Apartment Hell 2?
The last post only reminded me of what's coming today: another showdown with my landlord.
He's a spanish guy from New York. The kind that totally ignores anything a woman has to say. Once I had to tell him six times that I didn't have the rent because my guy was cashing his check that day (it was four days before due, btw.) He's also the kind that traps you between the hall and your apartment door while looking to collect rent, often a week early, to tell you about his most recent vacation to wherever for an hour... but when you ask when he's going to fix the electric, suddenly, he doesn't speak a word of English. I'm seriously considering going back to Spanish classes just to deal with this fucker, but I shouldn't have to. I shouldn't have to learn second (well, actually, third/fourth) languages to get basic things done.
It's been going on for months. The electric in one part of the kitchen is so bad that even with the stove/oven not on and other things like the toaster unplugged, every time I run the dishwasher, the circuit blows. It can't always be reset easily; sometimes it takes a couple days for it to start working again. The outlet on the same wall gives a high-pitched feedback noise if anything is plugged into it. Last time I talked to him about it a few weeks ago, he said he's send "some Cuban guy" (his words) to look. Um, no. Licensed. Contractor. That is the only person getting through this door to fix my electrical. Last time a landlord hired "some Cuban guy", he miswired something in the bathroom producing an electric shock when the shower was turned on. Thank God I wasn't IN IT when I turned the handle! Arrrgh.
Oh yeah, and the circuit breakers also blow when the AC is turned on, plus the AC is leaking onto electrical stuff in the closet where the water heater is. Also things he won't fix. And I can't tell you how many times I've cut my feet on the broken or groutless tiles from the floors of this building settling. It's the second floor though, so I'm a little nervous... hell, the grout repairs I could do MYSELF, if he wants to front the cash.
He's been saying he'd send someone to fix these things for MONTHS. Last month, he said he'd come over on a specific day. Never showed. Never called. I wasted an entire day waiting around for this fucker. Today he's coming to collect rent. Today, I will bring up the issues once again. Today, he will likely revert to Spanish-only, or tell me that he'll take care of it, and then brush me off. And today I will be furious when my poor husband comes home from another day of job hell, and he will be furious when he finds out the landlord backed out again.
What the hell do I do now?
(Oh, and no funding to move out yet. I WISH. Otherwise I'd just call the Fire Dept. and have this place shut down for code violations. The last landlord was a good guy... this one's been here a year. Ugh.)
He's a spanish guy from New York. The kind that totally ignores anything a woman has to say. Once I had to tell him six times that I didn't have the rent because my guy was cashing his check that day (it was four days before due, btw.) He's also the kind that traps you between the hall and your apartment door while looking to collect rent, often a week early, to tell you about his most recent vacation to wherever for an hour... but when you ask when he's going to fix the electric, suddenly, he doesn't speak a word of English. I'm seriously considering going back to Spanish classes just to deal with this fucker, but I shouldn't have to. I shouldn't have to learn second (well, actually, third/fourth) languages to get basic things done.
It's been going on for months. The electric in one part of the kitchen is so bad that even with the stove/oven not on and other things like the toaster unplugged, every time I run the dishwasher, the circuit blows. It can't always be reset easily; sometimes it takes a couple days for it to start working again. The outlet on the same wall gives a high-pitched feedback noise if anything is plugged into it. Last time I talked to him about it a few weeks ago, he said he's send "some Cuban guy" (his words) to look. Um, no. Licensed. Contractor. That is the only person getting through this door to fix my electrical. Last time a landlord hired "some Cuban guy", he miswired something in the bathroom producing an electric shock when the shower was turned on. Thank God I wasn't IN IT when I turned the handle! Arrrgh.
Oh yeah, and the circuit breakers also blow when the AC is turned on, plus the AC is leaking onto electrical stuff in the closet where the water heater is. Also things he won't fix. And I can't tell you how many times I've cut my feet on the broken or groutless tiles from the floors of this building settling. It's the second floor though, so I'm a little nervous... hell, the grout repairs I could do MYSELF, if he wants to front the cash.
He's been saying he'd send someone to fix these things for MONTHS. Last month, he said he'd come over on a specific day. Never showed. Never called. I wasted an entire day waiting around for this fucker. Today he's coming to collect rent. Today, I will bring up the issues once again. Today, he will likely revert to Spanish-only, or tell me that he'll take care of it, and then brush me off. And today I will be furious when my poor husband comes home from another day of job hell, and he will be furious when he finds out the landlord backed out again.
What the hell do I do now?
(Oh, and no funding to move out yet. I WISH. Otherwise I'd just call the Fire Dept. and have this place shut down for code violations. The last landlord was a good guy... this one's been here a year. Ugh.)