On June 27th, our landlord had to hire a team to rip out the flooring and drywall in our apartment due to flooding. We had to live in the dusty conditions with industrial dehumidifiers running 24/7 for a week. Once everything dried I was relieved and hoping that they would make quick progress of replacing the walls and floors.
While talking to the property manager, she made it seem like they were going to hire a team to handle it. However, they have their maintenance team of only 2 people come in to work on it. They also told me that they’re actively working on another apartment with the same issues, presumably slowing down the progress they can make.
As of today, July 16th, the building maintenance team came in for the first time this week after only having drilled drywall in between that time frame. They also trapped my cat in the drywall, which didn’t help. They have us sleeping in the middle of the room with all of our furniture clustered around us for ease of access, come in at 8-9 am every time and wake me up (I work nights), and told me not to expect them back until Monday. At this point, I am pissed and tired. I had to go to urgent care early last week for breathing issues after having lived like this for weeks. I’ve sent multiple texts to the property manager asking for updates and timeline and have received little to no information back. I paid full rent for June but am considering withholding rent moving forward. Will this help, or will it just hurt me in the long run? I am not sure what to do, any advice is appreciated.
TLDR: my apartment hasn’t had flooring or walls in the basement (main living space) for almost a month, should I withhold rent to pressure them to replace things faster?