I have a problem with my current residence. Let me start at the beginning. I live in Iowa with my girlfriend and new baby daughter. I was looking for a place to live, the old apartment was too small for my daughter to play in, she was starting to crawl and I was looking for a place with hardwood floors. I found this place where I currently live and took a tour. The place was great, freshly painted and newly refinished hardwood floors, garbage disposal, and extra room for an office. It is a three level house, split into three apartments each with separate entrances. I talked to the landlord after finding the listing on Creg's list. She lives in California and has her brother in law living downstairs as super. She said he handles lawn care and repairs and we wouldn't have to worry about it.
I was giddy, thinking I had found the place to let the daughter learn to run and play in. Then the issues started. I took possession of the property and within a week the kitchen sink had clogged. I called the super and he sent a plumber who told us that quick dry concrete was poured down the sink and ruined the garbage disposal. He fixed the clog, removed the disposal and went on his way. I called the landlord in California about the garbage disposal, asked her if I would be getting another as I had rented a place with a garbage disposal (the super had even made it a selling point when showing us the place). She said no, and that I shouldn't have had one in the first place. This didn't make me very happy, but before I could pursue the issue with her, my toilet burst.
The apartment sat empty for about a year (I was told this after taking possession), no water being run through the pipes (I learn all this after the fact) causing the toilet to break once water pressure was restored. To the super's credit it was fixed quickly, replacing the original beautiful antique toilet with the super-budget cheapo and when it broke it ruined all our bathroom stuff, about $150 lost all total. The super says I am SOL about the loss, even though I have been here less then a week and rented a place advertised as 'newly remodeled' to me the implication in that statement is everything working and checked out. She claims 'act of god' and refuses to discuss the matter. So now total I am out a garbage disposal, and there is an off color spot where the toilet does not match the wall and the super laughed at me when I asked if he would paint it.
All this time I am noticing that periodically through out the day my water pressure is falling off to a slow trickle - sometimes stopping all together. I ask the super, he babbles something about needing a new water pump. I ask him when I can expect clean water on demand and he will not give me a straight answer. At this point I am becoming suspicious that I maybe involved with slumlords of a clichéd degree. I call the landlord in California with no answer, leave messages with no answer. Suddenly I can't talk to her, only to the incompetent brother. I can't shower most days before work, I can't get fresh water for my daughter or clean my kitchen when I have the time to do so. My apartment is getting filthy because I am busy, and the hour I have a day after my daughter goes to sleep that I have for housework I cannot clean because of having no water pressure. So now I have no water, no disposal, and ruined bath stuff in a bathroom that appearance is now changed from 30's vintage to Wal-Mart bathroom. Even though the super is to care for the lawn, it is about a foot long. I ask him about it and he blinks and says he has to buy a lawn mower as his non answer. This is all in the first month and a half.
Then the real fun started to happen. I noticed a drip in the master bedroom by the ceiling fan, starting as a small leak dripping from the ceiling, a couple drops, that's all. I live in the middle unit so I go to the guy upstairs' door his son answers and I ask about the water, the kid says he 'forgot to put down towels' brushes me off and the leak stops. I mention this to the super and get the usual dead eyed stare. Trying to call California everyday at this point, never getting a response. Then one dark night, I walk into my master bedroom hit the light switch and the ceiling fan light does not come on. The fan is running though, catching the water running from the ceiling like a faucet (well most faucets, not the ones in this apartment) and spraying it all over the room. I run out the back, to the door for the third floor. I pound on the door and asked the guy what the hell is going on. He responds with: the bucket must be overflowing. I would say that night 20 gallons of water came through the ceiling. My stuff is ruined.
The next day the super come in and I grill him. He tells me the whole story; that the guy upstairs likes to clog his sink, and that he doesn't care that it is clogged he just takes a bucket and lets it overflow into that. Problem being that a clogged drain line will leak. They knew about this guy's bucket and his clog and now it has overflowed into my apartment via soaking the sub floor between the third and second floors. I am furious, and tell the super to have it fixed right away. I try to call California, leave messages: usual non-response. Also at this time, I am noticing the new paint all around the apartment is starting to crack, and peel, and fall onto the floor to be scooped up by my daughter and eaten. Mind you I moved into this place so my daughter would have a safe place to grow and walk. For her formative pre one year months she is now confined to her crib, no crawling about exploring and learning to walk for her.
The super shows up with a contractor to asses the damage a few days later. The contractor looks to be off the street, is filthy, speaks no English and seems to spend more time looking at my few remaining nice things then he does about any water damage. He and the super talk a while and they leave. A week passes, the peeling gets worse by the day: it is now dropping off in chunks, my daughter spends all day in a box, I am noticing sagging in the ceiling and the occasional brown spot soaking though. The water probably soaked the whole sub floor between levels on its way into my bedroom. I notice bugs coming out of the ceiling in into the apartment. Little moisture loving gnats, you know the type. They are either spawning in the moist ceiling or from little dips of water that sometimes I find on the floors. This is June 1, 2008.
Since June 1 I have resolved to move. I wrote an email to the landlord in California telling her that I would be moving that I wouldn't be paying rent this month, that ill be out by the middle of the month and that she can use my deposit for the rent for now. I need the cash to move and cannot count on a getting a deposit back from these people. I am waiting for a callback from the city inspector's office; I am trying to get him out here to document everything. I've lived here for two and a half months and most my stuff is still in boxes. I want back the rent I paid. I need to know if there is any legal recourse available on grounds that I rented a place in a condition that was never delivered. The place was advertised as clean, newly remodeled, and during the walk through the super repeated as much. The lawn has not been cared for; I have to wade through knee high grass to get to my car. I was rented a hellhole that has by my records cost me in rent, lost wages from days I have to take off to deal with this, ruined stuff and moving expenses about $3,000. I live in Iowa and am unfamiliar about the legal procedure to go about basically suing this slumlord for these two and half months wasted. These are the best times with children, the first year and now that memory will be forever tainted by this slum I was tricked into. Please someone tell me how to make this situation right, legally.
I was giddy, thinking I had found the place to let the daughter learn to run and play in. Then the issues started. I took possession of the property and within a week the kitchen sink had clogged. I called the super and he sent a plumber who told us that quick dry concrete was poured down the sink and ruined the garbage disposal. He fixed the clog, removed the disposal and went on his way. I called the landlord in California about the garbage disposal, asked her if I would be getting another as I had rented a place with a garbage disposal (the super had even made it a selling point when showing us the place). She said no, and that I shouldn't have had one in the first place. This didn't make me very happy, but before I could pursue the issue with her, my toilet burst.
The apartment sat empty for about a year (I was told this after taking possession), no water being run through the pipes (I learn all this after the fact) causing the toilet to break once water pressure was restored. To the super's credit it was fixed quickly, replacing the original beautiful antique toilet with the super-budget cheapo and when it broke it ruined all our bathroom stuff, about $150 lost all total. The super says I am SOL about the loss, even though I have been here less then a week and rented a place advertised as 'newly remodeled' to me the implication in that statement is everything working and checked out. She claims 'act of god' and refuses to discuss the matter. So now total I am out a garbage disposal, and there is an off color spot where the toilet does not match the wall and the super laughed at me when I asked if he would paint it.
All this time I am noticing that periodically through out the day my water pressure is falling off to a slow trickle - sometimes stopping all together. I ask the super, he babbles something about needing a new water pump. I ask him when I can expect clean water on demand and he will not give me a straight answer. At this point I am becoming suspicious that I maybe involved with slumlords of a clichéd degree. I call the landlord in California with no answer, leave messages with no answer. Suddenly I can't talk to her, only to the incompetent brother. I can't shower most days before work, I can't get fresh water for my daughter or clean my kitchen when I have the time to do so. My apartment is getting filthy because I am busy, and the hour I have a day after my daughter goes to sleep that I have for housework I cannot clean because of having no water pressure. So now I have no water, no disposal, and ruined bath stuff in a bathroom that appearance is now changed from 30's vintage to Wal-Mart bathroom. Even though the super is to care for the lawn, it is about a foot long. I ask him about it and he blinks and says he has to buy a lawn mower as his non answer. This is all in the first month and a half.
Then the real fun started to happen. I noticed a drip in the master bedroom by the ceiling fan, starting as a small leak dripping from the ceiling, a couple drops, that's all. I live in the middle unit so I go to the guy upstairs' door his son answers and I ask about the water, the kid says he 'forgot to put down towels' brushes me off and the leak stops. I mention this to the super and get the usual dead eyed stare. Trying to call California everyday at this point, never getting a response. Then one dark night, I walk into my master bedroom hit the light switch and the ceiling fan light does not come on. The fan is running though, catching the water running from the ceiling like a faucet (well most faucets, not the ones in this apartment) and spraying it all over the room. I run out the back, to the door for the third floor. I pound on the door and asked the guy what the hell is going on. He responds with: the bucket must be overflowing. I would say that night 20 gallons of water came through the ceiling. My stuff is ruined.
The next day the super come in and I grill him. He tells me the whole story; that the guy upstairs likes to clog his sink, and that he doesn't care that it is clogged he just takes a bucket and lets it overflow into that. Problem being that a clogged drain line will leak. They knew about this guy's bucket and his clog and now it has overflowed into my apartment via soaking the sub floor between the third and second floors. I am furious, and tell the super to have it fixed right away. I try to call California, leave messages: usual non-response. Also at this time, I am noticing the new paint all around the apartment is starting to crack, and peel, and fall onto the floor to be scooped up by my daughter and eaten. Mind you I moved into this place so my daughter would have a safe place to grow and walk. For her formative pre one year months she is now confined to her crib, no crawling about exploring and learning to walk for her.
The super shows up with a contractor to asses the damage a few days later. The contractor looks to be off the street, is filthy, speaks no English and seems to spend more time looking at my few remaining nice things then he does about any water damage. He and the super talk a while and they leave. A week passes, the peeling gets worse by the day: it is now dropping off in chunks, my daughter spends all day in a box, I am noticing sagging in the ceiling and the occasional brown spot soaking though. The water probably soaked the whole sub floor between levels on its way into my bedroom. I notice bugs coming out of the ceiling in into the apartment. Little moisture loving gnats, you know the type. They are either spawning in the moist ceiling or from little dips of water that sometimes I find on the floors. This is June 1, 2008.
Since June 1 I have resolved to move. I wrote an email to the landlord in California telling her that I would be moving that I wouldn't be paying rent this month, that ill be out by the middle of the month and that she can use my deposit for the rent for now. I need the cash to move and cannot count on a getting a deposit back from these people. I am waiting for a callback from the city inspector's office; I am trying to get him out here to document everything. I've lived here for two and a half months and most my stuff is still in boxes. I want back the rent I paid. I need to know if there is any legal recourse available on grounds that I rented a place in a condition that was never delivered. The place was advertised as clean, newly remodeled, and during the walk through the super repeated as much. The lawn has not been cared for; I have to wade through knee high grass to get to my car. I was rented a hellhole that has by my records cost me in rent, lost wages from days I have to take off to deal with this, ruined stuff and moving expenses about $3,000. I live in Iowa and am unfamiliar about the legal procedure to go about basically suing this slumlord for these two and half months wasted. These are the best times with children, the first year and now that memory will be forever tainted by this slum I was tricked into. Please someone tell me how to make this situation right, legally.
