For the past two weeks I have turned in both written and verbal maintenance requests for two different problems. Problem 1: the kitchen sink will take 3 days for it to drain half a sinkfull of water, and even then, as one side drains, more comes back into the other side
Problem 2: Sometimes when it gets a little cool at night, I will turn the heat on until the apartment warms up, but in the morning I try to turn the AC back on, sometimes the heat will not kick off, even with the lever set for air and temperature lever turned lower than where heat was set at, it will still blow heat out, sometimes I will try to turn it completely off, same thing, it won't quit, and sometimes when it does decide to quit, water is squirting out of the white PVC drain pipe and going all over the kitchen floor. At first I had thought it was the sink leaking, but then I saw the water squirting from the AC drain. The maintenance supervisor, Mr. Bobby French has told me for the past two weeks he would fix these problems, but hasn't done so yet. Yesterday, they were supposed to do an inspection, so I left a letter on the refrigerator stating this problem and that they had not been addressed. I also stated at the end of the letter that if these problems were not fixed by Friday, June 9, 2006, I would get them fixed myself. Now, my lease states that if there's maintenance that needs to be done and they refuse, I can get the work done myself and have the cost taken out of the rent. How would I go about doing this legally? So far, they have not done the inspection nor have they seen the letter so I still have time to make a copy and get it notarized and signed by a lawyer, if need be.

I'm not a lawyer or legal guru of any kind... just a been there, done that kind of person.

1) Since they are being unresponsive, do you have "proof" that you requested maintenance repairs? Did they sign any request you gave them or can you submit the request online (and if so, did you print yourself a copy of the request)? If you have none of these things, I would send my request to them via certified mail, return receipt requested. This will work in your favor should you need to take them to court later (i.e. if they refuse to deduct the repair money from your rent). Of course, you could do another letter, hand deliver it to them and ask if they would sign it... but the way things are going, that's not likely.

2) Does your lease say how long they have to complete needed repairs? If so, in your letter, state that they have _____ amount of time to make the repairs and that, if they don't, you'll have someone else do the repair work and deduct the cost of the repairs from next month's rent.

3) Take pictures of the leak, water damage (if any), etc. Pictures are quite valuable should you need to go to court.

You might consider speaking with a legal services rep in your area since he or she can read your entire lease and tell you exactly what to do and in what order to do it. There will most likely be a small fee for a consultation.

My best advice is to follow your lease and document, document, document... have "proof" of request and of needed repairs.

If you finally get that @#$! Thing turned off, keep it on A/C and turn on your oven to get toasty (open the oven door), if needed (yes... been there, done that too). At least you can warm up and still use the A/C when needed :rolleyes:

The previous post offers great advice. In addition, I would advise you to get a copy of your state's Lanlord Tenant Act (if it has one). It should spell out the responsibilities of both landlord and tenant. It may well have $ limits on repairs that you can get done if the landlors fails to live up to his obligation. Good luck.