Complaint/action against apartments in Irving,TX (Dallas, Allen: apartment complexes, leasing agent)

[akk_prasad]

Hello,

I recently moved from PA to TX. I took an apartment in Irving,TX. I have lived here for almost 2 months so far and I did not like it here.The main problem is with management.

#1. The apartment was not cleaned properly when I moved in. They said, they will clean it one more time and did not happen. They had all used sandals/shoes on the wardrobe and etc.
#2. There were few problem ( like did not have shower curtain, fire place was not cleaned and etc) and they took 20 days to fix the problems but their response time is 24-48 hrs.
#3. The heater did not work for few days. They sent maintenance guy to fix the problem after few days. I had to live in cold weather with 4 yrs daughter day or two. I had to buy room heater in the meantime.
#4. I received an electricity bill for last month and it was $270 (the usage was 2,500k Watts). Upon talking to service provider and oncur, it seems to be an issue with the heater motor. I did some test (turning off/on the heater for few hours to find the usage) and found that it is an issue with the motor. I also checked with other neighbors and they usage was 800-1000k Watts but mine getting more even though my usage is less compare to others. My main concern is that I don't know how many days the maintenance guys will take time to fix the problem. I can't afford these bills. Neighbors mentioned that this is a very common thing here. Some of them raised the service tickets 2-3 months ago for some issues in their apartments and no one has showed up to fix the issue.

I am looking for some help/advise here on what can be done to fix the problem...

#1. I informed the maintenance team and raised the service tickets, which is their standard process. Did not work.
#2. I informed in the leasing office and they noted the problem. No action taken.
#3. I can't vacant the apartment as there is a 12 month lease. Only sub lease is an option. Or pay remaining 10 months rent and vacant.

I don't know what else to do. Is there any government office or officials that can help me to talk to the management to fix the problem? Or help me to vacant the apartments without paying that 10 months rent?

Any help/suggestion/advise is greatly appreciated.

[ChristieP]

https://txtenants.org/

The Texas Tenants' Union website gives a lot of the state rules, and also has complaint processes.

[RedTexanTea]

Do you know who the owner of the complex is? This should be on their website. You can call the corporate office which should be a location other than the apartment management you have been dealing with to address the concerns they are not fixing.

Also about the 1 year lease, take a look at your lease and see what the break lease language is. Typically with apartments in Texas it looks something like this.

You have to give 60 notice to move, pay a break lease fee which is usually 85 to 100% of the monthly rent, plus pay back any rent concessions.

So it would be 2 months + 1 month break lease fee + rent concessions.

Now your lease may not read like this but this is how a lot of apartment complexes in the DFW area write their leases, with a lease break fee but it is super pricey.

[TeamLynn]

I think this is every apartment I've ever lived in. These days there are more renters than places to rent. Rents are going up. It sucks but I think that is something you probably have to live with. I may be wrong but look at the online reviews. No one ever seems happy with their super.

Maybe you are lucky and find the exception, but I don't think there is a lot you can do, other than move next year. Put in your notice now and ask them if they ever need your apartment early, you want out early

Read your lease, know it backwards and forwards.

On the cleaning issue, not much you can do about it now. Next time don't move it or accept the apartment until you are satisfied. Walk thru with your leasing agent. They don't get any bonus until it is leased, so they are perhaps motivated until you move in, then chances are they don't care.

[Floridaherbgirl]

I am not sure if this will help - because I am not sure where you work but....
I have rented at The Lofts @ Watters Creek, Dallas/Allen and The Cortona aka Lantower Corona Dallas/Fairview - both have been wonderful for management and/or maintenance requests. The Lofts is about $300 higher a month. The Cortona I think is the best deal in the area.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by akk_prasad

#2. There were few problem ( like did not have shower curtain, fire place was not cleaned and etc) and they took 20 days to fix the problems but their response time is 24-48 hrs.
#3. The heater did not work for few days. They sent maintenance guy to fix the problem after few days. I had to live in cold weather with 4 yrs daughter day or two. I had to buy room heater in the meantime.

Another poster referred you to the Texas Tenant's Union. That's a good place to start.


A few items:


1.) A non-working heater in weather like this is a big problem. Back when I was renting (a long time ago) you could pro-rate your rent to adjust for days when the apartment wasn't livable due to certain issues (such as the water not working or power being out) due to circumstances beyond your control (this doesn't work if you simply don't pay the bill). Research to see whether that's still a thing and demand that your rent for that month be pro-rated. I would also present management with the receipt for the heater you had to buy and get them to compensate you. I have pro-rated rent in the past and withheld it altogether (it was legal) for issues like that.


2.) The apartment being dirty and having someone else's stuff in it is gross but it's nowhere near as big an issue as the lack of heating. Focus on that problem.


3.) Apartments here don't usually come with shower curtains. You have to provide your own. Don't complain about that anymore; it makes your other legitimate complaints less impactful.

[akk_prasad]

thank you everyone for your suggestions and reply. Really appreciate it.

[loves2read]

You would not want to use a shower curtain used by someone else--
Gross...
Bad enough to have the apartment dirty when you moved in...
A reused shower curtain is just more gross...

[akk_prasad]

I would not want to use some one else shower curtain either :-). I have new set of shower curtains and liner. :-)

It was a typo. It was shower curtain rod to which I hang the shower curtain.

I am trying to correct it by editing the post. But, I did not see any option. :-(

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by akk_prasad

I would not want to use some one else shower curtain either :-). I have new set of shower curtains and liner. :-)

It was a typo. It was shower curtain rod to which I hang the shower curtain.

I am trying to correct it by editing the post. But, I did not see any option. :-(

Understood...yeah, I'd be annoyed by that too. But focus on the heater.