Taking Charge of Your New Apartment: Dealing with Unexpected Damage

You're in your car sitting outside the property manager's office. The relief you feel about leaving those roommates behind has you walking on cloud nine. Your lease is signed and the security deposit is already paid. All that's left now is to get the keys. Oh, there's the property manager right on time. You get your keys and rush off to unlock your brand-new apartment. But as you start deciding where to put your pictures and furniture you notice a few minor instances of damage in the apartment. Some floor tiles are cracked in the bathroom. There are one or two mini blinds that open but the mechanism to raise them isn't working. And a few of the plastic drawers in the refrigerator have cracks in them. There's no doubt that you're moving in today as you never want to deal with those roommates again. But what can you do about this damage that you didn't cause? Welcome to Renter Confidential.