This is going to be a little long...

I've lived in the same apartment complex for 8 years. Two years ago we had to move out of our apartment because the plumbing went bad and our bathtubs were filling up with sewage. We wanted to stay where we were for the excellent school across the street, so we moved to another apartment here, in a different building. Last year we had to move out of that apartment because the plumbing was bad under the foundation. I couldn't walk at the time so we had to move into the apartment next to the one with the bad plumbing. We ended up signing a lease for another year because we didn't have much choice since I couldn't even go looking at other places to live and we had spent all our cash on my medical bills.

My kitchen has had a water leak since just before Thanksgiving. They keep working on it but nothing gets fixed. Finally today they brought in an augur (that roto-rooter thingie) and went at it for about an hour and now they've decided that the plumbing has a problem under the foundation. I shouldn't be surprised. Really I shouldn't. But we're in the process of buying a house...just waiting on our tax refund and then we'll be house hunting. And so we were planning to be here another two months or three at the most. If they move us to another unit they'll insist on us signing a new lease for at least 8 months.

I don't know what to do...put our stuff in storage and stay at my mom's house, maybe...but I'm really allergic to cats and that will mean asthma attacks and dr trips and besides we'll have to rent a moving truck twice, once to put the stuff in storage, again to get it out, plus hope nobody steals everything we own while it's there, plus figure out school stuff because with DH's schedule and one car we wouldn't be able to get the kids to school on time.

I hope they're wrong, I hope they bring in a real plumber and it's fixable without moving us. I won't know until tomorrow.

How long do you have on your lease now? I would say that if they move you to another unit, that you shouldn't have to sign anything that would be any longer then you have left on the lease you already have. I would try to push that. I don't know who you deal with, but if you are good tenets and you are dealing with the building owners you should be able to work something out.

That all really stinks. Since you've been a good tenant for so long, won't they work with you if they know you are buying a house?

They're so desperate to keep people here that they won't even evict troublemakers anymore, they just move them around the complex and hope nobody complains. (we have to walk through a cloud of our neighbors' pot smoke to get to our front door, they moved them to the apartment above ours after everyone in their old building complained that they wouldn't live near them anymore) Also, the building next to mine burned two months ago so they've got 8 units that they can't use right now (4 because they're a pile of ashes, the other 4 only because the front doors all burned up, and the stairs). Anyhow, they're not the people who were running the place when we moved in, this is a less reputable company than that and I'm afraid if I sign anything with the new people, they'll change numbers on it to try to make us stay.

I just talked to my dad and he said of course we could stay there if we had to, he's got two empty bedrooms now, and he's retired and he would have time to drive the girls to school.

I'm so sorry to hear this....you've certainly been through enough at this point.

Here's my thought. If you have to move because of a plumbing problem, wouldn't you legally only have to finish up the time you have left on your currrnt lease? I mean, it's not your choice to move out of this particular apartment.

It's the landlord's responsibility to make your apartment safe and up to code and if he can't then he needs to either provide another apartment or cancel the current lease.

I'd check to see what your legal rights are where this is concerned.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for ya!

See if you can go to your doctor for something for the cat allergy. My brother is really allergic and he and his wife have 5 cats (she is a cat lover to say the least and he's turned into one two). As long as he takes his allergy meds he is fine.

DO NOT sign a new lease. It will be worth all the hassle of moving stuff a couple of times and being in just a couple of bedrooms to be able to be in your own house.

Just my opinion

I'm not going to sign another lease...we've already done the paperwork for the mortgage and we're going to have enough for all the closing costs and all that this year and besides, I want that $8000 credit for buying the house.

I just spent a long time reading over my lease and basically it says if the apartment becomes unlivable they can terminate the lease with 5 days notice and prorate our remaining rent. So from what I understand, the lease can't be transferred to another apartment but if they have to tear up the foundation they'll have to let us out of the lease and give a little of our money back. I hope. Apartments here pretty much do what they want, and unless you can afford a lawyer there's nothing you can do about it.

Look into rental laws. I know in VA that if they have to move you,cause of bad plumbing, one you don't have to pay rent until they fix it and two if they have to move you to another apartment, cause yours is uninhabitable, they can't make you sign another lease. I just don't see how what they are doing is legal.

Sorry your having such bad luck lately. I hope things get better for you and your family!
Definately look up renters rights in your state. There is alot of helpful info out there. And legal aid should be able to give free consultation over the phone.
My mom has been in a crappy situation with her landlord and these 2 sources have been very helpful.
Good luck!

I say move to your Dad's.Like someone already said...It will be worth it once you get your new home!!

Yesterday they took apart the outside wall by the kitchen window so they could get to more pipes and they said they got the pipes cleared. There's a space between the kitchen floor tiles where there didn't used to be, so I think maybe they broke something under the floor...but as long as it stays together long enough for us to get our tax money and find a house, I'll be happy.

I read all sorts of stuff looking for what to do in this kind of situation, and I learned something which I haven't been doing. When you need something fixed by your landlord, you need to make the request in writing. I haven't been doing that because the office staff acts like that's a hostile gesture...but apparently if a repair is needed that's bad enough that the landlord is going to make you move instead, in TX if you have already given them a written repair request and they move you instead of fixing it, the landlord has to pay your moving expenses. So I thought I'd share that in case it was useful to anyone else.

In my state if you need something repaired, you have to put the request in writting. If the landlord doesn't make the repairs, you can put your rent in escrow. Pay the rent to the clerk of courts and they hold it until the landlord takes care of the problem. It kind pf lights a fire under their butt to get it done. When they make the repairs they get the rent!

Hang in there girl! A couple more months and you'll be free of that place!