I am a law abiding tenant who pays my rent on time and have even acquiesced to pay my rent in cash at the behest of my property manager. Not only is this a hassle and a security risk (carrying so much cash on person), it is unwarranted as I have offered to allow my landlord to run my credit and other means of acceptable tender such as money orders. The property manager at my location has on a weekly basis lodged verbal complaints to me about issues that are not in anyway a violation of my lease or any local ordinance, making my experience living there hostile and stressful. I was recently informed that she "will accept payment for the remainder of the lease in the form of a money order or bank check", although she would not agree to that previously and has treated me in a very hostile and unwelcome way since day one. I am not the only one in the building who has experienced this treatment. At any point in time since I've lived there, there has only been 1/2 to 2/3 of the building occupied. She kicked neighbors out down the hall after only a few months. She refused to renew the lease on two more of my neighbors who are also quiet, on-time rent paying individuals, again with no explanation. The financial impacts of this issue are another reason for concern. Not only do I have to outlay another large sum of money within one year (between $1000-$2000) in deposits some of which is not refundable, there are also moving expenses. I am a middle-income, single wage earner, current on my bills, but this will definitely put me behind financially and if I have the same misfortune dealing with other property managers and landlords in the near future, I will continue to become more and more indebted trying to pay deposits. The current laws do not protect people from illegitimate dismissal from their dwellings and causes financial jeopardy for honest, hardworking people and is even more detrimental to people who are in far worse financial situations than me. This impacts my ability to pay for school, insurance, and other necessities and impairs my ability to be a contributing economic contributor for the slow economy. Remember, the buying power of the middle class is what makes or breaks the economy. There is no recourse for me as a consumer from this damage, no one to hold accountable and only the landlord benefits from receiving thousands of dollars in what will likely be unrefundable fees that they charge when they replace tenants in this revolving-door fashion. ($300 per pet for instance) How's that for "quiet/peaceful enjoyment" and "reasonable access"? This appears only to apply to the landlord, not those consumers who rent.
I was a naïve first time renter when I first came to need my own apartment in January 2016. I knew a bit about the bad things I had heard about Gulf River Realty, but I also knew that they were the only property management company trying to help me find a place. Most places were either gone too quickly or very wishy washy. I needed an apartment quickly for my daughter and myself.
When I first looked at this apartment it was filthy. The floors were sticky and had dead bugs on them. Deborah Sebastian (the person in charge of rentals at Gulf River Realty) assured me that this happens from time to time AFTER a tenant has left and the place has been cleaned. We made it to the bathroom where there was apparent weirdness with the structure of the tub around the drain. It looked like rusty metal bubbles. She assured me that there was no need to worry and that they would be replacing this tub within a month or two. Little did she know, I purposely had someone on my cell phone listening to our conversation; while I was naïve in the ways of rentals and landlords, I was not stupid.
I signed all the paperwork for this apartment and was moved in shortly after the inspection of the home with verbal and witnessed promises by Deborah. The "copy" of the lease that she gave me was unsigned without provisions for the "replacement" in the paperwork. She advised me that to get the signed copy or any further copies of the lease, it would be $30.
I have no less than 5 witnesses to comment on how gross the apartment was left, though I did not know to get pictures due to my naivety. They all helped me to move into the apartment. I had discussed with Deborah the fact that I would want Shane Ciolino, my boyfriend of two years, to move in when he was ready. She assured me that this would not be a problem. When Shane became ready, he signed all of the necessary paperwork and then moved his things into the house. We had broken up by March 28th and he left without incident.
During his stay at my apartment, Shane was helping me find all of the things that I needed to have fixed with the apartment. There was a short in the oven, there were multiple issues with non-working outlets, the chain on the door was broken, the light above the stove on the ceiling would not turn on at all, there were multiple out of code non-GFCI outlets that needed to be replaced with GFCI outlets, there was apparent advanced molding in the grout of the shower tiles, my daughter's bedroom door would not close at all, and tub still had not been fixed. There were other minor things that were apparent like someone had broken and put back together the toilet paper roll holder and the towel rack had been ripped out of the wall at least 3 times. Both of these were terribly patched. I advised Deborah of the major things wrong with the apartment that needed immediate attention via text message. She did not answer me. I decided to go up to the office a block from my apartment to let her know in person. She proceeded to yell at me and make me cry for coming to see her at the office because she did not want anyone who rented from them coming to the office for any reason at all. Then she showed up at my home with who I later found out is possibly her son, who was not a maintenance man, to inspect the things I told her about shortly after she yelled at me. While I was still upset, she asked if she could come in and I told her no. My reason: because she just yelled at me and I did not want someone who disrespected me in my home. I told her this. Her son was very nice, but immediately turned off my internet upon checking one of the outlets. This internet was my source of income, I work online doing tech support as Deborah well knows. When he did that, he messed up my internet and almost made it impossible for me to work later that day. I got very upset and asked him to get out. Now I was very upset. This was the ONLY time I denied anyone entrance into my home because they were extremely rude to me.
The maintenance man who showed up a few days later was very nice, personable, and professional. He fixed everything in the apartment except the mold in the grout and the tub. He told me that it would take a few days to fix some of it, but it did all get done. He made a bit of damage on my daughter's door frame to the paint because he was hitting the doorframe with a hammer so that he could get the door to close, but otherwise all his repairs were sound. He also advised me that he was not allowed to fix the tub per Deborah and Nazeem. He stated that they would likely get an outside contractor to do this because they had to have certain credentials and maybe even a permit as they had to mess with the plumbing to install this bathtub. I told him that I understood and thanked him for helping me. Soon after my interaction with him, they fired him but I am unaware as to why. These incidents happened back in February of 2016 and are just a look into the kind of landlord with whom I was dealing. My landlord and their maintenance men made no further attempt to do any kind of repairs or replacing of the bathtub since then.
On June 14th, 2016 the tub had finally rusted through the bubbling near the tub drain. I immediately texted Deborah to let her know that it was leaking water into my daughter's carpet through the wall it shared with the tub. I later found out that it also leaked into the neighbor's apartment. She advised me that I should turn my water off to prevent further leaking. I advised her that the leak was not coming from the pipes but from the weird patch in the tub. She told me that they would come either the 15th or the 16th to inspect it. She had even told me through text that he was on his way on the 15th and later telling me that he wasn't. I also sent them a letter in the mail about what repairs needed to be done. I was told verbally to call the maintenance man and set up a time with him. When I called this man the first time, I called with a witness and he advised that he would be out that same day. When I called the man again I three way called him to have a witness again. He proceeded to yell at me and berate me both times I spoke to him stating that he never said that he was coming and would call me when he was on his way to my home because they had him scheduled for other homes in Lehigh and Naples. I had also received an email from my landlord on June 21st, 2016 stating that they had ordered a bathtub and it would likely be installed by the next Saturday. They made no indication at all that they would soon be trying to void my lease and kick me out to do the replacement nor that I had in fact done anything wrong. I was just trying to get my tub replaced so that I could bathe my 8 year old daughter for school.
Shortly after this altercation with the second maintenance man, I began to look into my options. My father was a plumber in Florida for many years. After taking one look at the bubbling on the tub he said that this seal was not up to code and was in fact illegal due to what this older tub was made out of. He informed me that I should go to code enforcement and Florida Rural Legal Services. On June 22nd, 2016 code enforcement came to my apartment and agreed that this was a code violation. The violation is listed as: VIO2016-09407 on the website for Lee County. He advised me that I should get with FRLS or another lawyer, like Sam Saad, to back me up because nearly every instance where he has had to hang a violation up on a landlord has ended in retaliation of some sort. On this same day, FRLS advised me Florida state laws that allowed me to withhold my rent legally if I gave a letter of intention at least 7 days before the rent was due for the purposes of repair. I took the letter to them myself along with a copy of the law that told them I was legally allowed to do so. The next day I emailed them telling them that there was mold and that I had in fact gone to code enforcement about the issue because they just were not getting things done. On June 30th, 2016 I asked in email if it was safe to assume that they were not coming to fix the bathtub because they had not contacted me at all. Deborah's reply was that they had not yet received the bathtub.
I withheld my rent and per the court house, I actually did not need to create an escrow account to hold the money as long as I could prove that I had the money set aside for the purpose of paying my rent. I did indeed hold the money. Shortly after this on July 10th, 2016, I received a 3 day eviction notice on my door from Gulf River Realty. I was absolutely shocked. I contacted WINK news the very next day. They were very interested in my story and did eventually shoot it though they did not air it. On July 14th, 2016 I received a 7 day eviction notice on my door from my landlord that stated that they were terminating my lease because they felt that the apartment was unsafe. They also attached a piece of paper stating that I agreed to vacate the property entirely if they deemed it necessary for repair. This paper they said was from my lease but was not in fact even in the copy they gave me, again the only copy I had was an unsigned copy, but it also had a signature on it that is not mine. It is a very similar likeness, but it is not my signature.
On July 18th, 2016 I turned all of my evidence over to Sam Saad because he advised that what Gulf River Realty was doing to me was inherently illegal and he would be sending them a letter to cease retaliatory actions against me for making them fix the bathtub. He sent Gulf River Realty a letter advising them of this on July 21st, 2016.
They responded in a letter on August 6th, 2016. They began by making completely false accusations that I declined a patch in the tub so they took longer to request a new bathtub. I have proof of all of our communications and I obviously did no such thing. She also made entirely false accusations that I prevented multiple maintenance men from coming into the home when the only time I ever declined someone in my home was the day she screamed at me. They only had one maintenance man at the time and I was on good terms with that man. Any time I had an issue, he told me to call him first and not them because of how they worked to do everything as cheaply as possible. She also said that I had moved my boyfriend Shane into the apartment when he was unauthorized. I do not have the copies of the paperwork that he signed, but I was there when he signed them and he would also attest that what she says is completely false. She advised that I had been unresponsive to their requests to make any payments at all. They made no such attempts, again I have proof to show this. She advised that I would have to have my rent in by August 10th, 2016 so as not to incur any eviction action against me. I turned in my cashier's check on that day and have all copies of my checks that were sent to them for rent up until the leak in the tub and after the cashier's check. My grandmother used to write my checks for me until I finally got a checkbook for my checking account.
When the repairs were completed, Nazeem and Deborah were both allowed into my home to inspect the work. Only the bottom half of the tile on the wall in the shower was replaced, all the mold was left in the walls, and there were stains all over the carpet in my daughter's room from the water coming through the wall. I have pictures to prove this. Nazeem advised, again with a witness on the phone, that he would shortly have someone come over to clean the carpet due to the water damage. He never sent anyone to my home or even attempted to contact me about having the carpet cleaned at all.
The rest of my time at that apartment went without incident for the most part. I had lots of visitors because I didn't feel safe there alone. Deborah had told me that I could not have another roommate without paying her $100 more a month, so I didn't get one, just visitors. Once I did get a visit from Nazeem who asked me to move our vehicles or they would be towed and I complied immediately. In December, I received a notice of non-renewal with no reason for them making me leave. Making all my bills on my own was nigh on impossible let alone coming up with first, last, and security for a new place on top of all the deposits for electricity, my work internet, and water. I sent them a letter that I intended to leave without incident and would ensure that my apartment was in fact cleaner than they provided it to me. I informed them of the carpet issue that they left that way but I told them I would clean everything.
In September of 2016 I became pregnant with twins. My landlord was made fully aware of this fact. It was and is still extremely difficult to do much of anything since my pregnancy is a high risk and I am not allowed to lift anything at all. My daughter and I both started getting very sick more often living in that apartment. Angela had moments of not being able to stop sneezing. I had issues with allergies, intense stomach pain, sinus issues, and once I even fell and sprained my ankle in a hole in the yard made by something like a mole or a gopher. I have talked to many people in the construction business who informed me that once the mold was allowed to get into the carpet by the landlords lack of response to the carpet stains, it would spread like wild fire. However we had nowhere else to go since my grandmother moved to California to be with my sister.
The day that we packed all of my things and left was January 31st, 2017. My boyfriend did nearly all of it alone because he knew I was unable to lift anything at all. I went in to clean after he and my soon to be roommate finished packing everything into a moving truck. I cleaned every single surface of the apartment including the blinds with my two best friends. I then took pictures of exactly what condition the apartment was left in. The blinds were perfect, the home was clean and vacuumed, and there was nothing wrong with the apartment besides the defects that were caused by the landlord's maintenance men. All of these things would have been easily fixed with a layer of paint. The damage in question was on the bathroom wall near the tile they replaced in the shower, the obvious patches from someone having ripped out the towel rack at least 3 times, and the paint being messed up on the frame of my daughter's bedroom door.
I received a letter on March 3rd, 2017 via certified mail stating that not only were they keeping my security deposit, they were charging me extra money. The things on this "invoice" were all things that were completely and totally false. I took pictures of the blinds as I left the home and they were perfect, they said that they had to replace them. They are charging me for cleaning the carpet throughout the rest of the home besides the one room that they had to have done but the water damage that would have occurred from them refusing to clean the carpet in a timely manner was not caused by me. They said that they had to have the home cleaned again and charged me separately for the cleaning supplies. I have witnesses AND pictures showing that no such thing was necessary. They also charged me for one bucket of paint and for the entire home to be repainted when the entire home was not messed up in any way. The witnesses and pictures can attest to that as well. I honestly feel like I am being unfairly treated and being retaliated against because I went to the county to make them responsible for their lack of action. What in the world would make a landlord wait 57 days to replace a bathtub when they know I have a school age daughter? Their response telling me to go to my grandmother's house to bathe was unacceptable and how I was thusly treated was absolutely ridiculous. I had to use FOUR different people's homes for bathing myself and my child along with having to go to the Franklin Locks. I did nothing but fight for my right to have a working bathtub in my home and was made sick, lied about, lied to, and nearly kicked out of my home. My daughter and I don't deserve to suffer for their lack of action.
We are really victims of this loop hole in the law. We have been renting a unit from IH in Palm Beach County, FL and we had water contamination and lead in the water. We could not bathe, drink or use the water. We spent money on tests since IH would do nothing to resolve the problem. We reported them to Code Enforcement and the FL Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs and we had limited relief. We had very high medical bills and really suffered and continue to suffer. Then suddenly, in 2.2017, we got a notice of non-renewal of our lease. We now have to move with great hardship to our family. This is classic retaliatory non-renewal of lease but since FL has this loop hole in the law, errand landlords take advantage of it. We are really having a lot of problems and so are others who are subjected to this dehumanizing law. FL law makers need to take a good look at amending the landlord tenant statute to prevent these arbitrary non-renewal of leases. We fully support the petition to amend the landlord-tenant statute-chapter 83. Please help tenants have some stability in their lives.
I am an Afro-American female tenant with a disabled husband who was unfairly non-renewed earlier this year. In July 2019, my landlord's management company gave me a lease, but then at the end of the month, I got a Notice of Non-Renewal. The Landlord/Management Company claimed that the HOA denied my right to stay. My entire lease was basically unfairly rescinded for no cause. There needs to be laws to protect folks like us. I had to go without housing since I moved out and could not find affordable housing within 30 days. My family and I went through immense hardship during this difficult time. The laws need to be amended to prevent landlords and the HOAs from arbitrarily non-renewing leases.
Hurricane Non Renewal We were non-renewed and had no place to go after Hurricane Ian. The Landlord and their Attorney were totally cruel.. all because we complained about their not taking care of the hurricane repairs. We were summarily given only a month to move. There need be changes to the laws. Please advocate for it. Hurricane Victim Tenants.
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I am a law abiding tenant who pays my rent on time and have even acquiesced to pay my rent in cash at the behest of my property manager. Not only is this a hassle and a security risk (carrying so much cash on person), it is unwarranted as I have offered to allow my landlord to run my credit and other means of acceptable tender such as money orders. The property manager at my location has on a weekly basis lodged verbal complaints to me about issues that are not in anyway a violation of my lease or any local ordinance, making my experience living there hostile and stressful. I was recently informed that she "will accept payment for the remainder of the lease in the form of a money order or bank check", although she would not agree to that previously and has treated me in a very hostile and unwelcome way since day one. I am not the only one in the building who has experienced this treatment. At any point in time since I've lived there, there has only been 1/2 to 2/3 of the building occupied. She kicked neighbors out down the hall after only a few months. She refused to renew the lease on two more of my neighbors who are also quiet, on-time rent paying individuals, again with no explanation. The financial impacts of this issue are another reason for concern. Not only do I have to outlay another large sum of money within one year (between $1000-$2000) in deposits some of which is not refundable, there are also moving expenses. I am a middle-income, single wage earner, current on my bills, but this will definitely put me behind financially and if I have the same misfortune dealing with other property managers and landlords in the near future, I will continue to become more and more indebted trying to pay deposits. The current laws do not protect people from illegitimate dismissal from their dwellings and causes financial jeopardy for honest, hardworking people and is even more detrimental to people who are in far worse financial situations than me. This impacts my ability to pay for school, insurance, and other necessities and impairs my ability to be a contributing economic contributor for the slow economy. Remember, the buying power of the middle class is what makes or breaks the economy. There is no recourse for me as a consumer from this damage, no one to hold accountable and only the landlord benefits from receiving thousands of dollars in what will likely be unrefundable fees that they charge when they replace tenants in this revolving-door fashion. ($300 per pet for instance) How's that for "quiet/peaceful enjoyment" and "reasonable access"? This appears only to apply to the landlord, not those consumers who rent.
ReplyDeleteAgree
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ReplyDeleteI was a naïve first time renter when I first came to need my own apartment in January 2016. I knew a bit about the bad things I had heard about Gulf River Realty, but I also knew that they were the only property management company trying to help me find a place. Most places were either gone too quickly or very wishy washy. I needed an apartment quickly for my daughter and myself.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first looked at this apartment it was filthy. The floors were sticky and had dead bugs on them. Deborah Sebastian (the person in charge of rentals at Gulf River Realty) assured me that this happens from time to time AFTER a tenant has left and the place has been cleaned. We made it to the bathroom where there was apparent weirdness with the structure of the tub around the drain. It looked like rusty metal bubbles. She assured me that there was no need to worry and that they would be replacing this tub within a month or two. Little did she know, I purposely had someone on my cell phone listening to our conversation; while I was naïve in the ways of rentals and landlords, I was not stupid.
I signed all the paperwork for this apartment and was moved in shortly after the inspection of the home with verbal and witnessed promises by Deborah. The "copy" of the lease that she gave me was unsigned without provisions for the "replacement" in the paperwork. She advised me that to get the signed copy or any further copies of the lease, it would be $30.
I have no less than 5 witnesses to comment on how gross the apartment was left, though I did not know to get pictures due to my naivety. They all helped me to move into the apartment. I had discussed with Deborah the fact that I would want Shane Ciolino, my boyfriend of two years, to move in when he was ready. She assured me that this would not be a problem. When Shane became ready, he signed all of the necessary paperwork and then moved his things into the house. We had broken up by March 28th and he left without incident.
During his stay at my apartment, Shane was helping me find all of the things that I needed to have fixed with the apartment. There was a short in the oven, there were multiple issues with non-working outlets, the chain on the door was broken, the light above the stove on the ceiling would not turn on at all, there were multiple out of code non-GFCI outlets that needed to be replaced with GFCI outlets, there was apparent advanced molding in the grout of the shower tiles, my daughter's bedroom door would not close at all, and tub still had not been fixed. There were other minor things that were apparent like someone had broken and put back together the toilet paper roll holder and the towel rack had been ripped out of the wall at least 3 times. Both of these were terribly patched. I advised Deborah of the major things wrong with the apartment that needed immediate attention via text message. She did not answer me. I decided to go up to the office a block from my apartment to let her know in person. She proceeded to yell at me and make me cry for coming to see her at the office because she did not want anyone who rented from them coming to the office for any reason at all. Then she showed up at my home with who I later found out is possibly her son, who was not a maintenance man, to inspect the things I told her about shortly after she yelled at me. While I was still upset, she asked if she could come in and I told her no. My reason: because she just yelled at me and I did not want someone who disrespected me in my home. I told her this. Her son was very nice, but immediately turned off my internet upon checking one of the outlets. This internet was my source of income, I work online doing tech support as Deborah well knows. When he did that, he messed up my internet and almost made it impossible for me to work later that day. I got very upset and asked him to get out. Now I was very upset. This was the ONLY time I denied anyone entrance into my home because they were extremely rude to me.
The maintenance man who showed up a few days later was very nice, personable, and professional. He fixed everything in the apartment except the mold in the grout and the tub. He told me that it would take a few days to fix some of it, but it did all get done. He made a bit of damage on my daughter's door frame to the paint because he was hitting the doorframe with a hammer so that he could get the door to close, but otherwise all his repairs were sound. He also advised me that he was not allowed to fix the tub per Deborah and Nazeem. He stated that they would likely get an outside contractor to do this because they had to have certain credentials and maybe even a permit as they had to mess with the plumbing to install this bathtub. I told him that I understood and thanked him for helping me. Soon after my interaction with him, they fired him but I am unaware as to why. These incidents happened back in February of 2016 and are just a look into the kind of landlord with whom I was dealing. My landlord and their maintenance men made no further attempt to do any kind of repairs or replacing of the bathtub since then.
DeleteOn June 14th, 2016 the tub had finally rusted through the bubbling near the tub drain. I immediately texted Deborah to let her know that it was leaking water into my daughter's carpet through the wall it shared with the tub. I later found out that it also leaked into the neighbor's apartment. She advised me that I should turn my water off to prevent further leaking. I advised her that the leak was not coming from the pipes but from the weird patch in the tub. She told me that they would come either the 15th or the 16th to inspect it. She had even told me through text that he was on his way on the 15th and later telling me that he wasn't. I also sent them a letter in the mail about what repairs needed to be done. I was told verbally to call the maintenance man and set up a time with him. When I called this man the first time, I called with a witness and he advised that he would be out that same day. When I called the man again I three way called him to have a witness again. He proceeded to yell at me and berate me both times I spoke to him stating that he never said that he was coming and would call me when he was on his way to my home because they had him scheduled for other homes in Lehigh and Naples. I had also received an email from my landlord on June 21st, 2016 stating that they had ordered a bathtub and it would likely be installed by the next Saturday. They made no indication at all that they would soon be trying to void my lease and kick me out to do the replacement nor that I had in fact done anything wrong. I was just trying to get my tub replaced so that I could bathe my 8 year old daughter for school.
Shortly after this altercation with the second maintenance man, I began to look into my options. My father was a plumber in Florida for many years. After taking one look at the bubbling on the tub he said that this seal was not up to code and was in fact illegal due to what this older tub was made out of. He informed me that I should go to code enforcement and Florida Rural Legal Services. On June 22nd, 2016 code enforcement came to my apartment and agreed that this was a code violation. The violation is listed as: VIO2016-09407 on the website for Lee County. He advised me that I should get with FRLS or another lawyer, like Sam Saad, to back me up because nearly every instance where he has had to hang a violation up on a landlord has ended in retaliation of some sort. On this same day, FRLS advised me Florida state laws that allowed me to withhold my rent legally if I gave a letter of intention at least 7 days before the rent was due for the purposes of repair. I took the letter to them myself along with a copy of the law that told them I was legally allowed to do so. The next day I emailed them telling them that there was mold and that I had in fact gone to code enforcement about the issue because they just were not getting things done. On June 30th, 2016 I asked in email if it was safe to assume that they were not coming to fix the bathtub because they had not contacted me at all. Deborah's reply was that they had not yet received the bathtub.
DeleteI withheld my rent and per the court house, I actually did not need to create an escrow account to hold the money as long as I could prove that I had the money set aside for the purpose of paying my rent. I did indeed hold the money. Shortly after this on July 10th, 2016, I received a 3 day eviction notice on my door from Gulf River Realty. I was absolutely shocked. I contacted WINK news the very next day. They were very interested in my story and did eventually shoot it though they did not air it. On July 14th, 2016 I received a 7 day eviction notice on my door from my landlord that stated that they were terminating my lease because they felt that the apartment was unsafe. They also attached a piece of paper stating that I agreed to vacate the property entirely if they deemed it necessary for repair. This paper they said was from my lease but was not in fact even in the copy they gave me, again the only copy I had was an unsigned copy, but it also had a signature on it that is not mine. It is a very similar likeness, but it is not my signature.
On July 18th, 2016 I turned all of my evidence over to Sam Saad because he advised that what Gulf River Realty was doing to me was inherently illegal and he would be sending them a letter to cease retaliatory actions against me for making them fix the bathtub. He sent Gulf River Realty a letter advising them of this on July 21st, 2016.
DeleteThey responded in a letter on August 6th, 2016. They began by making completely false accusations that I declined a patch in the tub so they took longer to request a new bathtub. I have proof of all of our communications and I obviously did no such thing. She also made entirely false accusations that I prevented multiple maintenance men from coming into the home when the only time I ever declined someone in my home was the day she screamed at me. They only had one maintenance man at the time and I was on good terms with that man. Any time I had an issue, he told me to call him first and not them because of how they worked to do everything as cheaply as possible. She also said that I had moved my boyfriend Shane into the apartment when he was unauthorized. I do not have the copies of the paperwork that he signed, but I was there when he signed them and he would also attest that what she says is completely false. She advised that I had been unresponsive to their requests to make any payments at all. They made no such attempts, again I have proof to show this. She advised that I would have to have my rent in by August 10th, 2016 so as not to incur any eviction action against me. I turned in my cashier's check on that day and have all copies of my checks that were sent to them for rent up until the leak in the tub and after the cashier's check. My grandmother used to write my checks for me until I finally got a checkbook for my checking account.
When the repairs were completed, Nazeem and Deborah were both allowed into my home to inspect the work. Only the bottom half of the tile on the wall in the shower was replaced, all the mold was left in the walls, and there were stains all over the carpet in my daughter's room from the water coming through the wall. I have pictures to prove this. Nazeem advised, again with a witness on the phone, that he would shortly have someone come over to clean the carpet due to the water damage. He never sent anyone to my home or even attempted to contact me about having the carpet cleaned at all.
DeleteThe rest of my time at that apartment went without incident for the most part. I had lots of visitors because I didn't feel safe there alone. Deborah had told me that I could not have another roommate without paying her $100 more a month, so I didn't get one, just visitors. Once I did get a visit from Nazeem who asked me to move our vehicles or they would be towed and I complied immediately. In December, I received a notice of non-renewal with no reason for them making me leave. Making all my bills on my own was nigh on impossible let alone coming up with first, last, and security for a new place on top of all the deposits for electricity, my work internet, and water. I sent them a letter that I intended to leave without incident and would ensure that my apartment was in fact cleaner than they provided it to me. I informed them of the carpet issue that they left that way but I told them I would clean everything.
In September of 2016 I became pregnant with twins. My landlord was made fully aware of this fact. It was and is still extremely difficult to do much of anything since my pregnancy is a high risk and I am not allowed to lift anything at all. My daughter and I both started getting very sick more often living in that apartment. Angela had moments of not being able to stop sneezing. I had issues with allergies, intense stomach pain, sinus issues, and once I even fell and sprained my ankle in a hole in the yard made by something like a mole or a gopher. I have talked to many people in the construction business who informed me that once the mold was allowed to get into the carpet by the landlords lack of response to the carpet stains, it would spread like wild fire. However we had nowhere else to go since my grandmother moved to California to be with my sister.
DeleteThe day that we packed all of my things and left was January 31st, 2017. My boyfriend did nearly all of it alone because he knew I was unable to lift anything at all. I went in to clean after he and my soon to be roommate finished packing everything into a moving truck. I cleaned every single surface of the apartment including the blinds with my two best friends. I then took pictures of exactly what condition the apartment was left in. The blinds were perfect, the home was clean and vacuumed, and there was nothing wrong with the apartment besides the defects that were caused by the landlord's maintenance men. All of these things would have been easily fixed with a layer of paint. The damage in question was on the bathroom wall near the tile they replaced in the shower, the obvious patches from someone having ripped out the towel rack at least 3 times, and the paint being messed up on the frame of my daughter's bedroom door.
I received a letter on March 3rd, 2017 via certified mail stating that not only were they keeping my security deposit, they were charging me extra money. The things on this "invoice" were all things that were completely and totally false. I took pictures of the blinds as I left the home and they were perfect, they said that they had to replace them. They are charging me for cleaning the carpet throughout the rest of the home besides the one room that they had to have done but the water damage that would have occurred from them refusing to clean the carpet in a timely manner was not caused by me. They said that they had to have the home cleaned again and charged me separately for the cleaning supplies. I have witnesses AND pictures showing that no such thing was necessary. They also charged me for one bucket of paint and for the entire home to be repainted when the entire home was not messed up in any way. The witnesses and pictures can attest to that as well. I honestly feel like I am being unfairly treated and being retaliated against because I went to the county to make them responsible for their lack of action. What in the world would make a landlord wait 57 days to replace a bathtub when they know I have a school age daughter? Their response telling me to go to my grandmother's house to bathe was unacceptable and how I was thusly treated was absolutely ridiculous. I had to use FOUR different people's homes for bathing myself and my child along with having to go to the Franklin Locks. I did nothing but fight for my right to have a working bathtub in my home and was made sick, lied about, lied to, and nearly kicked out of my home. My daughter and I don't deserve to suffer for their lack of action.
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ReplyDeleteWe are really victims of this loop hole in the law. We have been renting a unit from IH in Palm Beach County, FL and we had water contamination and lead in the water. We could not bathe, drink or use the water. We spent money on tests since IH would do nothing to resolve the problem. We reported them to Code Enforcement and the FL Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs and we had limited relief. We had very high medical bills and really suffered and continue to suffer. Then suddenly, in 2.2017, we got a notice of non-renewal of our lease. We now have to move with great hardship to our family. This is classic retaliatory non-renewal of lease but since FL has this loop hole in the law, errand landlords take advantage of it. We are really having a lot of problems and so are others who are subjected to this dehumanizing law. FL law makers need to take a good look at amending the landlord tenant statute to prevent these arbitrary non-renewal of leases. We fully support the petition to amend the landlord-tenant statute-chapter 83. Please help tenants have some stability in their lives.
DeleteI am an Afro-American female tenant with a disabled husband who was unfairly non-renewed earlier this year. In July 2019, my landlord's management company gave me a lease, but then at the end of the month, I got a Notice of Non-Renewal. The Landlord/Management Company claimed that the HOA denied my right to stay. My entire lease was basically unfairly rescinded for no cause. There needs to be laws to protect folks like us. I had to go without housing since I moved out and could not find affordable housing within 30 days. My family and I went through immense hardship during this difficult time. The laws need to be amended to prevent landlords and the HOAs from arbitrarily non-renewing leases.
ReplyDeleteHurricane Non Renewal We were non-renewed and had no place to go after Hurricane Ian. The Landlord and their Attorney were totally cruel.. all because we complained about their not taking care of the hurricane repairs. We were summarily given only a month to move. There need be changes to the laws. Please advocate for it. Hurricane Victim Tenants.
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