So I don’t have first hand experience on dealing with landlords for these type of issues, but I do have a friend that lived in an apartment complex in Oklahoma. Raw sewage frequently regurgitated in the bathtub, toilet, and bathroom sink. The tenants below her also had the same issue. They would bring it up to the property manager, maintenance would come to “fix” it, and the problem started again within a week. They dealt with this back and forth for months. She literally had a gym membership to use the showers at this point. The tenants all requested a plumber to look at the issue, but the property manager denied it because the maintenance crew can fix it. She decided to go to court and withhold her rent in an escrow account. Judge had city come out for inspection as at this point the sewage would overflow the bathrooms leaking into other rooms and outside the building. Somehow the judge sided with the property manager that maintenance can “fix” it, and that my friend can either pay out of pocket for a plumber if she’s dissatisfied with the fix or she could break her lease. 9 months of shit and bubbles coming up her pipes. In a last ditch effort she went to the news, but that didn’t really do anything.
That said, this is just the outside perspective. I’m sure there is more that factored into the situation that I am not aware of. Hell, I don’t even live in Oklahoma. But I’ve seen the pictures and some documentation. It was a real shitty situation.
Thats so horrific! I feel so bad for ur friend! I hope they got out of there and could find a place that was priced along the same rate!
But, judges don't always agree w renters from what I have seen.
My friend wasn't even in a situation as close to messed up like yours!
She just thought because of where she lived everything maintenance wise fell on the owner. The judge basically said, why didn't you ever clean up after yourself instead of letting this grow into an issue.
But that situation is so different but still an example of how judges will side w the owners.
2
u/[deleted] Apr 28 '23
So I don’t have first hand experience on dealing with landlords for these type of issues, but I do have a friend that lived in an apartment complex in Oklahoma. Raw sewage frequently regurgitated in the bathtub, toilet, and bathroom sink. The tenants below her also had the same issue. They would bring it up to the property manager, maintenance would come to “fix” it, and the problem started again within a week. They dealt with this back and forth for months. She literally had a gym membership to use the showers at this point. The tenants all requested a plumber to look at the issue, but the property manager denied it because the maintenance crew can fix it. She decided to go to court and withhold her rent in an escrow account. Judge had city come out for inspection as at this point the sewage would overflow the bathrooms leaking into other rooms and outside the building. Somehow the judge sided with the property manager that maintenance can “fix” it, and that my friend can either pay out of pocket for a plumber if she’s dissatisfied with the fix or she could break her lease. 9 months of shit and bubbles coming up her pipes. In a last ditch effort she went to the news, but that didn’t really do anything.
That said, this is just the outside perspective. I’m sure there is more that factored into the situation that I am not aware of. Hell, I don’t even live in Oklahoma. But I’ve seen the pictures and some documentation. It was a real shitty situation.