Rent Problems Are Frustrating; but you're not alone: Thousands of tenants rely on RPA to solve problems
Pool Sanitary Condition, Cannot Use The Pool, Sanitary Conditions On The Pr | Case#**-*040
Dallas,
Texas -
75228
We need the pool to swim. It is constantly dirty green , or closed, or the people from outside overtake it.
The sanitary conditions at the property are bad, nobody picks up after their dogs, the safety problem as well. The locks on the doors are broken, the elevators don\\\'t work properly
Violations Of Health And Building Codes | Case#**-*185
HALLANDLE BCH,
FL -
33009 3341
Dear Lehman Property Management,
It is with great disappointment that I must file a formal complaint against Lehman Property. I have only ever wanted a professional relationship with a law-abiding landlord. Thus let\'s start getting into the gory details.
1) Lehman Property failed and refused to address the majority of the \"Move-in\" checklist. Almost every item inside the unit was damaged, was broken down or was deteriorating in some form or another. The apartment itself was not so much as even cleaned.
2) Lehman Property once had filled a official maintenance request BUT THEN never showed up!
3) Lehman Property removed my access to filing maintenance requests shortly after Hurricane Irma (Around or past 9/12/17). That is the day I filed another maintenance request because the unit had extensive flooding during the hurricane. Again, nothing.
4) Lehman Property again refuses to deal with maintenance issues. For documentation purposes some very light repairs were made in their stead. Several phone calls, emails, voicemails and etc were made on these items but never received any official response from Lehman over the course of 6+ months. Thus all attempts to communicate to Lehman Property have failed and continue to fail.
5) If the failure to maintain the property, failure to uphold proper health, building or human rights codes isn\'t enough Lehman doesn\'t even answer their own phone. It takes over 10 to 20 calls to even get on the line with a person.
I have done my duty as your law abiding tenant to uphold the lease and your expectations but clearly vice versa will never occur. I could go further and say that the lease itself is a violation of state penal codes at this point because it is. All I am asking for is my full deposit, refunds for replacement kitchen appliances and refunds for the repairs by the termination of my lease. Then we will go our own ways.
Thank you for your time.
Black Mold Thru Out House In Walls Due To Roof Leaks | Case#**-*711
WESLEY CHAPEL,
FL -
33544 5828
Mold thru out the house in ceiling and walls due to roof leaks and Mr Lynch will not correct or repair roof in order to fix the problem, my health was affected in a very bad way and we had to move out of the house so fast not to mention that most of out belongings were covered in mold that we ended up losing most of our belongings and had no place to go due to paying him for months rent money. The black mold had started in ceiling and then spread down the walls to the floors and inside of the walls there was black mold as well. Paint peeling off the walls where the roof leaked and mold was starting to form on those areas as well. Now it is possible that he has sold the house and did not reveal to the people who bought the house about the mold and I feel it is unfair and unsafe for anyone to live in this house, I know it was for me.
bed bugs infestation | Case#**-*431
HOLLYWOOD,
FL -
33019 2530
6 months prior to this issue i ws getting bit but i thought it was mosquitoes i have never had this issue so i didnt know what to think other then that my girlfriend just moved in a m0onth and a half ago she went threw it to not until yesterday did we search for the issue because it got so bad with her she had to go to the ER because she broke out into a rash on her face and legs and arms she is also pregnant we contacted her she is not willing she is it is our issue we looked all over the bed we cut the bed open we saw a liitle bug then we searched what bed bugs lookedlike and it was the ex. bug we had saw we looked all around the bends of the bed and it was bed bug fecal and they just started to come from every where its out of control we are sleepingt in the living room on an air matress every bit of clothing was washed and stored away in plastic bens if where not sleeping in that room where great but our lease is not up until june 2011 how long can we live like this there coming from the cracks from the floors we just need this fixed please.
Infestation Issues | Case#**-*235
Pawtucket,
Rhode Island -
02860
I moved in on July 1st, towards end of the month we started noticing bites on our skin, particularly on my daughter. We assumed it was fleas or something of that nature, so I informed the landlord and I bombed the apartment on my own and treated with powder and spray as well/. Issue has gotten significantly worse and I have seen actual bedbugs. I never had this issue in my life nor at my previous residence of 3 years. My unit is only one with carpers and I feel like the bugs were dormant and are now surfacing as there wasnt anyone residing in home prior to us moving in for a couple months. Theres also a rodent issue that the landlord has been informed of.
I havent taken pictures of the bugs but I will begin to do so.
Response other than the lease is needed | Case#**-*405
Hatfield,
Pennsylvania -
19440
In January I filed a complaint hoping to resolve this issue relating to the case 20-1196. I have sent several emails, made calls to customer service and left messages with no response from the Rental Protection agency regarding: having access to the landlord response in the previously filed complaint. I feel that the response provided may have assisted me in resolving this matter between the management at Madison Montgomery and myself. This is to serve as an official payment for the response to the previously filed complaint. While I understand that I did not respond in time, I still should have access to the response for my records. Additionally I was involved in an injury on Feb 1 and the following week diagnosed with diabetes, which is only mentioned to offer an explanation of my failure to respond. This is an attempt to retrieve the information that I previously paid for and am now paying for again.
Uninhabitability Issues | Case#**-*064
LOS ANGELES,
CA -
90025 2144
We moved into this apartment on May 245, 2019 with the expectation that it would be in livable conditions. The apartment was recently remodeled. Not long after we moved in I noticed bugs when I would get up to use the bathroom at night and that the tub was chipped. I reported the problem to the manager with no action on their part to do anything about the bugs, but they fixed the bathroom issue. My partner then began to notice mice and we began seeing mice dropping, I contacted the manager informing him of the new concern and asking for an update on the bug problem. A pest professional cam regarding the mice and seemed surprised when saw a bottle of raid and asked if we had a bug issue as well. The question informed me that he was not informed of our bug issue and only came to address the mice, which was disappointing that it was not an issue for the landlord and management. Now I noticed bites on my body in the middle of the night, I went to look in the mirror and noticed the bites turned to welps. As I went back into the room, I used my cellphone light to see what was biting me to not disturb my partner. I noticed bed bugs crawling on the bed on my side of the bed. We are only a few months in and I continue to discover things that make living in the apartment more disappointing. I would like all the issues with bugs and mice solved. However, upon moving in we signed an agreement that if we did not notice any bed bugs within 45 days, it would be our financial responsibility to take care of the problem. I think the clause is unfair, especially because I suspect the management had notice of a problem before we moved in due to how our questions about extermination and pest control were not directly answered. I also suspect the landlord and management had knowledge because upon my first night sleeping in the apartment I noticed a lot of bites on the back of my thigh area. I was not aware that this could be bed bug bites since I did not see anything crawling and my partner did not have any bite marks. I simply want the issue to be resolved fairly.
Refusal to treat bed bugs | Case#**-*206
SAN RAMON,
CA -
94583 4481
I called the office in September about bed bugs and was told that it was my fault and I would be completely responsible for the costs. I was also told there were no others complianing about this issue. Which is a lie because my friend lives in the building next to ours and had her apartment treated. (We don't visit each others apartments). I did not have the cash available at the time so I tried my best to keep them under control with washing and cleaning in the meantime.
Repair Issues. Deceitful Property Manager | Case#**-*047
JACKSONVILLE,
FL -
32256 7944
On July 12th, I left my apartment early in the morning. The afternoon of July 16th, I was notified that my apartment was found flooded allegedly from a kitchen sink on July 15th. Regardless of who was at fault,I was told to file a claim with my renter\\\'s insurance, which I did on July 16th. Renter\\\'s insurance provided temporary housing, while trying to reach settlement with the apartment complex. During this time, it was expected that repairs would be worked on, but rather no effort had been made towards repairing the apartment after almost 3 weeks (August 4th). Renter\\\'s insurance told me they could no longer provide temporary housing, so I went and spoke to staff at the leasing office about it. I asked to either be transferred to another unit or to be let out of my lease. The community manager told me that I had pay 4 months rent upfront in order to break my lease on the spot. As for being transferred, she said to check back in a few days to see if there were any available apartments. A few days later the community manager told me that there was an open apartment available and to come in and sign a new lease agreement. However, when I called to confirm that I was coming, she went back on her word and told me she would not transfer me until the insurance claim was settled. I was expected to continue to pay rent, even though my apartment was uninhabitable. I also did not believe her about paying 4 months rent as the lease states the termination penalty as \\\"no more than 2 months rent.\\\" Moreover, a different staff member told me that I was correct and that it was 2 months rent. Even when I brought this up, she still insisted that it was 4 months rent. I believe that this was not merely a mistake on her part, but that she was deliberately being deceitful. I enlisted an attorney to review my lease and it was determined that the termination penalty was equal to 2 months rent. I had the attorney send a notice on my behalf that I would be terminating the lease early and the manager replied stating that she had offered me additional housing and that I declined. As stated above, this is not true as she was the one who refused to transfer me to alternative housing. To this day (August 30th), no effort has been made to make any repairs.
Bedbugs | Case#**-*024
Morristown,
New Jersey -
07960
On Aug. 25 we received a notice that all apartments would be inspected by a bedbug dog. At that time my apt. was cleared. At that time 7 or 8 units were infested. Western Pest Control treated affected apartments twice in two weeks. Three weeks after the initial treatment I suffered from bug bites because the problem spread to my apartment. I informed the mgmt. company and stated I would like to retain my own PC company. I was given permission to do so. PC that I hired uses a dog and found bedbugs in my couch, bed, and closet.
After speaking with another tenant I learned that the two week treatment that Western used did not work. She hired the same PC person I hired who confirmed she still had bedbugs in the same place that Western originally found them, but also another place.
New Jersey has no laws protecting tenants from bedbug infestations. I feel so helpless because I know that the problem will keep reoccurring unless Morgan Properties handles it properly. A Western technician told residents that they had a treatment plan that involved treating the building as a whole and bringing the dogs back to check monthly. He said Morgan Properties told them absolutely not.
The problem also spread to my next door neighbor, so the initial treatment that Western utilized clearly did not work.
All I want is for Morgan Properties to treat the building as a whole and bring back the dogs a week after treating to ensure the problem is shrinking. Currently it\'s spreading. I can\'t live my life in a \"normal\" way. I am living out of giant ziplock bags. I can\'t have family and friends over. I am paying rent to live in an restricted environment. All i want is for this problem to be resolved quickly and effectively. MP has not demonstrated they are willing to do this. I will attach all correspondences to show their complete lack of transparency with this situation.
This has been going on since July 1016, if not earlier. Yes, one tenant apparently tried to fix her bedbug issue and didn\'t tell anyone. Who knows how many others did the same thing? We now have ten apartments infected out of 45.
Complaint Process in 3 Simple Steps:
File Apartment Complaint: Fill out complaint form with your proposed resolution. Instantly recieve your case number.
Check Status: See the current status, respond, upload files or images, accept fair solution or purpose alternative solutions.
Landlord Public Record: Positive or Negative record is attached to landlord based upon their responses. Your (tenant) information is not made public.
Complaints Tips:
Uploading pictures / files is helpful
Try to request fair solutions
Focus on major issue, not on many
Check your status every 3 days
Avoid accusations or hostile tones
Be willing to accept alternate solution
How Does the RPA Help Resolve Rental Problems?
Once you file a complaint, the RPA will contact your landlord or property manager to mediate a prompt resolution. The RPA online mediation system provides an effective complaint resolution process that helps solve problems quickly. Complaints filed through the RPA are documented and help protect tenants' rights by providing a program that protects against landlord retaliation and unfair practices. Agreements reached through the RPA Apartment Complaint Center are legally binding and enforceable. When required the complaint can be used as evidence in court.
The RPA requires a $35 one-time processing fee to cover the cost associated with contacting the landlord, online mediation, paperwork, and public record filing. Prior to 2006 the RPA complaint program had no fee. However, due to abuse by tenants that were filing bogus complaints; the RPA found it necessary to charge of fee to eliminate fake complaints and to cover costs associated with complaint handling. If you are looking to report the problem only and not seeking a resolution, you can use our free Report Landlord option. (The report landlord option will only document the problem and will not provide any assistance in resolving disputes.)
Tip: On your complaint form you can request that management reimburse you for RPA filing fees.
How long does the process take?
The RPA is able to resolve complaints fairly quickly, unlike court or other legal options. Cases are normally assigned in the order received; however, you can upgrade your case to be rushed if you need your case escalated. (option available immediately after filing)For fastest processing try to submit your complaint before the next processing deadline. (Count down shown next to "File Complaint" button.) Once the mediation process begins, your landlord will have 3 business days to respond to the mailed notice. If a landlord email address is provided the RPA will send out both a written notice and email notice which can provide an immediate resolution. Many times cases are resolved immediately after receiving the RPA® notice, however depending on the complaint, it can take longer if both parties are unable to reach an agreement quickly.
Tip: To speed up the process... On the complaint form request reasonable and fair solutions.
Does the RPA Guarantee to Resolve Every Complaint?
Each complaint is guaranteed to be worked by the RPA complaint system. The RPA mediation system will work to resolve every complaint regardless of how big or small the complaint. However, the RPA can't guarantee the end results of any complaint. While we work to solve each complaint, the guarantee is limited to our processing of your complaint. All fees associated with the complaint are non-refundable dispute the outcome of the complaint. Each complaint is Guaranteed to be worked by our complaint system and will be documented against the landlord should they fail to cooperate.
Tip: To get positive resolutions to your complaint; try providing resolutions that are fair.
What Happens After I file a Complaint?
Upon filing your landlord / property manager complaint you will instantly receive a case number. Your complaint case number can be used to immediately access your complaint status page. The RPA will process your complaint and contact your landlord for an immediate resolution. On your status page you can view case status, upload files or images, respond to the complaint, update/ change resolutions, accept or close complaint. The RPA complaint center updates your case status in real time and provides you with tracking to see exactly what is happening with your complaint. Once the case is closed, the complaint will be attached to your landlords public record which is quickly indexed by all major search engines. (Your information is never made public)
Tip: Check your case status at least every 3 days. (Respond / update your case as required)
Protection Against Landlord Retaliation
Its unlawful for your landlord to retaliate against you because you filed a complaint. Your landlord cannot evict, harass, limit access, raise rent, or treat you unfairly because you filed a complaint. As a tenant, you must still pay rent and comply with rent terms stated within your contract. Filing a complaint does not eliminate your responsibilities.
Tip: Check your case status at least every 3 days. (Respond / update your case as required)
Who Can File a Complaint with the RPA?
Any renter located in the United States of America has the right to file a complaint with the RPA. The RPA does not accept complaints outside of the USA. In general, the RPA will accept every complaint regardless of how big or small the problem may be.
Tip: When possible, try resolving your problem with your landlord before filing a complaint.
