curious What baffles me, however, is the fuss people seem to be making about the rental properties' condition. Per the article, the violations include: holes in walls, faulty wires, A/C doesn't work, fire detector doesn't work, pipe leaking in bathroom sink, hole in bedroom ceiling, blinds on windows broken, closet doors broken, wires hanging in kitchen where light should be, dead squirrels, mold in attic, bad handrails, air conditioning inoperable, trash, leaks, junk in the yard, over-occupancy, broken windows, no working heat, parking on the lawn, and so on.
First off: I agree that the smoke detectors and wiring should in good order at all times, whether or not you moved in to the place with them in inoperable condition or whether they broke while you lived there -- they should be fixed immediately.
Where I'm having trouble is this: if you looked at and then subsequently rented the apartment even though these trashy and slum-like conditions were present, too bad for you. You should have kept on looking. How can you initially accept a trashy place as an okay house to rent and then turn around to bitch about it?
If you rented the one of his properties because it was clean and all appliances were operating correctly, congrats. However, if all the bad stuff happened while you were living there, I think it's time to look in the mirror to see who you should blame. Houses don't get messy by themselves, cars don't park themselves in yards, over-occupancy isn't the landlord's fault, closet doors and blinds don't generally commit suicide, trash doesn't hump itself to reproduce, etc...
Yes. He should fix things that break -- A/C, handrails, etc... From what I gathered in the article, he appears to be pretty good about fixing things. His complaints are cleaned up.
I am curious about something else, too. In general, aren't college apartments trashy? From my experience, I'd say yes.
Maybe I'm wrong, though. I'll tell you what: if I am wrong about most college rental units being trashy, I'm gonna shake my fist at my old college landlords. Oh yes. I'll shake my fist until my wrist is sore.
Have a poll.
Poll #132364
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 53
Are you male or female?
14 (26.4%)Are you in college now?
While in college, have you ever lived in a dumpy college apartment (messy, leaky pipes, trashed yard, etc...)