Difficult, invasive, landlord and HEAT DOES NOT WORK
Pros
The apartment was only 3 apartments which was nice. The other tenants and neighbors were very nice. The space itself was nice and convenient to transportation.
Cons
The landlord was incredibly difficult. She would make comments about the cleanliness of the apartment and demand to conduct housekeeping inspections, which is not in the lease. She took photos of my toddler's fingerprints on the fridge and small counter spills and send them to me as "documentation" that it was dirty. We had heat under the legal limits for all three years we lived there. We allowed her the opportunity to try and fix it and didn't withhold rent, but it was never fully resolved and the heat was constantly under 64 degrees and sometimes off completely in the dead of winter. She also is refusing to give back our security deposit in full even though she has passed the legal deadline of 14 days without returning it or giving us an itemized list of deductions. The "deductions" she is now claiming include normal wear and tear, dusty windowsills, and a dirty garbage can. She is trying to withhold $500 illegally and we will have to file a complaint in order to try and get it back. This apartment is mediocre and NOT WORTH THE LANDLORD HASSLE! In addition, the gate has been broken for over a year, the backyard is pretty but completely unusable during the warm months because of the bug problem, including dangerous bugs, and there are so many flies on the porch constantly. The dryer never worked properly and now takes more and more quarters to actually dry the load. The basement stairs are a hazard to walk down with no railing. TLDR; the landlord is overbearing and complains about every little thing but does not do the minor or major fixes she needs to do on her part. She also made us pay for repairs without warning us and held our security deposit over us as a way to get us to pay. Causes more emotional distress than the apartment was with. Also, large rent increases each year and an absolutely insane brokers fee.
Advice to the owners
If you cannot let others live in the apartment you own because you are too controlling and obsessive, don't buy a property to rent out. Also, provide legal heat.
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