Articles: House Or Apartment

Dear Consumer Ed: I live on top of the fitness center in an apartment complex. The machines are extremely loud, and my apartment shakes when they are in use. When I moved in, the fitness center hours were 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Recently, a new manager was hired who changed the gym hours to 6 a.m.

Dear Consumer Ed: My landlord now wants to charge us $30 for a new battery for the smoke detector, $90 for three door stoppers, $125 to patch paint for a small area and for water marks that existed before we moved in.  The total bill he’s giving us is for around $1,000.

Dear Consumer Ed: I’ve been looking for a new apartment. The leases that I have read are over 5 pages long and are full of a lot of legal terms that I don’t understand.  What are the most important things I should look out for?

Dear Consumer Ed: I lost my job last year when my company down-sized.  I have gone through all my savings and even borrowed money from relatives, but I just can’t keep up with my mortgage payments.  I’m afraid that the bank will foreclose on my house.  Is there any help available to me?

Dear Consumer Ed: I found an apartment I really like.

Dear Consumer Ed: I had an issue with our septic service and got a quote from a company who said they could fix the problem for $195. After coming out to my property, they told me that additional work would be necessary, which would cost between $2,000-$3,000.

Dear Consumer Ed: I recently moved to a new apartment from out of state. I put in a service request with the property manager because the carpet in my son's room smelled of mold. After looking at the apartment, the property manager realized that the mold issue was serious.

Dear Consumer Ed: The house we rent was foreclosed on and then sold by the bank. There are still 6 months left on the lease and the new owners want to raise the rent and get a new security deposit (even though our original deposit was not returned).

Dear Consumer Ed: In searching for a house to rent for myself and my 18 year-old son, I have encountered application fees of up to $50 per adult living in the house. They also require a move-out fee. Is there any limit as to how much a landlord can charge for these types of fees?

Dear Consumer Ed: If my landlord is late paying me my due full security deposit, can I charge him interest?