Renting an apartment should be a smooth experience. If
something stops functioning properly, you expect the landlord to step in
instantly and order the necessary repairs. But in many cases, you’ll have to
wait for longer than you anticipated for the landlord to finally send someone
to fix the issue. So what should you do? If you’ve been having trouble with
little issues that require fixing in your apartment and the landlord doesn’t
seem to be in a hurry to fix them, we’ll give you a few tips on how to get the
management or landlord to send someone to fix it.
- Complain
in writing
Sometimes, complaining to your landlord by word of mouth simply will not cut it. You just have to do that in writing and they’ll pay more attention to it. If they have a complaints box in the building then write something brief and drop it there. You could get a response immediately. You may also write a formal letter to the management if you are not dealing directly with the landlord. It may get them to consider your apartment repairs urgent. - Withhold
rent
Withholding rent because certain repairs are yet to be done in your apartment may work in some cases. But in case the case gets serious and you have to go to court to justify your actions, you need to show evidence that you had tried to contact the management to do the repairs but they still failed. So make sure you have written a formal letter requesting the repairs and also take pictures of the conditions which you can present to court. But hopefully, they will make the repairs soon enough because you don’t want the pressure of dealing with a court case while still in school. - Do the
repairs yourself
If you consider yourself a handy person then you can always do the repairs yourself. Before doing the repairs, get an estimate and present it your landlord and request them to send someone to have the work done. If they end up ignoring your request then you can do it and then deduct it from your next rent check. This approach may or may not work in some cases depending on your landlord. Don’t be surprised if your landlord ends up sending you to court. - Move
out
Moving out should be the last resort but it’s still worth considering. There are certain repairs that may endanger your health and even security if they are not done fast. Instead of putting yourself at risk and the landlord is taking ages to send someone over to do the repairs, you can consider moving out to a better apartment. There are lots of students’ apartments that provide quality service. Before moving in, check with the other students to ensure you will not encounter the same problem. Find out if the repairs are done in a quick and effective manner in the new student rentals you are about to consider.
