Multiple residents need advice

lessie129 · Oct 30, 2005

I have been living in the same complex for about 4 years. Around three years ago they put in a dog park for the residents. Since that time the park has been neglected by the office and now has very little grass. Because it hasn't been taken care of in such a long time there is pretty much no top soil left for anything to grow. The park is either a dust bowl (to the point where when you pet your dog you can actually see a cloud of dust fly off), or a mud pit. They also have a poop bag dispenser and trash can in there. When we run out of bags we have to go to the office and ask for them. You'd think we were asking them for their first born. Because of their disreguard for the place, the residents have volenteered to take care of refilling the bags and emptying the trash if they would give us the supplies. It has been so bad for so long the residents got together to sign a petition to do something about the grass. We were open to any ideas as to what, if not grass, could be put down covering the dirt. We also stated we were willing to help out with not only the labor, but also with the cost. Our petition was ignored. Occasionally, they will throw down grass seed and losen the ground, but that doesn't really do anything because of the lack of top soil. This past summer they closed the park for at least a month to grow grass, but because they tried the same thing again, it didn't really work and we didn't get to use the dog park for that period of time. After it was open for a little while we had a tornado that knoked a tree into the fence, crushing it. Again they closed the park until they felt like fixing it. After being told one week and then two weeks it would be open we were frusterated, but still waited. After a month, the residents again approached them and asked what needed to be done (which was only fixing the bent side of the fence-- maybe 20 min of labor) because we were going to do it for them and get the place opened. They gave us this lame excuse that they were so busy with move-ins they didn't have the labor. We again said that WE were the labor. We were told we could not do it because it needed to be up to code. It's been here for 3 years and was up to code then, the only thing wrong with it was the bent side, at that point, so if it was up to code before and we restored it to that condition then it would be up to code again. We waited a few days and they had shown no attempt to even go near the park. The regional office was then contacted and the park was repaired the next day. We have been going through this for years and finally decided to care for the park ourselves. We have been watering the lawn (or dirt), picking up leftover poop, putting out water bowls, and picking up trash that some creeps leave behind, and spraying for fleas. After all of this you can see they showed no concern for the conditions in there so we all chipped in and decided what we could put down. We decided on hay- it's cheap, covers a lot, the dogs would not be affected, and after winter the snow will melt down putting nutrients into the soil. The first time nothing was said, it was during office hours and everyone saw us doing it, but nothing was said. the second day we were unloading it when maintenance said no. We explained our reasoning and the fact that we were helping them by caring for the park. The maintenance said fine, but when it killed the grass (which doesn't exist) we would have to pay for it. We told him that we had no problem with that. About a half hour later, after we were done spreading it, he returned to chain up the fence. We again went through the thought behind our idea and they should be grateful. They replied that the hay prevented them from caring for the park and he needed to lock it up now so he could clean it up to allow him to seed and spray in there. After as long as it had been since they even looked in the general direction of the park it is amazing that it happened to be that particular day they were going to do something- not to mention it was late afternoon and they would be off in a couple of hours anyways. I was contacted about how they could be liable for a law suit from the hay, if someone were to trip on it and hurt themselves. Again, they should be thanking us because I can name over 10 people who had fallen in the holes or tripped over the exposed roots of the tree in there. Those areas were where we put down the thickest layers of hay to even the ground out. Even though it was only like that for a couple of days it was working well. The residents are tired or having to go to extremes every time we need to get something done in there and then having the park closed for much longer than it would take if they actually entered the park and did it. It would also not have to be closed so often if they would fix the problems right in the first place. Based on all of this we felt not only that hay was a great solution but also if we wanted something fixed right we'd have to do it ourselves, our money, our labor. Apparently that was not the case. So, to make an extremely long story short, we would like to know what we could do legally to resolve this situation once and for all. The absolute only reason we signed a lease here is because of the dog park but it's condition stops many from using it, when it is open. Those of us that do go anyways have to deal with dogs you either can't pet without actually seeing a cloud of dust come off of them or dogs that are covered in mud—not to mention the fact that you are too. You just can't bathe a dog every day. And last, they now have decided the park could only be open from dawn to dusk. We work and don't get home until after that time, again keeping us from using it. They are aware the dog park is why we are here. They have made empty promises about fixing the place during lease renewal time. It may have taken a long time, but we finally caught on. After all, if you can't use the dog park then why have one? And if that were the case I can guarentee we would not be living here. When we signed our leases we did so under the impression that we would be able to use the park. We pay rent and expect to be able to use the facilities we signed a lease for. What can we do? Can we break a lease because of this?
Also, a short question... In the lease it says if you organize a group of more than 5 to go in and complain, everyone can get evicted. Is that legal?

charlesesq · Nov 18, 2005

lessie129 said:
I have been living in the same complex for about 4 years. Around three years ago they put in a dog park for the residents. Since that time the park has been neglected by the office and now has very little grass. Because it hasn't been taken care of in such a long time there is pretty much no top soil left for anything to grow. The park is either a dust bowl (to the point where when you pet your dog you can actually see a cloud of dust fly off), or a mud pit. They also have a poop bag dispenser and trash can in there. When we run out of bags we have to go to the office and ask for them. You'd think we were asking them for their first born. Because of their disreguard for the place, the residents have volenteered to take care of refilling the bags and emptying the trash if they would give us the supplies. It has been so bad for so long the residents got together to sign a petition to do something about the grass. We were open to any ideas as to what, if not grass, could be put down covering the dirt. We also stated we were willing to help out with not only the labor, but also with the cost. Our petition was ignored. Occasionally, they will throw down grass seed and losen the ground, but that doesn't really do anything because of the lack of top soil. This past summer they closed the park for at least a month to grow grass, but because they tried the same thing again, it didn't really work and we didn't get to use the dog park for that period of time. After it was open for a little while we had a tornado that knoked a tree into the fence, crushing it. Again they closed the park until they felt like fixing it. After being told one week and then two weeks it would be open we were frusterated, but still waited. After a month, the residents again approached them and asked what needed to be done (which was only fixing the bent side of the fence-- maybe 20 min of labor) because we were going to do it for them and get the place opened. They gave us this lame excuse that they were so busy with move-ins they didn't have the labor. We again said that WE were the labor. We were told we could not do it because it needed to be up to code. It's been here for 3 years and was up to code then, the only thing wrong with it was the bent side, at that point, so if it was up to code before and we restored it to that condition then it would be up to code again. We waited a few days and they had shown no attempt to even go near the park. The regional office was then contacted and the park was repaired the next day. We have been going through this for years and finally decided to care for the park ourselves. We have been watering the lawn (or dirt), picking up leftover poop, putting out water bowls, and picking up trash that some creeps leave behind, and spraying for fleas. After all of this you can see they showed no concern for the conditions in there so we all chipped in and decided what we could put down. We decided on hay- it's cheap, covers a lot, the dogs would not be affected, and after winter the snow will melt down putting nutrients into the soil. The first time nothing was said, it was during office hours and everyone saw us doing it, but nothing was said. the second day we were unloading it when maintenance said no. We explained our reasoning and the fact that we were helping them by caring for the park. The maintenance said fine, but when it killed the grass (which doesn't exist) we would have to pay for it. We told him that we had no problem with that. About a half hour later, after we were done spreading it, he returned to chain up the fence. We again went through the thought behind our idea and they should be grateful. They replied that the hay prevented them from caring for the park and he needed to lock it up now so he could clean it up to allow him to seed and spray in there. After as long as it had been since they even looked in the general direction of the park it is amazing that it happened to be that particular day they were going to do something- not to mention it was late afternoon and they would be off in a couple of hours anyways. I was contacted about how they could be liable for a law suit from the hay, if someone were to trip on it and hurt themselves. Again, they should be thanking us because I can name over 10 people who had fallen in the holes or tripped over the exposed roots of the tree in there. Those areas were where we put down the thickest layers of hay to even the ground out. Even though it was only like that for a couple of days it was working well. The residents are tired or having to go to extremes every time we need to get something done in there and then having the park closed for much longer than it would take if they actually entered the park and did it. It would also not have to be closed so often if they would fix the problems right in the first place. Based on all of this we felt not only that hay was a great solution but also if we wanted something fixed right we'd have to do it ourselves, our money, our labor. Apparently that was not the case. So, to make an extremely long story short, we would like to know what we could do legally to resolve this situation once and for all. The absolute only reason we signed a lease here is because of the dog park but it's condition stops many from using it, when it is open. Those of us that do go anyways have to deal with dogs you either can't pet without actually seeing a cloud of dust come off of them or dogs that are covered in mud—not to mention the fact that you are too. You just can't bathe a dog every day. And last, they now have decided the park could only be open from dawn to dusk. We work and don't get home until after that time, again keeping us from using it. They are aware the dog park is why we are here. They have made empty promises about fixing the place during lease renewal time. It may have taken a long time, but we finally caught on. After all, if you can't use the dog park then why have one? And if that were the case I can guarentee we would not be living here. When we signed our leases we did so under the impression that we would be able to use the park. We pay rent and expect to be able to use the facilities we signed a lease for. What can we do? Can we break a lease because of this?
Also, a short question... In the lease it says if you organize a group of more than 5 to go in and complain, everyone can get evicted. Is that legal?

Is there anything in the lease that speaks to the dog park? I doubt you could just break the lease because of the lack of care in maintaining the facilities but you might withhold a small portion of the rent as a result of losing that facility, perhaps 10-15% maximum I would think.

I don't know what the provision regarding the complaint is and it doesn't sound right that if 5 people complain about the same problem then they all will get evicted. They also wouldn't take that to court since technically they may have breached their own lease.

Perhaps the best solution here is to leave at the end of your lease term but withhold rent in the meanwhile. You should send written notice to the landlord before you decide to do so and see if it prompts action. Try to send the notice via a certified method.

Multiple residents need advice

lessie129

New Member

charlesesq

New Member

Share this page