I viewed an apartment managed by Tab Properties 3/07. At this time, I was told that it had not been cleaned yet, but would be, and I could come back for another viewing. Anything that I wanted replaced would be, I could paint the walls any color that I wanted, it was all about making me happy.in fact, I could have it for $25 a month less than the listing price. I went back the day that I was supposed to sign my lease and pick up the keys and the apartment was not ready. They told me to sign the lease and they would get it ready (replace the carpet). It would be ready by the next day.
The next day, there was new carpet and I moved in. And from that day on, everything went downhill. No one returns my calls or emails. Repairs were not made for weeks at a time if at all. I had to argue back and forth through emails with Tab. Then a year had passed and my lease came due. I did not have the total move in cost to move out, so I signed the lease for another year. This, of course, included a $25 a month increase in rent.
Over the course of the summer, I started to meet the neighbors. They had my same concerns and frustrations. Plus, I found out that the entire apartment building was on boiler/radiator heat paid for by Tab except for my unit. I had electric baseboard heaters. I contacted tab about this, as it was costing $200 a month to heat my apartment. They refused to compensate me in any way. It got to the point where it was pay my electric before it was disconnected or pay the rent. So I paid the electric, and of course, received an eviction notice.
I offered to vacate peacefully to avoid an eviction and court costs. They refused. I vacated anyway. They demanded a 60 day notice or they would not allow me to leave or re rent the apartment. They were evicting me yet asking for a 60 day notice at the same time. I was basically forced to sign in able to get them to repost my apartment, as I still was bound to them by a lease for two more months. They refused to take my keys. I had to mail them to them delivery confirmation.
I sent them a list of housing code violations. They said that I signed a lease, therefor I rented as is.
I am still not living there, they are still holding me to the lease and no posting it for rent. The following housing code violations are still in effect:
The exterior of the building is not maintained on a regular basis. Snow shoveling, mowing and cleaning up of the outside of the property does not occur regularly. There is garbage and cigarette butts scattered in the
yard and on the porch on a regular basis. There has been a broken down bike chained to the fence since I moved in. I, in fact, received a letter blaming me for this. I informed Tab that I am not a smoker and always pick
up my trash.
However, in addition to writing letters to tenants about any refuse left outside, Tab needs to take responsibility for cleaning up such refuse.
The entry way and hallways are littered with junk mail and newspapers, blocking doorways and stairs, making this both a nuisance and a fire hazard.
There is a hole in the hallway behind the door leading to the basement which has not been repaired.
Fire extinguishers in the hallways have not been checked/maintenanced since 11/07.
The boiler is regularly broken. Just this winter, the fire alarms in the building were shut off for about a week while the boiler was being repaired. Last winter, the boiler did not work for several weeks, as was
evidenced by the large electric heaters set in the hallways.
The laundry room is not cleaned or maintained. The garbage is not taken out, floors not cleaned, washers and dryers not cleaned. One dryer has required repair since I moved in. The other dryer is being held closed
with about 6 strips of black electrical tape right now.
Furniture, heaters, random items have been left in the hallway for days at a time, creating a nuisance and a fire hazard.
The garage is not kept clean, the dumpster is often found overflowing, the lid is not kept closed, no recycling bins are provided, the walkway from the back door to the garage is not kept shoveled.
And on to my apartment:
The walls and ceilings are not in good repair. There is loose plaster/flaking on wall hole repairs.
There is water damage on the ceiling in the living room. I called when there was water leaking from the ceiling over my tv in the living room. No one ever responded. The upstairs neighbor has been in my apartment and
reports that his bathroom is over my living room. You can clearly see the outline of a bathtub and water damage on the ceiling.
There are no proper egress windows. There are 5 windows in the apartment. The windows are not weather tight. They are not capable of being held in position, there is no window hardware to do so. They are not free from
cracked, chipped, peeling, chalking or flaking paint or calk. The kitchen window is falling out of it's casing. Each window has storm windows, screens, and then bars. If there was a fire, one would have to stand on a
piece of furniture, find something to hold the window open, remove the storm windows, remove the screens, and then be met with bars. Only 2 of the 5 windows have hinges on the bars. There is no obvious way to remove
the bars. A person would die before figuring out how to get out of the window.
The front door into the apartment is not weather tight and rodent proof.
The kitchen cabinets are not in good repair. The cabinet under the sink is metal and rusted. The drawer is falling off of it's track and the face of the drawer falls off. The drawer must be lifted in order to open the cabinet. The doors fall off of the cabinets over the fridge. They are now being held on my extra long screws and duct taped. I have asked for these repairs several times.
There is no ventilation for the stove/oven.in order to cook, even in the dead of winter, the kitchen window must be propped open and several fans run
There is an extension cord used in lieu of permanent wiring running from the electrical outlet on the living room bar to the electrical outlet behind the refrigerator.
There are open holes in the wall behind the refrigerator with garbage and mouse traps in them.
The toilet had to be looked at several times throughtout my tenancy because it rocks back and forth from the toilet to the floor, then the seat itself is loose. The bolts were stripped and the seal was bad.
The "pantry" which is merely an open closet with no shelves in leiu of a linen closet or kitchen cupboards is filled with all of the gas pipes for the building. Whether it is legally required or not, morally and ethically a carbon monoxide detector should be provided.
The toilet paper roll holder and bathroom towel rack fell off several times during my tenancy. The toilet paper roll holder was finally fixed properly. They towel rack still has not been.
The seal on the freezer is bad and the freezer leaks. The repairman that tab sent did not fix this and reported that 'Tab won't notice'.
Flourescent bulbs were left in the pantry when I moved in and never removed.
The globe for the kitchen/dining area light was not hung when I moved in and is missing the screws to do so. It was also left sitting in the pantry.
There are no doors on the bedroom closets.
Tab's website advertises that the building has ceiling fans, hardwood floors and heat included. I have none of these. My unit is the only one in the building to have electric baseboard heaters instead of radiator/boiler
heat. Tab does not compensate my rent during the winter for the heating costs. Cathryn Coburn from Tab reports that the steam pipes that run across my ceiling serve as a source of heat. The steam pipes in the bathroom and kitchen are encased in a wooden casing.in the living room and bedrooms they are not. I did have them insulate the pipes in one bedroom. That was not because the bedroom was too hot. That was because the pipe itself was hot to the touch and my son has a loft bed and was
afraid of getting burned. Heat rises however, and these cannot properly heat the apartment.
In addition, a phone cord is run across the pipes, through holes in the wall, from the living room to the back bedroom. It is under the insulation in the front bedroom. It is held into the holes in the wall by steel wool and calking. This is a plastic cord held in place on hot steam pipes.
I was told that it is my choice to supplement heating the apartment with the electric baseboard heaters, and I could pay for this out of my own pocket. The cost to heat the apartment with electric baseboard heaters was
very high, especially with the windows which are in bad repair and do not hold in heat. Neither does the door to the hallway.
This unit, and the building, is in such disrepair that I am not sure if I even covered it all. I have emails from the last 2 years with repair requests saved. Many repairs were not done with quality, and with question, even legally.
I have tried 4 times to get a housing inspector in the unit. Unfortunately, they work the same hours as I do and I cannot afford to take a day off from work. So I have started posting reviews online and receiving emails from other tenants of Tab Properties with the same issues as me.
Renter beware!!!
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