Modifying a Lease Our apartment looks like a 1980s slum alley

[Gilbert Neal]

Jurisdiction

North Carolina

Hello.

My housemate and I have some observations about the (for her and I) huge investment in our new apartment complex' version (2022) of apartment living.

We were shown the model, as the unit available was being "cleaned".
In the 3 days since she and I have moved in, we have noticed:


Dirty windows

An arbitrarily emptied doggie dumpster in front of our stairs

Front door Entry way chewed up by a dog, it seems.

Blinds on windows all mangled

Leaky toilets (fixed, but why were they? Did anyone do a QC?)

Cracked concrete all over the "deck"

No window in the living room

Small, almost inhuman bathrooms

Old and dirty appliances. A last-minute cleaning remedied much of this.


We saw the model and based our choice on that. This looks like an old, old, unkempt place, a sort of last resort for your company. Do we have recourse?

The thing we want most is a bright living room, but the second-most prescient want is the rent to remain the same. If these remedies are beyond the realm of the landlord/corporation, we would like to pursue something else. Keep in mind, we would have to move, yet again, under the best of circumstances.


But we are unhappy. This is a shabby unit, and no amount of flowery chicanery will change that. We are not students. We are professionals.

 

[Zigner]

You did not notice these things prior to accepting the specific unit?
Have you given your concerns to the LL in writing?
It's been 3 days and they've already been out to repair one of the two complaints that I feel they would have an actual obligation to correct (the toilet). The window should also be replaced promptly.

EDIT: By "no window in the living room", do you mean that there is an opening in the wall that is supposed to be a window but there is no window glass, or do you mean that there are only walls in the living room and no window. If it's the former, then you are right to expect the matter to be remedied promptly. If the latter, then you have nothing to complain about after move-in.

 

[army judge]

Do we have recourse?

I suggest you thoroughly read your copy of the lease you signed.

If any recourse exists, the lease is where it can be seen.

Your issue is you either failed to conduct a complete inspection of the premises PRIOR to signing the lease and moving into the unit, or somehow proceeded solely upon the lessor's representations.

Your buyer's remorse is understandable, however, a signed lease along with a less than thorough inspection; might be your undoing at your hands.

The possibility of a polite negotiation, despite the barriers I listed might sometimes be possible.

Make an appointment with the complex manager, explain your concerns, offer a compromise; you just might catch lightening in an empty bottle.

I wish you well.

 

[adjusterjack]

We saw the model and based our choice on that.

Big, big, big, big, big, big mistake.

You should have insisted on seing the actual apartment before signing and paying. Life lesson from the school of hard knocks.

This looks like an old, old, unkempt place, a sort of last resort for your company. Do we have recourse?

Probably not. your unhappiness is based largely on esthetics and not habitability issues.

We are professionals.

At what?

but the second-most prescient want

Prescient - having knowledge of things or events before they exist or happen; having foresight.

If you were prescient you would have foreseen the condition of the apartment before signing the lease and could have walked away.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

At what?

Gilbert Neal - Google Search

 

[adjusterjack]

Got it.

 

[army judge]

Got it.

Does youse really "got it"? LOL