So Mad...have to take down Christmas Tree!

[Sunshine73]

I'm so flipping mad right now I can't even see straight. Dh and I have been looking for another place to live but until we find somewhere we're stuck here in this crappy little apartment.

In the last 4 months alone I have had: raw sewage backed up in my bathtub, a major plumbing issue in the kitchen sink, the wall collapsed around my bathtub (not just tiles falling off...but the wall fell in due to leaks in the walls), the landlord put a hole in the bottom of the cabinet under my sink so I can't use one of the few cabinets that I actually have, and we went several days without hot water.

I've tried to be patient. I really have. The issue with the kitchen sink isn't completely resolved (though they tell me "they'll get to it"), the wall in the bathroom finally got fixed after nearly 2 months of having this HUGE gaping hole in the wall (they said the hole was "no big deal"), the hole under the sink never got fixed at all, and the hot water issue? Well, we were told anyone could go without hot water for a few days (they didn't want to deal with it).

So, today I come home and find a notice on my door saying that starting Tuesday, they are going to be replacing the windows in our building. Fine, great, nothing in my apartment is working properly but buy new windows...fandamtastic. BUT. We have to move all of our furniture and personal effects at least 2 to 3 feet away from the windows and even then, they spelled out the they're not responsible for breakage of personal items that you leave out...which means that we have to spend the weekend taking our Christmas tree and all of our decorations down.

I'm so frustrated. Who in their right mind decides to replace windows in the middle of December in ILLINOIS?

I.HATE.THIS.!!!!!!!!

[Annette1990]

This is terrible. I am sorry to here this. Some people are just not responsible enough to be landlords. They want their money but the heck with fixing things. I hope you can find a new place to live soon. Sounds like these people are jokers. I would also in the meantime look into this matter a little more. For example..with the leaks, the sewage and things caving in so to speak is hazardous to your health. I would check with the local city department or even an attorney. You have rights as a renter this is a fact.

[kelly ann]

I totally understand what you're going through.

Just a suggestion though, could you spend christmas with family??

[novelist]

:-xHow awful! It's disrupting enough as it is, but anyone who wants to come into someone's apartment to rplace windows thid time of year is nuts! It's not like you live in Florida, or some other warm place. So sorry you have to go through this now!

[MrsH]

That is horrible. I just did a google search for Illinois Renter Rights and I will send you a PM with a link that I hope will help. We'll all keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

[Head Elf]

Mrs H you are truly the angel they say you are. If you hadn't suggested it I was going to. Whoever is the landlord does not have a clue or want to make things difficult and is a complete scrooge. I suggest getting a lawyer and taking pictures of all the damage along with keeping a journal of when all this happened. I am so sorry this is happening to you and your family this time of the year. Good luck! What part of Illinois do you reside in?

[Maebeary]

That's terrible! I hope that what Mrs. H sent helps a lot.

[Christmasstar]

That is all so frustrating!
You need a hug, come here and let me give you a big one...:give:

Don't loose your Christmas spirit because of Mr.Scrooge!

[Sunshine73]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts, prayers and support. I knew that if anyone would understand how upsetting it was for me to be told that I have to take down my Christmas decorations two weeks before Christmas, it would be my buddies at MMC. I was so upset last night that I was crying and I'm sure the neighbors would have thought that my best friend had died, but it's been such a rough few months (all the apartment stresses, my DH being out of work for 11 weeks with a nasty work-related injury that developed into a staph infection, my FIL dying, my brother off and serving in the war) that I just really needed Christmas this year.

As silly as this sounds, getting that notice was like someone coming in and stealing Christmas from me. Now, I know logically that I can put the Christmas tree and all my decorations back up but that takes time away from other holiday activities that I had planned (so does taking the decorations down). I'm just completely bummed, irritated, frustrated, you name it.

I've lived here for about 8 years or so and in all that time things have never been like this but a new owner recently took possession of the buildings and things have been going downhill ever since. :(

I'm trying to keep my Christmas spirit but it's hard when it feels like the Grinch is in charge of your life, kwim?

[sila]

im at outraged at this!!!!
i hope some of the good advice already given helps you
meanwhile try and keepyour spirits up i know thats easy to say
when things get too much come on here and chat to us xxxxxxxxxxxx
my parents went through something similar last xmas when their council decided to refurbish their flat before xmas with new heaters, bathroom and kichen it was a nightmare and they are in their 70 s.

[joyful]

(((((((((hugs))))))))))

I understand and I truly hope that things get straightened out for you.

:)

[Head Elf]

I know that all of us will share our decorations and trees with you. There is a positive about this. You don't have to clean up, or take down any decorations. All the work will be done for you by your friends at MMC. Don't let the scrooge get you down. Enjoy our thoughts, decorations and trees with us. Be our Guest. Just enjoy the holidays with us.:dance:

[Holiday]

((((((Sunshine)))))) I am so sorry to hear about all this. I would be totally ticked, & disappointed too! I hope you can keep up your Christmas spirit, even with the scrooge being your landlord! :( We'll do all we can to help! I guess all you can do is look on the bright side of things, be thankful for what you have & hopefully you & your hubby can have a nice Christmas together! :smile:

[kelly ann]

(((((hugs)))))

I totally understand. In my last house I went without hot water for 5 months, luckily we had an electric shower because that's where i had to wash the dishes (i know!!) etc. The house had mice, damp, the owner had the bathroom window sealed up and we still havent a clue why. It became infested with beetles and other insects because of the damp. the local council wouldnt help us, i became so depressed. i ended up having to refuse to pay the rent and thank god the housing association gave us a house. i wish you the very best of luck, there's always a silver lining.

[kidzrme]

I am so sorry that all of these terrible things keep happening to you. They say that the Lord does not give us more than we can handle, but sometimes it seems like he is forgetting that we are only human....You are in my thoughts and prayers.

[kelly ann]

Did you have a nice christmas after, sunshine73?

[Sunshine73]

Thanks everyone! I did have a nice Christmas after all! It got a bit worse before it got better though. :-?

As I posted, they were supposed to begin work on our windows on Dec. 12. On December 11 we came home from our nephew's Christmas program to find that the notices on the main building doors regarding the window replacement had been removed.

I knew the work crew was behind schedule in the other apartment building and I wondered if they removed the notices because the work was supposed to start the next morning or if they'd removed them because they weren't going to be starting on our building on schedule. However, there were no notices on our apartment doors to let us know what was going on. :?

So, Dh said before we got into taking our tree down and moving all of our things, he'd go track down the owner and ask some questions. Good thing he did. The landlord told him that they were way behind schedule and probably wouldn't be getting to us until the 20 or 21. YIKES!

My Dh told him that there was no way on earth that he was going to come home and tell his wife that she was going to have to remove all of her Christmas decorations three days before Christmas. My DH asked the guy to see it from our point of view...yes, these are his buidlings, but this is our home. We live here, we have plans, celebrations, etc. and that it's unreasonable to expect people to completely rearrange their holiday plans/lives at the last minute like that.

The landlord agreed that, for people like DH and I, this was a major inconvenience. He said that most people who live in the buildings are single or older couples and they don't generally decorate as much for the holidays as DH and I do. So, he agreed to pur our apartment off until after Christmas.

He stopped by last night to ask if it was okay if they came and did our windows on Monday...which will work out perfectly because we're taking our Christmas stuff down this weekend and DH will actually be home Monday morning when they're doing the work.

Now, if we could just get them to pony up on some of the other problems, we'd be in business...

[sugarplum fairy]

Bless your heart! That is awful. I hope you can find a new place to live very soon.

[HolyNight7]

I'm so sorry sunshine that all this happened to you and your family over the holidays. I resent your landlord saying single apartment dwellers don't decorate much. I'm am single and I am an apartment dweller and I decorate! I would be extremely upset if I couldn't have my tree up because of maintenance. How Rude!