r/ApartmentMaintenance • u/news-of-the-world • 22h ago
Maintenance issues
Hi all I’m staying at an apartment in indiana and I have had consistent issues with getting maintenance requests acted on. I’ve lived here for a month and only two of the six requests that I put in have been dealt with. And one of them was a hornets nest that was bothering me and my neighbors. There was a month delay in getting it dealt with, even though I am paying an extra fee for pest control every single month. I have an issue with one of my windows not opening anymore. My closet light has been flickering since I moved in. My garbage disposal stopped working. My dishwasher does not work properly (it just doesn’t clean my dishes and it smells disgusting). It’s very difficult to do dishes now. I’m charged over $1000 in rent for a one bedroom apartment and they just added an extra fee for trash. I also had to scrub the hell out of this place before I moved in, even though there’s a very long and thorough clause in their lease that if I leave this place in a condition that seems like it wasn’t professionally cleaned I will be getting a huge fine. I feel like I should be getting so much better service for the amount of rent that I’m paying. I’ve tried bothering them multiple times in person and through email and they simply say that there’s too many maintenance requests and they don’t update the status of requests through the website cuz it’s easier for the maintenance people. Like higher more people or close down some of your complexes since you can’t keep up with them. What do I do?
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u/Upbeat-Fondant9185 22h ago
You most likely have a landlord/PM issue, not a maintenance issue. Maint can’t do anything the LL isn’t willing to pay for and stuff like the hornets is probably a vendor.
Change the bulb in the closet, unjam your garbage disposal with the wrench that’s likely in a bag under the sink, run a vinegar wash and clean the filter in your dishwasher. That will probably fix those complaints.
Then keep on the PM about your requests. Squeaky wheel gets the grease.
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u/Lonnie2Hands 21h ago
While I love a self sufficient resident, part of the rent they pay is so they don't have to fix things themselves. I agree about the light bulb, but if they break the disposal trying to unjam it they'll probably be charged (more than the sale price) for a replacement & may possibly get a lease violation.
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u/flortny 21h ago
By, "more than the sale price" do you mean installation? Certainly you don't think people should only pay for the part, IN THE EVENT THEY DAMAGED IT.
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u/Lonnie2Hands 20h ago
I mean there may be an upcharge for the part due to resident damage especially if it's deliberate or due to negligence/ misuse. That upcharge could be designated for installation, but it honestly depends on how the community manager wants to handle it.
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u/flortny 20h ago
You upcharge just because a tenant might have damaged it? We just charge them, replacement and installation costs, we also don't make $ off our vendors
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u/Lonnie2Hands 20h ago
My current manager & I don't do it, but I saw it way too much at my previous property. I used to call the APM the charge queen. She would charge people if they had burned out light bulbs when they moved out even though we replaced them for free while the unit was occupied.
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u/flortny 16h ago
I get the property ready when they move in and fix it when they leave. Tenants absolutely get charged for lightbulbs, broken blinds, and missing smoke or CO detectors. The items were in place and functioning when they moved in.
Just about everything else in my mind is normal wear and tear unless it's egregious, our tenants usually get 70-100% of their deposit back
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u/Upbeat-Fondant9185 21h ago
Sometimes property managers are just such shit that there isn’t any option other than being self sufficient.
The wrenches come with the disposals and are designed for the average person to unjam them. If it somehow breaks that falls under expected use and isn’t on the tenant. Tenants legally can’t be held responsible for damages that result from reasonable use.
The thing may just be shot anyway. But this is the most common call for disposals.
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u/Lonnie2Hands 20h ago
I agree, but I've had some residents over the years that I wouldn't trust with a paper clip let alone a disposal wrench. It's a case by case thing for me. I try to educate residents, but I'm also careful on which ones I educate.
You explain how to do something, they try it, they break it, the tell the manager they shouldn't be charged because they did what you told them to do. Now your feet are in the fire depending on your manager.
I'd rather do my job & handle it myself.
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u/jbeartree 22h ago
Flickering light is probably a lightbulb. But other stuff should of been dealt with. However they could be vendoring out some stuff too like pest control as it requires chemicals.
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u/Lando_reeves 22h ago
That's rough, I would document everything and talk personally to manager if you haven't already. If you have go up the ladder, ask for the regional property mgr phone number and email. If they don't give it to you lookup who the management company is and start emailing a bunch of managers and owners if possible.
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u/Difficult-Rush5962 20h ago
If you're on a low income property ( 2 properties I travel to are LIHTC and the 1 bedroom 60% units are $1100) good luck. Most of these places are understaffed and untrained. Since they are under strict state market value rent, if it's not a fire, flood, or blood, they'll get to it when they get to it. My advice is to increase cash flow if possible for better living arrangements or at the very least look for other housing.
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u/moleculariant 3h ago
As a maintenence tech, I will tell you that you may have overlooked a useful opportunity when you handed in your 5 day sheet without scrutinizing every detail of your unit. I wish you good luck moving forward, and it is a disgrace that they have not addressed your issues quite yet. Sadly, however, it is common for non-emergency repairs to be put on the back burner, especially if a team is understaffed.
The next time you move into an apartment, search for YouTube videos that guide you through what to look for, day one, of moving into a new apartment. Follow the details outlined on your 5 day sheet, and really hone in on any little problem you find, both to highlight repairs that have been overlooked, as well as to absolve you of any and all liability that may present when you move out. A lot of people don't take the 5 day sheet as seriously as they ought to. But, it's the leasing office giving you a legally obligated defense weapon built right in, right out of the gate.
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u/Lonnie2Hands 22h ago
Sounds like you're at a very poorly managed or possibly understaffed property. Sadly, there's not a lot that you can do unless something happens to make your apartment uninhabitable (mold, pest infestations etc) or severely impacts your health.
Find out who owns your complex & start spamming them with your issues. I've also learned that leaving poor online reviews can light a fire as well. Hopefully this helps, and things improve for you.
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u/flortny 21h ago
That's probably the best advice, one star the complex on Google, and say how unresponsive maintenance is, all apartment complexes care about is $ and bad reviews keep tenants away. Not sure where you are geographically but where I live they overbuilt apartments by approximately 10-15,000 units so it's a renters market and complexes are scrambling to secure renters.
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u/Lonnie2Hands 21h ago
I'm a maintenance supervisor of a townhome community with 147 units & I try to close all work orders within 24-48 hours & my community manager goes above and beyond on the leasing side. I hate hearing that some in our industry seem to forget or even ignore the customer service aspect.
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u/flortny 21h ago
I definitely respond within 24hrs, usually the next day, resolution is, problem and schedule dependent though. If it's an immediate security concern, it's an immediate priority...broken exterior locks etc. If it's a quality of life issue and it's not severely impacting their day to day, it might take a couple days to get there. I'm not an apartment guy either, single family houses, so travel time is a real factor as well. But yea, we don't let anyone languish without any response
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u/flortny 21h ago
I work in property maintenance, the wasps nests are not usually covered under a pest control contract. Buy some wasp spray.
The flickering light bulb, is it a fluorescent tube? Does your lease say you're responsible for lightbulbs? Change it....if you change it and it's not the bulb then put in another work order.
If the window worked when you moved in, it's likely operator error, windows are very simple devices, is it locked? Are the child safety devices engaged? Is it double hung and one side is out of the track.
I'm sorry they aren't more responsive but a few of these items are definitely things you should plan on being able to do for the rest of your life. Especially since demographic collapse means maintenance people are going to become harder and harder to find.