i work from home and i’ve taken in packages for my neighbor a few times. usually she grabs them on her way upstairs and that’s it.

yesterday she asked if she could leave a lamp with me for someone buying it on marketplace. i said i had meetings all afternoon. she said he wasn’t coming until six, so i agreed. figured i’d hand it over at the door.

he was supposed to come at six and arrived after eight. by then i’d given up waiting to eat and was on the couch with chinese takeout, fiddling with the little ad from my fortune cookie when he knocked.

he wanted to plug the lamp in first, which was fine. then he offered me $20. i told him it wasn’t mine and i’d have to ask her because she hadn’t told me the price.

called her twice. no answer. texted her while this guy stood awkwardly in my doorway. eventually he said he couldn’t wait any longer and left.

she replied about an hour later with “i told him the price was firm.” okay, but you didn’t tell me. i didn’t even know what you were asking for it.

this morning she asked what time i’d be home tomorrow so he could try again. no mention of whether i actually wanted to do this again.

i’m taking the lamp back upstairs tonight. we’ve always been friendly and i’d like to keep it that way, but i can already tell i’m going to end up apologizing while returning her own lamp to her.

We were out of hot water off and on for a week. Finally one day it gave out. Also our AC and dishwasher wasn’t working for basically the whole two months we had lived there. The landlord kept saying “someone will come tomorrow.” Nobody ever came. I was more concerned with the AC and hot water.
Well, one day I had enough. I threatened them with the law and told them they were required by law to provide us with hot water and good working AC. Welp, the next day they had everyone come out and get shit fixed. And they also gave us rent reimbursement. Some Landlords think their tenants are stupid. Don’t be a pushover, and seriously, threaten them with the law and know your states habitability laws.

Was shown an apartment today and the upstairs neighbors kids could be heard slamming into the ground even before entering the unit. The landlord who showed me the apartment just told me to try to ignore it… excuse me sir, the ceiling is literally shaking and I have to speak louder just to talk to you.

Have mercy on whoever rents there without getting the chance to experience what I did. I definitely got lucky 🍀

I (F24) moved into a unit in an older triplex in August. The tenant on my floor (M~30s) smokes weed more days than not, sometimes multiple times a day. The walls are thin, the smell quickly gets into my unit, and I always know when he's smoking.

Also, every few weeks, the stench of rotted garbage seeps into my apartment as well. This takes longer to build up, and I think I go "nose-blind" to it, but I always notice it when coming back from being out. (The garbage smell is less bothersome to me than the very frequent weed smell though.)

Normally I’d just talk to him, but he kinda freaks me out and I don't feel comfortable knocking on his door. When I see him outside, he pretends not to see me and stares at his phone even when I wave hello. Once, I was in the yard with my dog (on-leash, 8 lbs, fluffy, not scary at all) and saw him bring out four trash bags full of garbage to the bins. About 10 minutes later, an older woman (F~65) showed up. She frequently visits and may live there with him, either his mother or older girlfriend, idk.

Reaching out to the landlord is not an option and is an escalation I want to avoid. The LL either does not respond or threatens eviction. I also feel like leaving a note is kinda pointless idk.

I did some research on smells and purification. I have an air purifier running constantly and it doesn't do much. Significant odor filters with lots of carbon are out of my budget. So far, the only thing that has helped is setting up a fan in an open doorway to pull air in and create positive air pressure, but this won't be possible come winter.

I think my best option from here is sending him a Smoke Buddy anonymously. It's not like he couldn't figure out who it was (it's a triplex: I'm in A, he and the older woman are in B, and a single guy with a cat is in C), but it seems like an option where I'm providing a solution instead of asking him to change or do something.

Any thoughts? Am I being crazy and should just deal with it?

i’m considering getting a walking pad once i move into my new apartment that has concrete floors. would that disturb my downstairs neighbors at all? i would never jog or run on it, just walk. thoughts? thanks!

I've lived alone for a few years now and I noticed I have a lot of weird little routines.Nothing serious. Just small things.I have a specific mug I always use. I get annoyed when someone moves things on my nightstand. I have a certain order for how I get ready before bed.I never thought I was that type of person.When I was younger, living alone sounded kind of sad. I imagined people sitting in quiet apartments feeling lonely.Turns out I actually love it.Nobody asks why I'm eating leftovers straight from the container. Nobody cares if I spend two hours watching a terrible show.My nightstand has become this random collection of things I use every day. Books, chargers, skincare, and my Tracys dog.Nothing fancy.Just stuff that makes my little apartment feel like mine.

I know a lot of you hear us walking upstairs, but if my 50 pound dog gets zoomies for a few minutes, is that equally annoying? Does it sound like we’re filming a western cattle drive up here?
I promise he gets enough exercise. We hike about 25 miles a week, but sometimes I guess his little walnut brain deploys him to scramble to his battle station or something.
(I would ask my actual downstairs neighbor, but the unit is empty. Just wanting to know for when someone moves in.)

Hi everyone, I’m seeking advice on how to go about this. I’ve been renting out this apartment for 6 months with a company I used before and I have not had any prior issues but this apartment we moved to has been giving us several. One of them is that the microwave gets mold at least once a month and all they told us is to use the mold cleaner since it’s not a severe case. The maintenance person said that it’s because of the way the microwave was installed on top of the stove and it causes it to get moisture that gets trapped. We put a cup inside because it leaks so much water too and they just said it’s still safe to use. I guess I’m looking to see if this is a valid reason to break the lease because I reported this back in July the first time I saw it. I don’t cook as much so when I went to use the microwave it was full I cleaned some of it but it came back and I reported it again in August and again it was just cleaned by them and they said it was safe. Idk what to do anymore

Genuinely don't know what to do, I asked him nicely to be mindful that there are people below him. Still the same. What should I do? Could the leasing office even do anything? Am I SOL?

So this is the stove situation in my new rental. Any ideas for something I can use that is fire safe that is safer and easier to clean than a painted wall directly next to a heat source?

My fire extinguisher is close by

for the past few days this light has been flickering so i need to change the light bulb. the problem is i have no idea how to remove the cover. i’ve tried twisting it and gently pulling but no luck. any ideas would be great

My apartment complex has been doing a lot of renovation and they have landscapers come like every day and they keep parking in front of our parking spot making it very difficult to pull out or park back in.

So there's a one way lane through the complex, and we have a carport on one side of this lane. The parking spot has poles on either side and the lane is already narrow enough where with our SUV we cannot pull straight in and have to back in instead. Now with these work trucks constantly parking on the other side of the lane (which is also a FIRE LANE with a red curb BTW) my partner has to very carefully pull out or in, doing like 4-6 point turns to just get into or out of our parking spot. Today my partner ended up scraping the side of our car on the pole in our carport because she didn't have enough space to pull out comfortably. Luckily it looks like just paint scraped off and no real damage, but I had to come out and help her pull out so she could leave and get to work.

I feel like this is ridiculous at this point, idk if I'm crazy and this should be expected or what, but like we should be able to park or pull out without having to do a million turns and risk scraping our car again. At the same time I understand parking is limited and there's really nowhere else for these big landscaping trucks with big trailers to stop but I feel like this shouldn't come at the expense of us being able to park in our own, paid for spots comfortably and easily, especially this frequently. I feel like if the complex wants 3-4 trucks to be here every day to do work they need to figure out where to put these trucks to not be in the way of the residents' parking spots.

Am I wrong for wanting to send an email to the complex to address this? I mean it's basically every single day at this point, a few times a month, sure we'll figure it out but we shouldn't be having to do multi point turns just to get into our parking spot that we pay for essentially every single day. Any tips for phrasing this email to be reasonable?

My girlfriend and I are both moving out for the first time (alongside our 2 cats) and are looking for our best bang for our buck. This 1 bedroom is in a beautiful location, 7th floor, in a homey neighborhood near downtown Birmingham Alabama. We love everything about it besides, ONE… the small kitchen… but I believe we can make do, and TWO… the layout of the bedroom. As pictured the bedroom only really has space for the bed to be directly to the left of the entrance, and that would be with the back board to the door. I am not too worried about it, because after all we would be paying $935… utilities included besides power. Any advice before putting in an application? Furniture layout, beautification ideas… lol, and figuring out the kitchen functionality. Any AI images are appreciated or sketches to visualize! Thank you!!!

Hello y'all

I just moved to a different state and I wasn't able to view the apartment before I moved in so I have an interesting issue.

My apartment stinks and I genuinely cant figure out for the life of me what it is. It's a little musty but also kind of rank? I've never smelled this smell and I cant even describe it. I've tried every product under the sun to get rid of it, including and ozone generator, which didn't even touch the stank. I also leave the windows open upwards of 4 hours a day with zero change.

It's a new build too (<5 years old) so I'm really not sure what it could be. I do have a split unit ac but its been cleaned out a few times since I moved in (it had a markedly different stink which has since been resolved). The smell does not smell stronger in one place or another (I have put my schnoz up to every surface and hole in this apartment and have not discovered a source).

The property manager/ maintenance are no help whatsoever either, as they don't really even understand what I'm talking about (don't speak very much english). I don't even know anyone out here to come sniff my apartment to help identify what this is either, so I'm kind of at a loss.

Is there anyone I can hire to come help me out with this? I was thinking a house inspector but I don't want to shell out $300 for someone to come and be like "yeah boss idk." Also if you have any advice at all I'd love to hear it.

Repost to another community

Hey everyone, looking for some advice and perspective on how to handle my current landlord/property management company.

My partner and I moved in to our apartment together for the first time. Before moving in, we were promised the worn floors would be replaced or properly refinished, and the property manager reassured us that her partner inspected it and is an obsessive "clean freak."

Here is what we actually walked into, along with what has happened over the first week:

• The Flooring: Instead of fixing or replacing the parquet, maintenance just slapped a clear gloss coat over the scratched wood right before move-in. A day or two later, a box with a wet bottom was put on the floor, the morning after that area completely peeled off....
• Cleanliness and Pet Hair: The oven glass and interior were caked in burnt, baked-on grease (property manager literally said "we tried, couldn't get it off"). We found leftover dog kibble sitting on an uncleaned storage shelf from the previous tenant. Even worse, fruit dropped on the floor and washed before eating still had pet hair in it. They didn't deep clean after a dog was living here.
• Cabinets and Fixtures: The kitchen base cabinet has the front edge banding peeling off with exposed particle board, and the interior back panel has a huge split running past the hinge. The living room blinds are broken and do not close and we don't have curtains yet.
• Walls and Trim: Large chunks missing from drywall corners, chipped baseboards/trim, and drywall gouges that were just painted over instead of patched.
• Building Security and Access: Finally, a week after moving our intercom was set up. Took them 5 days to give us a key fob (was promised one the next day). My partner's physical key did not work and had to be replaced. The second day of living there I stepped out, forgot something, and got locked out because I have no fob. The on-site maintenance guy saw me knocking, shook his head, and refused to let me in until I told her "come here open the door" and showed him messages with the landlord proving I live here and demanded my fob.
• Bathroom Ventilation: The bathroom ventilation system does not work properly, after I finish showering, if the door stays closed with the ventilation running, weird orange spots will form on the ceiling I just wiped them off and keep the door open after showring to avoid this.

I took many pictures and documented everything except the pieces of dog food on the shelf. How long is it okay to wait for all of this to get fixed? She "put in a request" on day one of the initial inspection to get it fixed but she also delivered me a key fob 5 days late when she promised to give it to me the next day. I want to contact the leasing office directly but how much time should i give before i do that? today marks the second week living there.

moved into a new apartment and we have a sink that can’t adapt to our washing machine. does anyone know what kind of adaptor this could use?

My bedroom has one exterior wall and gets noticeably warmer than the living room by late afternoon, then feels much cooler near the window overnight. I’ve already tried blackout curtains, keeping the door open, running a fan from the hallway, and taking off the heavier blanket, but the bed still feels comfortable at first and too warm a few hours later. I’m not expecting bedding to regulate the apartment itself, so i’m mostly trying to keep heat from building up around my body when the room temperature shifts. would a lighter comforter make more difference than changing the sheets, or does the mattress protector usually matter more than either one? i’m trying to figure out the one layer worth changing instead of replacing the whole bed setup.

Hi all, classic question about noisy neighbors. Girlfriend and I recently moved into a co-op and it has been fantastic except for the noise. We have a family above us with a dog and a young nonverbal daughter who often runs/jumps/screams. We have already spoken with the family and from what I see they do try to keep the noise under control and are always apologetic but with the child/dog I know they can only do so much. They say that the rooms are fully carpeted but I’m not sure. Is there anything that we can do to help soften the noise? Have tied headphones with limited success, I’m hoping that someone may have an idea.

I'm lucky and electricity is included in my rent. I do pay for natural gas, though. Nebraska winters can get pretty flipping cold and the house is 100ish years old. Those gas bills sometimes jump up to $200+ in the winter. I'd like to take advantage of my landlord paying electricity and try to rely mostly on electric heaters this year. Ideally I'd put one in my bedroom and one in the living room. Are there any brands or models that i should look for while shopping around? I already have an oil radiator, but it's just kinda meh, and I think I want something with a fan to circulate the air as well. Thanks guys.

So this is the stove situation in my new rental. Any ideas for something I can use that is fire safe that is safer and easier to clean than a painted wall directly next to a heat source?

My fire extinguisher is close by

This may be a long one… 😭So my new neighbours beside moved in this month and my God I have never been more bothered. I’m entering my third year being here and I’ve never noticed my neighbours existence this much ever.

They do your typical loud music, banging, loud talking, stomping, etc. But it’s just so constant it feels like I have roommates. On top of this, last weekend there was a domestic issue where they banged the shared wall so hard it shook my door, multiple times 😭 that night they also had a yelling match and the woman just screamed her lungs out. I called non-emergency because I was just so disturbed with it all. It feels so weird knowing their personal business with how loud they were yelling (the woman kept asking why there were bitches in her house 👀).

Ever since then it seems like their bangs and loud noises are more constant - like someone is always home and awake. Revenge I get it 🙄 Like how is it possible that whatever they’re doing just so happens to cause banging on the wall every day, multiple times a day, even at 4am.. you’d think they’d move over a bit but nope ☹️

Most nights I sleep with headphones in now 🥲 some nights I go to bed with ear plugs and noise canceling headphones and I just don’t think this is something I want to put up with for … 10 more months.

Aside from contacting the city for noise issues, what else can I do that will help end the lease sooner? 😭 sadly the lease states I can’t end before the term ends, but there is a reasonable enjoyment section of the lease that mentions not annoying other tenants.

There’s also an issue with smoking inside this apartment building that I’m hoping to build a case with to break the lease. But I feel like that may be more tricky since they’ve never really cared. The health department has visited multiple times and it still continues. It just so happens that I’ve been smelling the smoke on a more daily basis and actually causing me headaches.

If you’ve read this far I appreciate you 😭

I left a note taped to my neighbor's door about noise. It was very brief, avoided contentious language (like "stomping") -- I didn't accuse them of anything, I just asked they try to keep an eye on it.

Honestly, I'm shocked because people --including myself-- say that notes don't work. Well, they might. For context, neither of us know eachother, and I didn't leave my info on it, either. I intentionally wanted to try a super passive approach.

I also waited to leave the note a morning after a particularly bad evening (they were running in their apartment between 1-3 am).