I have a coworker who loves the phrase “Hah, I win!”  She is our tech, and she’s always fighting with some piece of software or other.  When she finally makes it work, we all get to hear her trademark phrase.

Today, I am borrowing that phrase.

We are moved into our new home, a beautiful townhouse close to a park and Tater’s school.  The townhouse backs onto green space with a pond and plenty of grass and trees.  We have two apple trees (one in front, one in back), a fireplace, central air conditioning, all appliances including washer and dryer, new carpets, designer paint schemes, and windows windows windows. We are sleeping in the townhouse for the third night, and we could not be happier.

But back at the old duplex, things were ugly there at the end.  In the last three weeks mold began growing through the bathroom ceiling,not in the shower.  Something new! The day we were moving out, my city’s code enforcement people came out to inspect, at my request. The property manager came out too. Her first words to me upon entering the almost-empty house were “I hope you’re intending to pay April rent.”  I said we could talk about it, and led the inspector into the bathroom.

Now normally I am not a fan of city code inspectors; they have a job to do, and that job is to find violations.  But in the case of the duplex, violations were rampant and brought danger to my family.  This was a case when I was glad to have the code enforcement people on my side.

The inspector first started in the bathroom, where the property manager swore she didn’t know anything about the mold.  She also claimed that the mold was our fault for not opening the window when we showered, and letting the moisture out.  The inspector was very blunt: the mold problem was not our problem, it was her problem, and that it was pretty obvious that it had been a problem long before we ever moved in.

Next we headed to the basement where the inspector looked at the moldy carpet on the wall that connected to the other duplex.  It was dripping wet, and the inspector looked at the property manager and said, “You don’t mind if I pull this back, do you?” as her gloved hand was on the carpet pulling it right up off the floor, because it was not tacked.  A thick black line of mold abutted the wall and was on the back of the carpet and padding.

The next stop was the big room, which was supposed to be a large bedroom.  I pointed out the lack of egress windows, the single electrical outlet for the very large space, and the lack of heating or any type of ventilation in the room.

The next stop was The Perfect Child’s bedroom, which, while it had a closet (necessary to call a room a bedroom) it had an inappropriately sized egress window and no ladder.  The last stop was the downstairs bathroom, which has no vent, no exhaust vent/fan, but fortunately no mold problem.

The verdict:

• The upstairs bath needed a complete rehab, down to the studs, with appropriate and approved mold removal.
• The downstairs rooms could not be used as bedrooms, unless egress windows, HVAC, and electrical problems were solved.
• The downstairs bathroom would need an exhaust fan and HVAC in order to be compliant.

The bottom line:  the duplex we spent the last nine months in is now condemned for occupancy until the violations are corrected.  The problems with egress, lack of electric and HVAC in the two “bedrooms” in the basement could be left alone, as long as the duplex isn’t advertised as four bedroom, but instead two (the two upstairs).  But there is no other way than correction for the upstairs bathroom mold problem and the downstairs bathroom ventilation problem.

Busted. So busted.

Yes, I broke my lease to move, and I did not give 30 days’ notice.  I do not regret that decision, and I would not change a thing about how we left.  I had alerted the property manager to each and every issue, including the problems in the basement, and was told that the house met code and had been “approved for Section 8.”  I knew the house did not meet code.

They can no longer rent the unit out, even if they still own it in two weeks when the foreclosure sale occurs.  Any new owner will find the condemnation on any title search that is done.  No one will be able to live in that unit until it is repaired.

I win.  Finally.  And I’m glad this whole thing is over, and we are in a better place with a responsive landlord and everything we could want in a family home.  It was certainly a long time coming.  I will never rent from a property management firm/company/individual ever again.  They just don’t care, and they treat tenants like white trash. I am every landlord’s dream tenant.  It’s nice to be treated with respect again.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 4th, 2012 at 10:46 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.