<p>Hi parents! I figured posting on here would get more response than other places, and you all stand a better chance of knowing the answer.</p>
<p>Anyway, my roommates and I are renting an apartment at school from one of the bigger property management companies here. I was just wondering if we, as the tenants, had the right to have the owner’s contact information, or are we just supposed to do everything through this company?</p>
<p>The property management company isn’t as responsive as I’d like, and the main guy I’ve been talking to seems to be extremely busy now, which is bad timing since our lease is starting soon. He passed me off to one of the assistants who doesn’t know as much (and admitted it), so it may just be easier to contact the owner directly with some of my apartment/maintenance related questions.</p>
<p>You need to deal with the property manager. The owner could be anywhere on the planet, and may not know anything at all about the condition of his/her property or who to contact to get maintenance done. Yes, it is the busy season for the property manager, but keep the lines of communication open, and they will help you when they can.</p>
<p>Thanks for the tip! Do you know if there are any laws/regulations regarding flooring? We were trying to get the flooring changed because it looked very dirty/worn/stained (and there were dead bugs everywhere - not like how it was when we toured the place) and offered to pay out of pocket to do so, but they said that would require talking to the owner so they wouldn’t go through with it. I just want to be sure I try all possible contacts before I suck it up and deal with it.</p>
<p>If you are talking about carpet cleaning, and are offering to pay for it yourself, you don’t need anybody’s permission, just go ahead and get it done.</p>
<p>If it is as nasty as you say, and the management company is unresponsive, the path most likely to get action is to complain to the local board of health and have them come and inspect the place- especially if there are bugs.</p>
<p>This will not endear you to the management company though, so you have to weigh the ramifications.</p>
<p>Property owner here who rents to students through a property manager. The bugs are probably there if the unit was vacant for a while–even a couple of weeks can do that in the summer. Also, as an owner, the tenants do not get my direct contact info, all communication is filtered through the property manager, which is what I pay them for. As for laws/regulations, check the state gov’t’s website, there are usually tenants’ rights laws available to look at.</p>
<p>I am on my 3rd property manager who is by far the best of the 3. They are not a particularly large firm and seem to respond quickly to both us and the tenants. As an owner who rents to students, I do the bare bones because we have seen a lot of damage from some tenants. Not to say all students do this, but on average they do not treat my duplex like I’m sure they treat their parents’ house. If you expected the flooring upgraded, you should have asked before you signed the lease. If there has been damage since you saw it (other than the bugs, which can be removed), then of course you should check into it. You are entitled to have a clean unit when you move in, however.</p>
<p>Make sure you document the condition of the apt. on the day you move in–photos help. I make sure we do that as the property owners. That can alleviate a lot of disputes at the end of the lease.</p>
<p>I second what knmom06 said. When you rent an apt it’s ‘what you see is what you get’ unless there’s something in writing. You can’t agree to rent it, move in, then start making demands on the flooring, paint, etc. since you already agreed to it. It’s different than if you move in and then find out the stove doesn’t work because it’s normally expected that it would work unless they specifically disclosed that it didn’t. </p>
<p>Also, you normally wouldn’t have to pay yourselves to have the carpet cleaned - that’s something the apt owner (or property manager) should take care of before you move in and in my experience that’s what most of them do unless you’re living in a dump of a place.</p>
<p>At a minimum, regardless of what you rent, take a lot of pictures of it and notes before you move your stuff in to document any wear and tear, broken items, or damage, stains, etc. so the property mgr doesn’t try to ding you for it when you move out.</p>
<p>Thank you guys so much for the tips. The carpet thing hadn’t been a problem when we toured the place, when I went to go check it out the other day though the apartment as a whole was completely different and a lot dirtier. If it was just like how it was when we decided to sign the lease, it wouldn’t be as much of a problem. I’ll be sure to check for damage on everything though. Hopefully when we move in on Monday, which is when our lease begins, it will be cleaned up and this won’t be an issue any longer. I’ll definitely get photo documentation and try and get some clear answers from the property manager.</p>
<p>If it is as dirty as you say, that should throw up a red flag about renting it. The first question a judge would ask you is – if it is so terrible then why did you accept it?
Just saying, he might be skeptical. Take many many pics fast, and contact your manager in writing, and keep a copy of ALL correspondence. But surely you don’t mean it got dirty/worn/stained after u looked at it? Did they switch out a new carpet to install a dirty one in your unit? Or is the carpet pretty much like you saw it, except now there are dead bugs? Maybe you are just looking more carefully now…?
Nobody likes bugs, but dead bugs are viewed differently than live bugs. Use your due diligence first, before contacting the health dept. Try the manager in writing first. And second.</p>
<p>The funny thing with carpet is that it doesn’t look nearly so bad when a room is filled with furniture. When the room is empty, then you will see every tiny little stain.</p>
<p>If it’s truly worn significantly it seems that you would have seen this before unless there’s a hole that was covered by a couch or something.</p>
<p>Keep after the property mgmt company to see if they’ll cover the cleaning of the carpet and try to get them to have it cleaned before you move your stuff in - it’s a lot easier and more thorough that way.</p>
<p>notrichenough and younghoss: the unit we’re renting is empty now because the tenants that had been living in it for the past year or two graduated. You all may be right, that it just looks worse now that the apartment is empty. The carpet looks dirty and there are bits and pieces of mess, trash, and dirt from outside in the living room. I can tell that some of the worn parts of the flooring (there are a few rips/tears and big stains) were covered up by furniture when we toured it. I can also imagine that the graduates didn’t take time to do a thorough cleaning of the apartment before moving out, and may not have cleaned at all after graduation, so that may be a reason why the unit seems a lot dirtier now. The bathroom and kitchen area are all just as they were when we toured it. The dead bugs are in the bedrooms (not living room) but hopefully that will all be taken care of by the time I move in next week.</p>
<p>I’ll be sure to document everything, but most of the correspondence has been done by telephone so far. If I do anything in writing, should I just enclose details of the apartment condition and my maintenance/cleaning requests?</p>
<p>document document document. even an informal email helps document. If u have a phone conversation, it is a good idea to follow it up with an email confirming what was said. This helps put it in writing.
An example- “Thank you for the call yesterday. I am glad to hear you intend to hire a carpet cleaning before we move in. We are anxious to move in, but right now the carpet is very dirty. Thanks again” Something like that would help document the conversation.</p>
<p>If this apt is your first, know that all people do not always honor their contracts. Even well meaning people do not always agree. Know this, plan for this, and document details in case you wind up in a housing court. Don’t be one of those that loses out because they weren’t prepared.</p>
<p>Does your lease specify that the apartment will be cleaned between tenants? If so, do NOT move in until you notify the property management company that this has not been done. Support with pictures.</p>
<p>You can also ask for a deduction in rent for the time you are waiting until the unit is cleaned so you can move in. As was said, support with photos. Be sure to keep communication with property manager in WRITING. Eventually, the property owners will find out, especially if they start wondering why the rent is being held up. The owners will contact you if they want or need to. In general, property managers are supposed to be the ones who handle things, NOT the owners. We have fired the property managers who disclosed our contact info and hired them with a new company who responds promptly to tenant requests.</p>
<p>It is best to try to get along with whomever will be the property manager because that is who will respond (or not) to your issues that come up while you are renting.</p>