Last year, a pipe broke in between the apartment above me and my apartment, flooding our kitchen, living room, dining room and bathroom from the ceiling down. This dirty water ruined everything in our cabinets, made our ceilings moldy, and our paint peel in all the rooms. When I wrote letters via certified mail requesting for them to fix this issue, they returned the letters unopened. It took more than two months for the property management to make repairs after I reported the issue to the Health Department. They didn't even reimburse me for the damaged property.
My front door is a sliding glass door and the main source of natural light in the primary living space. The locks have been broken since January, and after pleading once again with the management company to fix them (it is now July), they decided to replace the sliding glass door with a WINDOWLESS WALL. I came home from work to discover that now my apartment is dark 24 hours a day. I am unable to tell what time of day it is when inside my apartment.
My roommate and I are exhausted by the entire situation and have put in our 30-day notice and found a new apartment. Now, they refuse to submit the rental verification required to rent the new apartment. It has been three days and they have hung up on us twice and are no longer accepting our calls. This is a basic two minute phone call and they tell us they are ""too busy."" Meanwhile, my new apartment may be jeopardized.
Landmark Management should not be allowed to stampede on their tenant's rights. These bullies should not be in business.
UPDATE: On December 2nd, we took GNM, LP to small claims court won the full amount requested (security deposit, rent from when they destroyed our apartment to when we moved out, and a month for the inconvenience and bullying) out of default, although I am certain we would have won even if they showed up. I encourage everyone to take GNM to small claims court if they refuse to return your security deposit. When serving the summons, note that the drop box refuses all certified mail, but if you go to the sheriff's department, a sheriff will serve the papers for $30 and give you a legal receipt of delivery.
SECOND UPDATE: Despite a successful day in court and two winning appeals, we still haven't received our money. We are now taking GNM, LP back to court (funny - on December 2nd, 2011 - exactly a year from our original court date) for a judgment debtor's Statement of Assets (i.e. they tell us how much money they have and where they keep it so that we can send a sheriff to collect /garnish their wages/put a lien on their property/have a warrant issued for their arrest). I recently saw a Craigslist ad for a studio at 5130 Woodman asking for a deposit about three times the rent. It's pretty awful what they get away with. Please note my pictures above.
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