Apartment Horror Stories: Why Documenting Initial Damage is a Must!

Sometimes an apartment you move into will have some issues. If the issues are severe enough you may just decide not to move in that day and renegotiate with the landlord. After all an apartment with severe maintenance issues was not what they promised to provide in the lease. For example, there was an apartment at one of the properties I managed where the renter arrived on move-in day only to find that the kitchen sink was full of dirty water that wouldn't drain out. The actual problem had nothing to do with the apartment per se. The plumbing lines had backed up. But they still chose not to take possession until the problem was fixed.