27. Four Months Rent Free
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Year 5 Townhouse (yeah, 5-year plan….) our lease start on July 1st, but both my roomie and I had internships and couldn’t get there until around Labor Day. I drove to the apt. to drop off a load of my stuff for the year and pick up the keys.
I sign for the keys and go on my way, within 10 seconds of walking into the apartment, an overwhelming stink overwhelms my nose. Someone had closed up the fridge, then unplugged it, and the mold was out of control.
I call them and explain what’s going on, and they tell me that is my problem since I didn’t report it within 48 hours of July 1st (lease start date). I kindly reminded them I picked up the keys 15 minutes ago and had not been there – no luck from them.
15 minutes on Google leads me to the State Health Dept (which my mother works for) requirements for apartments …. there is a blurb that said something along the lines of, ‘If mold is found in X unit, all adjoining units must be tested and be giving full remediation.’
I called one more time and said I need a new fridge or could clean it myself but would be withholding the portion of rent for my time and cleaning materials….I was denied. I copied all the managers at XYZ Property Management and my mother/her boss who had health dept .gov email addresses; basics of the email was what I found, photos, and a snapshot of the state statute I mentioned.
Within 60 seconds of the email going out, I had a call from XYZ, an angry call. We ended up not having to pay rent for the July, August, Sept, and October.
