I am looking for a way to help my sister in Maryland. She rents an apartment from a private owner of a condominum. She's had a terrible time ever since she moved in about two months ago.
A leasing company manages the property for the owner. When my sister tried to get the key to the apartment a few days earlier prior to moving in, they told her she couldn't because they were getting it cleaned.
To her dismay, on the day she finally she got the keys to the apartment, it was a total mess. She had already given up her other apartment, and so she was stuck.
From the kitchen to the living room, bathrooms, the whole apartment was filthy. She called me in tears that day. I advised her to make notation of everything that was wrong with the apartment and send it to the owner, which she did.
The most disturbing part is that both bathrooms in the apartment are not working. The toilets overflow continuously. My sister has written numerous letters complaining about the problem. Twice a plumber has been sent out. The toilets may work for a day or two, and it is back to the same problem.
As I said, there's much more wrong with the apartment, but this is her most pressing issue, especially because she has an 11-year-old daughter at home.
To my mind, it (having to clean up every time after using the bathroom) is an unsanitary condition, and so I have advised her to call the Maryland Department of Health to see if they may have some answers. She called today, got a recording, and left a message.
I wonder if anyone else has any other advice. She is a single mother and is paying a lot of money for this apartment. And the response from the property managers and owner has been dismal, to say the least.
My sister has pictures of the filthy tubs, walls with nails still portruding from when the previous occupants lived there, cow webs in areas of the apartment.
Despite all of this, she got an e-mail from the property manager saying that they had sent two of their agents to review the property before my sister moved in and found it to be just fine.
Yet, they are offering to give her $150 to have the carpet cleaned.
She is frustrated and I am just trying to help her find some answers. Help, anyone?