Review of Phil Henry Sadlo – corner of 4th Street and N Martin Luther King Blvd, 40508
“Here are some of the transgressions:
1. He took about 10 months to replace our broken stove, leaving us with half of it working. He only replaced it when it was time to show the apartment.
2. We have reason to believe he came in unannounced because he did take away the stove coils, yet a month later they mysteriously reappeared in the drawer, unfixed.
3. When we moved in, the parking lot had a sign that says “security cameras in operation”. That is a lie, there were no cameras at the time. My car has been broken into twice, my roommates bike has been stolen twice. Our neighbor’s car window was even smashed in. Instead of being empathetic, or even helpful, the building manager berated us like we were children. My roommate also tried contacting the landlord many many times and he will refuse to respond. Finally, when it was closer to our moving out, maybe 11 months into our lease, they installed cameras. That was when my roommate’s second bike was stolen. We asked to have the security footage reviewed but they gave us a lame excuse saying they do not have time to look over footage for a bike. My roommate again called him and left messages. No response.
4. No sense of ethics or basic tenant safety; It was the during the time when everything was shut down, mid-May (our lease was up in August). Henry insisted on conducting apartment tours during a global pandemic. We begged him to please let us make a video or do some kind of virtual tour. We even made a video to his specifications in hopes that he would forgo physical apartment tours. He absolutely refused stating that “there was nothing he could do”. I told him this was extremely unethical and that he had all the power. He was offended that I called him unethical. He then sent out a mass text to the residents stating apartment tours were mandatory, but that they will take “precautions” such as wiping down surfaces. He scheduled us for 1 apartment tour and we begged again for him to not do this to us during the height of the pandemic. He refused. The day of, he actually brought several groups of people to come through, we definitely did not know about that, and all we could do is stand back and watch in horror.
5. Our apartment was dirty and in disrepair when we moved in. I even emphasized to the building manager that the apartment should be cleaned when we got there. There was hairs and pee flecks in the bathroom, the tub was disgusting and moldy, the kitchen still had food stains in the microwave and fridge, the floors were dirty. The window sills were full of dead flies and webs. What was worse is that now that the furniture was moved out of the way, we could see that the tile was broken and would often cut into our feet. We had to lay awkward pieces of rug to protect our feet. When we asked about why the apartment was so dirty, the building manager blamed the previous tenant for not cleaning well enough. I’m sorry but aren’t y’all responsible? She then gave us $40 to buy cleaning supplies. I also inquired about the walls being scuffed, yellowed, full of exposed plaster. She gave us two buckets of paint and said that if we painted our unit she would give us $100. No joke.
6. The mail was impossible; there are no signs to indicate to external carriers, or even USPS that the mail room was out back and required a key. There were a couple weeks when I stopped receiving my mail. My apartment is on the ground floor and several times the postman will open my BROKEN door thinking it was the mail room. Yes, I was topless once when that happened and it was embarrassing and scary.
7. The door is broken; anyone that wiggles it hard enough can get in. Mailman as example. I was again, blamed for the broken door. This time it was because “no one uses that door, you just have to lock it”. I told her it would not lock. She came by and held the door closed from the outside and told me to lock it. I couldn’t. She said “ok so it’s fixed!” I said no. She Walked Away. I bought a latch from the hardware store and installed it myself. I started to put a bag of gravel in front of it to stop it from swinging open during strong winds. The most frustrating parts was not being able to get responses from the landlord, like during our break-ins. We could only talk to them, only when it suited him (regarding the walkthroughs). Our safety and well being meant nothing to them. They would do as little as they can. Exploitative and unreasonable people.”
<<<SURVEY RESPONSES>>>
Question/statement: | Answer: |
---|---|
1. What type of housing? | Residential |
2. How long have you rented here? | 1 year |
3. Are you still renting here? | No |
4. What is your monthly rent? | $800-900 |
5. My rental space was in good condition when I moved in. | 2 – disagree |
6. I have not had issues with pests. | 1 – strongly disagree |
7. Maintenance issues are dealt with in a timely manner. | 1 – strongly disagree |
8. My landlord is pleasant and respectful. | 1 – strongly disagree |
9. My landlord responds to messages within… | 48+ hours |
10. Has your landlord ever entered your rental space with less than 24 hours’ notice? | Yes |
11. Has your landlord ever entered your rental space unannounced? | Yes |
12. Have you ever felt unsafe in your rental space because of your landlord? | Yes |
13. My landlord explained important lease items to me. | 3 – neutral |
14. Has your landlord ever broken any lease agreements? | Yes |
15. How much of your security deposit did your landlord return? | more than 50% |
16. My landlord kept a portion of my security deposit, but they were justified. | 4 – agree |