the wrong person. ;-) I wasn't affected by the storm. One of the few pluses to living on the fourth floor of a walk-up!

Hmm, DEF take photos and have someone who is a professional give you advice on how to fix it and then when/if maintenance does not fix it correctly, you have more leverage for a discounted rate down the road if there is further problems.

Oh geez, LOL I met Nicholson :) Sorry guys! Yeah, I think things would have to get pretty durn awful to flood a 4th floor unit!!