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The lock on my apartment door needs to be repaired or replaced and I'm not sure if the bill should be paid by my landlord or my roommate (or myself if the only alternative is to go without a lock). Here are the long details of the situation:
My roommate will be moving out of the apartment and country six days from now at the end of the month. Over the weekend, her leg became swollen and she decided to go to the emergency room. She couldn't open the door from the inside even though the lock seemed to be working fine and she believes heat may have sealed it shut. The lock has acted a little wonky before although we've always been able to open it and the landlord was aware of the issues. My roommate called the landlord and when he didn't pick up she had the fire department open it, damaging the lock.
The landlord called back shortly after and told her it was her responsibility to call a locksmith and have it fixed. He was less than sympathetic because about a month ago she cited health reasons after letting the bathtub overflow flooding the three units underneath us.
She called a locksmith to look at the door and get a quote but did not actually have the work done. She offered to call around to other locksmiths and to try to diy fix it but none of that was done and she has now gone out of town for the next five days. She also feels that since she is moving out it isn't really her responsibility and she should only have to pay a share of the bill (and that out of the goodness of her heart).
So I'm now in a situation where I have no lock on my apartment and will have to have the work done while she's away, paying for the whole thing and hoping to be reimbursed. The door wasn't perfect before but it also wasn't this damaged so I'm not sure if it would be appropriate to try to fight the landlord on it. I also can't ask him to deduct it from her security deposit as she lost that for the water damage. I'm also not sure what recourse I would have with someone leaving the country.
I might get stuck with the entire bill myself but hopefully someone with more landlord, tenant, roommate knowledge can let me know who I should even be arguing with.
This is why I'm glad I never lived with roommates.
I think ideally, you should both split it. You knew there was an issue with the lock but never requested that the landlord fix it. She was locked in the apartment and had FDNY come to unlock the door? What if it was you that was stuck, and you had to do the same thing? Would you expect her to split the cost with you?
And a flooding bathtub due to a health issue? Really? Our neighbors upstairs did this to us a couple years ago and it was not a fun experience. In fact, it caused our ceiling to cave in and bubbled all the paint on our newly painted walls.
We told the landlord about the door and he made some minor tweaks but didn't actually replace the lock or anything. That's why I thought it might be on him.
I'm a little concerned that since she's moving out and doesn't really care if we have a lock I might end up completely responsible.
And I agree with your attitude on the bathtub. One of the more frustrating issues when discussing this is that she thinks her entire security deposit was too much to take for that much damage and that he's being unfair.
If it's the original lock, the landlord is responsible.
If it is a lock that you added, you and/or your roommate are responsible and can figure out the cost amongst yourselves.
If it's the original lock, the landlord is responsible.
If it is a lock that you added, you and/or your roommate are responsible and can figure out the cost amongst yourselves.
I think she'll
A) Have a really hard time getting the landlord to pay up
or
B) Have a really hard time getting her security deposit back
MC - unfortunately, I agree with you, but if I were her, I would pay the bill & deduct it from next month's rent. I work in property management & it's usually the case that the landlord pays for an original lock (unless a tenant destroys it on purpose or something), but in any case, she should check her lease to be sure. If he's a jerk, it won't matter either way because like you said, he will just give her problems about it anyway.
I have a lock like that. Super has pulled out the huge old mortise took it away and did some voodoo on it and reinstalled it. It's pretty much the same but we have learned to turn it JUST SO.
Eventually it will cause a problem.
All this because, to parallel your situation, I know that as long as I accept the status quo, I am respnsible but if I complain again then I can transfer the responsibility back to the co-op. My problemm though is easier...if the worst ha[ppens, I'll be locked OUT rather than IN.
All that said, anyone who would overrun a tub and blame health is a dangerous loose cannon and she most likely was too stupid to get out of the apartment when a nomal thinking person would have had no trouble.
You cannot blame the landlord unless you told him that his "repair" didn't work. You might blame yourself if you KNEW the repair didn't work but if you think YOU could easily have gotten out you might blame your roomate.
Eat the loss and say goodbye to the dimwit. Not worth the trouble of suing. If she will share the cost with you, accept the offer even if she plays Hearts and Flpowers about her generosity...just keep a vomit bag nearby!
Now I'm going through this right now I called my landlord yesterday to let her know that my key wasn't working and as soon as she picked up I said nvm and hung up ( but I did let her know why I called in the first place)...the phone and now I work from 4pm-12am and don't get home until 1-1:30 sometimes it's now 4:37 am idk when exactly the office opens but oh boy they are ganna have a heap of **** to hear from me man I've been calling about my water when I first moved in for the first three weeks of my being here and I've only been here for 3w and a few days and then today I called cause the "on site" laundry washer didn't work and I know they are already tired of me complaining so then I come home and find I'm locked out of my house and the emergency line is a f***ing voice mail it's freezing right now it's 9 degrees in Cleveland Ohio and I don't like being cold I'm tired and I have to work 12pm to 8pm tomorrow and I still haven't even got to take my jacket off and wind down from Friday I really jump ship when I signed that lease cause this is crazy and I will be re reading this lease as soon as this door gets opened
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