I was living in an apartment where I had only signed a six month lease. At the time that my lease expired, I decided that I wanted to move. I needed more space, and most importantly I needed to have washer and dryer hook-ups.
This is when a friend that I have known for several years told me of a house that she knew was available. She knows the owner of the house, Deloris Davis, who later ends up being my landlord. I went with my friend to pick up the keys and look at the house. This was after sunset. We received the keys from Ms. Davis and went to look at the house. I wasn't aware that there weren't any utilities on in the house but I did happen to have a flashlight in my vehicle. My friend and I walked through the house and from what I could see, I was satisfied with the house.
We returned to Ms. Davis' house and I told her that I was interested in renting the house. She gave me the keys that night (which was about the third week in November) and I officially moved in on 12/1. Within the first week, I noticed a problem.
I was CONSTANTLY cold in certain areas of the house regardless of what I had the thermostat set to. I soon realized that there was no weather stripping on the front door. I called Ms. Davis and informed her of this. She came by the next day and told me that she would go to Home Depot and get the supplies to correct the door. This never happened and to this date, there is still no weather stripping on the door.
During my short tenancy, there were several issues in the house. When I would make Ms. Davis aware of this, she would either give a deep sigh like she didn't want to make the repairs OR I would have to wait until it was convenient for her to decide to make repairs. This is not the way things should be. You pay your rent to enjoy satisfaction and use of a home. Not to deal with problems and wait for them to be fixed.
I then noticed there were ants invading the bathroom of the house. I called Ms. Davis but there was no answer so I left a voicemail message. I stated on the message that there were ants in the bathroom and I needed for the house and yard to be sprayed. The next day, Ms. Davis' daughter and son-in-law showed up to the house with a 10 lb. Bag of ant killer that is similiar to fertilizer. This DID NOT correct the problem and I still had to deal with the ants.
I made the decision that as long as I had to wait for a proper, licensed exterminator to come and spray, I was going to make Ms. Davis wait for her rent. I didn't pay the rent that month and by the 12th day, she showed up to my house. She asked me with an attitude "When do you plan on paying your rent?" I then replied "When do you plan on sending someone to come spray for these ants?" She stated that I had not called to inform her of this problem.
I countered that and informed her that I had indeed called and since she wasn't home, I left her a message on her voicemail. She stated that she didn't have voicemail service on her phone so I couldn't have possibly left her a message. Thank goodness that I had recorded my call to her voicemail. I told her "Well, I recorded the call, do you want to hear it?" Of course, she didn't. She then instructed me on how to concoct a solution of vinegar and water that should kill the ants.
The "straw that broke the camels back" is when there was a leak in the house. I became aware that the air conditioner was leaking fluid when I saw about 3 inches of water in the bottom of the closet where the s/c unit was stored. I also noticed that the flooring in the bathroom was starting to "warp" and there were brown water stains on the bottoms of my bathroom rugs. I called Ms. Davis on June 28 and informed her of this. She did send someone out to make the repair to the a/c unit the same day, but never made any attempt to make repairs to the damage of the bathroom floor.
Within about three weeks, I started to have problems breathing. I have asthma and thought that maybe the change of season's was bringing this on. Much to my surprise, I went from having problems breathing, to having full blown asthma attacks.
I had to visit the doctor when my inhalers were ineffective and not helping. I was then placed on breathing treatments four times per day. Soon after, I started having nose bleeds. (Which i've never had before in my life) I was having headaches, dizzy spells, severe nasal congestion to the point that I couldn't breath through my nose. Again, I went to the doctor. I was informed that I was having some sort of allergic reaction. Also due to my severe nasal congestion and not being able to properly drain fluids, I was also diagnosed with ear infections in BOTH EARS! I'm a 27 year old woman and thought that infants and toddlers were the only one's who experienced ear infections.
About one week after my doctor visit, the floor in the bathroom was "warping" so bad that the tile started to come up. Obviously there was wood undernearth the floor and it had to absorb water from the a/c leak. I lifted up one of the tiles since it was no longer secured to the floor and to my surprise, there was MOLD!!! I then understood why I had been so sick. At this point, I decided that I could no longer remain in this house due to concerns for my health. I found somewhere else to stay immediately and decided to forfeit my security deposit.
I'm now staying in a different residence that is MOLD FREE and my medical conditions have subsided. I wanted to post my story to make other people be aware of what happened to me. I have learned from this experience to NEVER rent from a private owner! If you go through a propery management company, you will have better odds of repairs being made.
It came to my attention after the fact that Ms. Davis didn't have homeowner's insurance as required when you still have a mortgage on your home. I was also made aware (through ways that I cannot disclose) that the house was atleast 2 months behind on the mortgage payments! At any point I could have come home to a foreclosure sign on the door and my property locked inside.
So to anyone in Lawton, Oklahoma I would advise that unless you are looking to have PROBLEMS, I would NOT recommend renting from Deloris Davis!
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