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My front door has a bolt lock and a regular door lock. The first day I moved in my neighbor showed me how to get into my apartment with pretty much anything if my bolt wasn't locked. I addressed my concern with my LL and they said All of their apartments on the site are like this and I "must" use the bolt. Are they legally responsible for the safety of my home if I "forget" or just "don't" use my bolt and only use the regular door lock? I've asked 2 times to fix this problem but they insist that I just "don't forget" to use the bolt lock.
Also I just found mold/mildew in my apartment
(in which I took pictures and a video account of.)
some bluish furry looking and others blackish looking. They sent maintenance and all they did was wipe it down with bleach. And stated 3 days later they will paint over it without even testing to see what type of mold/mildew this is. It even got on some of my clothes.
After work I checked behind their work since they are known for halfway doing things and seen there was still spots on the wall, and the window base had mold on it from puddles of water buildup due to my window being able to "sweat"
(More pictures and another video was made of the halfway job and new mold findings and window mold.)
I stressed my concern about my window when I moved in 2 months ago they claimed to had sealed them but water still finds its way in by "sweating".
I would prefer not to go to legal action but due to these 3 things i need help fast!
1. I feel disgusted with knowing I'm living in a Apartment that has mold/mildew in it. Every since I found it the thought of it makes me itch.
2. I hate that its so easy to access my home if door isn't double locked.
3. I HATE that I'm hearing my wife nag my ear off about this situation and what it is we are gonna do since she's trying to get disability and to keep it short and simple I'm low in cash.
So how can I get out of this unsafe and mold infested place without being sued, charged for new unit, or loss of deposit.
Fix it yourself. If you need to buy a part, send the cost of the parts to the LL. You don't say how your neighbor opened your door, but maybe it's an easy fix. As for the mold, keep the sills dry when the window sweats. Dry up the water and do not let it stand.
If the mold is on an inside wall, check to see if it is wet or damp. Is there a pipe behind it that may have sprung a leak?
Dosn't sound like it's a big deal, live with it and move when the lease is up! Get renter insurance. The law says you need a keyless deadbolt and a keyed lock. The LL hands are tied on this issue.
NO the walls that have the most mold on it are the ones that connect to the outside walls. it sorta floods outside when it rains and the most effected areas are my closets in which they "made" the whole bottom half of the closet doors vents, stating its so they can vent the apt. evenly. I thinks its because they know about this issue along with the locks on the door. Oh speaking of door: knife, bankcards, kroger card, pretty much anything that can fit through the crack. I would fix it myself if they would deduct it from my rent since i've only been here since the middle of Oct. I dont feel problems like this should be my issue. And if its coming thru the walls. why wouldnt they replace the dry wall? Yea i can understand if its not coming back, but I can look at this stuff grow right back in a day or two b/c its in places they forgot to clean and the places they did still have spots.
So as for now the verdict is clean it myself even tho its deeper in the walls. What about the lock issue tho? The LL said all their doors are like this on the complex...? Why???? If thats the case why even have 2 locks? If the law says you have to have 2 locks shouldn't they both work? and if not who's responsible, my insurance?
I don't know what to do about the mold. But the stupidist law on the books is about the locks. a keyless deadbolt keeps everybody out when your at home, but when you leave the only lock is the POS keyed doorlock that anybody can get through.
Personally i can deal with personal security and i would like to deadbolt the door when i leave.
Lawmakers have chosen personal security when at home over property security when away. Which is a logical choice. buy renter insurance
ok calm down here .. easy fix and the LL will pay for it ..
1 gallon of bleach.. wash the walls involved with that .. then dry them carefully
then go buy some KILZ
thats a sealer/coater that stops the mold from doing a grow back on the walls .. that about $23.00 a can where I live .. you deduct that cost from the rent .. send him a copy of the reciept and tell him that it was to clean the mold and mildew off your walls and prevent it from growing back ..
and then go get a DEhumidfier .. and use it .. always .. trust me its effective .. maybe you can get him to pay for it but not likely .. and there you have it .. your empowered because you can fix the issues yourself ..
As for the lock .. you can adjust the stopper on the walll.. take it off and put a shim behind the stopper then put the stopper back on now your door will catch and it makes it harder to get into the place ..
OR you buy a double keyed deadboalt and use that on the door lock part .. you have to use a key to get in or out .. and dont lose your keys .. see? easy fix ..
NO the walls that have the most mold on it are the ones that connect to the outside walls. it sorta floods outside when it rains and the most effected areas are my closets in which they "made" the whole bottom half of the closet doors vents, stating its so they can vent the apt. evenly. I thinks its because they know about this issue along with the locks on the door. Oh speaking of door: knife, bankcards, kroger card, pretty much anything that can fit through the crack. I would fix it myself if they would deduct it from my rent since i've only been here since the middle of Oct. I dont feel problems like this should be my issue. And if its coming thru the walls. why wouldnt they replace the dry wall? Yea i can understand if its not coming back, but I can look at this stuff grow right back in a day or two b/c its in places they forgot to clean and the places they did still have spots.
If you have flooded areas outside causing the rain to penetrate the structure and the LL keeps "fixing this" - personally I would move at the end of the lease. This IS a structure problem. BUT document whenever it rains if you can and get dated pictures and/or video of the flooded areas and mold appearance if anything comes up after you move in case they do not return your deposit and you need to go to court.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brainstorm_gone_bad
So as for now the verdict is clean it myself even tho its deeper in the walls. What about the lock issue tho? The LL said all their doors are like this on the complex...? Why???? If thats the case why even have 2 locks? If the law says you have to have 2 locks shouldn't they both work? and if not who's responsible, my insurance?
Your insurance is most likely only responsible for your contents and if the deadbolt is not thrown and something is taken, they might not pay. There are a lot of properties such as yours, where the original locksets do not have the latches that are "credit card proof", and LL everywhere were ordered to install deadbolts in addition to the latches. You might be able to pick up a new latch for your lockset with the extra piece that hits the strikeplate and keeps the latch from being retracted with credit cards etc., from a locksmith relatively cheap.
The locksets that you have are all the LL was required to do.
I saw many people giving you advice to fix it yourself and deduct from your rent. I feel it necessary to point out that this is not legal in all states. The OP didn't say where they were, that I saw. In Idaho, you can't "fix and deduct" without authorization (except for fixing smoke detectors, for some reason) ...the landlord can evict you for not paying rent in full if you try. Better find out your state's laws before doing this.
Regular locks are pretty easy to get through, learn to use the deadbolt regularly. I know several people, who are not criminals, who can get into most older non-deadbolted houses with only a credit card.
I'm not sure what law you are talking about on rentals requiring a "non-keyed deadbolt". We have no such law in Idaho. All our rentals have normal keyed deadbolts.
I saw many people giving you advice to fix it yourself and deduct from your rent. I feel it necessary to point out that this is not legal in all states. The OP didn't say where they were, that I saw. In Idaho, you can't "fix and deduct" without authorization (except for fixing smoke detectors, for some reason) ...the landlord can evict you for not paying rent in full if you try. Better find out your state's laws before doing this.
Regular locks are pretty easy to get through, learn to use the deadbolt regularly. I know several people, who are not criminals, who can get into most older non-deadbolted houses with only a credit card.
I'm not sure what law you are talking about on rentals requiring a "non-keyed deadbolt". We have no such law in Idaho. All our rentals have normal keyed deadbolts.
the mold fix is something most LL would like to ingore but a can of Kilz and some effort on the tenants part goes along way to makeing the LL less an orge and the tenant empowered .. Helpless tenants are as big a pia as the LL who ingores the complaints when they are founded in something that a tenant COULD call a city inspector out to see .. .. I would of course take pictures and such befor cleaning & Kilzing the walls .. mold is not a ingore issue .. despite what the LL says or does .. A good city inspector could shut the building down and revoke a Certf. of Occ really fast .. that stops most slumlords and wanna be slumlords .. .. a gal of Kilz is cheap price to pay for keeping a tenant happy IMHO ..
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and I "must" use the bolt. Are they legally responsible for the safety of my home if I "forget" 
or just "don't" use my bolt and only use the regular door lock
? I've asked 2 times to fix this problem but they insist that I just "don't forget" to use the bolt lock.
) 
