In March of I entered into a lease with a private landlord to rent unit #303 for a period of one year. On May 2, a single unit caught fire one floor above me on the east end of the building. The entire building was evacuated at 5 in the morning. Due to the fact that false fire alarms occur 1-4 times weekly, my roommate and I slept through the alarm.
I awoke to go to work at 11:30 and went downstairs to leave when I was greeted by the Red Cross and fire personnel telling me to evacuate. We grabbed my roommate and left. That was the last time I was ever allowed into my unit unless I was getting my belongings. The building has been condemned and I have been reduced to spending occasional nights behind public buildings.
Since then our lease has been terminated and the landlord says he is financially unable to give back the security deposit immediately (he said after avoiding phone calls for five days.) This happened the weekend before college exam week, and because of this I received a late grade for two of my final projects.
I don't know the legalities surrounding my situation, but I'm sure that in some way they are in the wrong. For other tenants who rented from the building management group, they were moved to available empty units immediately. Because I deal with a private landlord, I'm told we have to rely on this guy in Miami who doesn't like to answer his phone.
To anyone planning on renting here, watch out for any signs of building code violations, because there are plenty.
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