<p>My daughter got a call today saying her apartment had unpaid charges on the account and that if she did not resolve it immediately, legal action would be taken against the lessees.</p>
<p>The unpaid charge is for a $75 dryer repair. The apartment called in for a repair on their dryer after it stopped working – a bird had flown into the dryer from the outside somehow. They called the day they figure out something way inside (noises, scratching, etc). The bird flew out on its own the next day into the apartment (that’s how we know it was a bird), then maintenance came in the following day since the dryer was still not working after the bird escaped.</p>
<p>The bill states “please find an enclosed bill of $75 for removing plastic rod on blower from dryer which we feel is your responsibility.”</p>
<p>The dryer is extremely old and we can’t find the make or model, so we have no way to tell what is supposed to be in the dryer and what isn’t. They did not actually send her the bill until today but have only given the apartment until the end of the business day to dispute it or they will have to pay the charge.</p>
<p>Any advice or tips are appreciated. No one really wants to spend the extra money and again, the only reason the repair was asked for in the first place was because of the bird. </p>
<p>Is saying “we will not pay because we are not responsible for a bird in the dryer” reason enough? We just want to successfully dispute the charge but it seems difficult without hard evidence, especially since the maintenance was not there when the bird was in the dryer, and are charging for something else.</p>
<p>They “feel” that it is your responsibility? The rental document should specify what exactly is considered the renter’s responsibility. A bird is an accident outside of the renter’s control. Even more so, the apartment management should be responsible to install proper covers on dryer vents etc. - thank god it was a bird and not a rat, rabid squirrel or a bat!</p>
<p>Put it in writing ( signed & registered delivery), that it wasnt their responsibility. Enclose a photo of the vent which should have had a guard on it to prevent that from happening.
Landlords responsibilty for upkeep.</p>
<p>@younghoss and others, I apologize this is about 3 months late, I meant to respond to this but we really got caught up at the end of the school year after I posted this. If anyone is still interested, daughter and her roommates went to the property management after posting to discuss, they were given an extension because they had no documentation of billing the apartment for any of the charges. </p>
<p>The residents wrote to management over the next two days with all the documentation they had - photos, video of the noises from before the incident took place, a statement from the dryer maker with explanation of parts in the dryer (plastic rods are generally used when dryers are moved and installed and sometimes they are not removed), highlighted parts of the lease that helped their argument, and other things they thought would help the case. </p>
<p>As expected, their dispute was denied. Daughter contacted the university lawyer and brought all this information to her, and asked for options. She was told that they could take this case to the court of some type and my daughter said that she would be willing to do that. The university lawyer then gave my daughter some papers to inform the management company with her intent, and the said that they would review the dispute again. After about a week, they received a letter in the mail saying that the dispute was approved and all charges were dropped.</p>
<p>So sorry for a late reply again, this incident was at the VERY END of the school year in the midst of finals. It was such a stressful time for all! Such a shame that management companies can run like this in small college towns and get away with some questionable ethics.</p>
<p>Just as a matter of principle, I would have done the same thing your D did. Kudos to her for standing up to the bully and learning a valuable life skill. </p>