|
Review content:
I?ve rented from an Uptown apartment building (circa 1915) for many years. I used to love living here, but now my $800/mo seems an extravagant waste. I'm looking to move because:
* Several outlets are not grounded. After my UPS and computer were fried, I complained. An electrician and a Hornig maintenance employee verified the outlet lacked grounding. I was scolded for using ""too many"" appliances and advised computers often short out due to static. The electrician said ""off the record"" to use an extension cord from a grounded outlet to power my replacement computer. I later learned this would violate my lease.
* The electric service for each apartment is spliced from a single input in the basement. I'm no electrician, but to peer into the electrical closet is to see 100 years of history. I've been told much of our wiring is original to the building, or at least very old. A hair dryer, one light, and a television can cause a fuse to burn out. I have to change mine in the basement about once every three months. I have repeatedly been told not to use more than one appliance at a time.
* When my refrigerator died one Friday, my building manager offered a replacement the following week. Not wanting to lose a $100 in groceries, I insisted on an immediate replacement. I was told Hornig doesn't keep stock refrigerators, and another was brought in from a vacant apartment. It fit the space and I was happy with it. The manager insisted on a new fridge. It did not fit the space, so he sawed a hole in the wall and the kitchen door trim. This hole was not been patched. The freezer door faced the wrong way, so the manager changed the door's orientation. It now it swings open every few days while I'm at work.
* The fridge died due to a faulty wall outlet, which runs off 30 amp service. As a temporary measure, the fridge was plugged in to a 15 amp wall plug. After two months, the bad outlet has not been fixed and my written request for explanation or repair has been ignored.
* Last summer, my kitchen sink clogged. I cleared it. I learned the drainpipe was broken. My building manager demolished a section of the kitchen wall to replace the pipe and left the hole to ""air out for a few days."" After two weeks, the debris remained, so I cleaned it up. The wall was not repaired for several weeks. After repeated requests for a patch, I bought particle board and patched it myself.
* Months later, I was repeatedly shocked by stray current when I touched the sink and the floor. Eventually, I heard a ?POP!? and smelled electrical smoke. The manager knocked out another portion of kitchen wall and pulled back wallboards to replace faulty wiring. Debris remained after the repair and the hole and wallboards were left. After two months of complaints, the hole was patched. I was told someone would repaint the wall. It never happened.
* During the kitchen wall repair, an electrical outlet was installed under the sink --3 inches from the stove gas outlet valve. Safe?
* Recently, Hornig told me I hadn't paid my rent. I am rarely if ever late with payments and walk my check to the Hornig office each month. I suggested the check was lost or stuck in the Hornig mail slot. Staff (rudely) suggested I hadn't paid and that I owed a late fee. I stopped payment and walked another check to the office. When I complained to management and insisted I wouldn?t pay a late fee, I was told ""We're human, too."" I now photograph myself placing rent in the Hornig mailbox.
* The roof leaks. Hornig screws dry wall over the ceiling water damage, which is spreading.
* I had a broken window for 6 months during winter.
* The fire door leading to my floor has had broken hydraulic arm for the past 4 months. It makes a loud ""clunk"" noise. The adjacent tenant props the door open at all times.
* Not all pipes in my building are copper -- many are lead.
* I have surrendered a cabinet in my kitchen to a family of mice.
|