Should I make a complaint about my landlord?

[Option84]

I rent an apartment and 2 days ago, my bathroom ceiling was leaking a lot of water through the fan vent. It turns out that the person upstair's dishwasher broke and leaked all the water in. I showed my landlord and she treated it as if it was nothing and told me just to wait until the leak stopped. Afterwards, I went and asked her to make a note of it in my lease agreement or damage report and she started to get confrontational and used abusive language and told me me request was stupid, and that she didn't have to do anything, and flat out refused. And when I kept persisting, she eventually ripped out my damage report and really angrily wrote some chicken scratch on there that was barely legible. Mind you I was very polite and composed the entire time. I know in the grand scheme of things, this really isn't a big deal, but I'm still kinda peeved and am thinking about making a complaint to the property ownership company so she knows I can't be pushed around from now on. But, at the same time I'm kind of hesitant and don't want her to start getting a grudge against me and start messing with me somehow. I feel like my request was pretty damn reasonable, but I dunno.... what is CP's opinion?

[BlackArcher101]

Take pictures.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by Option84

I rent an apartment and 2 days ago, my bathroom ceiling was leaking a lot of water through the fan vent. It turns out that the person upstair's dishwasher broke and leaked all the water in. I showed my landlord and she treated it as if it was nothing and told me just to wait until the leak stopped. Afterwards, I went and asked her to make a note of it in my lease agreement or damage report and she started to get confrontational and used abusive language and told me me request was stupid, and that she didn't have to do anything, and flat out refused. And when I kept persisting, she eventually ripped out my damage report and really angrily wrote some chicken scratch on there that was barely legible. Mind you I was very polite and composed the entire time. I know in the grand scheme of things, this really isn't a big deal, but I'm still kinda peeved and am thinking about making a complaint to the property ownership company so she knows I can't be pushed around from now on. But, at the same time I'm kind of hesitant and don't want her to start getting a grudge against me and start messing with me somehow. I feel like my request was pretty damn reasonable, but I dunno.... what is CP's opinion?

That sucks dude. What is wrong with people. Why can't people just be reasonable.

[killer_carlson]

take photos and write a summary of the incident. Take out as much emotion from your story as possible.

If it starts smeilling musty, put it in writing that you have a concern with mould. |Send that to the landlord and cc the management company.

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

take photos and write a summary of the incident. Take out as much emotion from your story as possible.

If it starts smeilling musty, put it in writing that you have a concern with mould. |Send that to the landlord and cc the management company.

Make sure you do this to cover your a--!

You don't want to move out 6 months from now and have a new super that doesn't know the situation. If this happens you could find yourself fighting over your damage deposit with not much proof of the situation.

Keep it short and simple and ask in your letter that someone from head office contacts you to say they have got it and have made note of it. Like KC said keep your emotion out of it and just keep it about the topic at hand, don't even bother complaining about the super because a lot of these building are just happy to find someone to do that job.

[ricosuave]

document everything with pics, notes with the upstairs owner of the dishwasher, times, dates EVERYTHING

[fatso]

ya my advice would be to document things as much as you can, including all the times you've tried to get them to fix the problem and what was said by both parties.

I'd also launch a complaint as well. Or at least write someone in charge so there's a paper trail. You don't want to get burned on something like water damage and repairs down the road. You just know that if it blows, they'll try to hold you financially and legally accountable for repairs for not having it looked at or not bringing it to their attention.

[onetwo_threefour]

Good advice so far, and not a terrible idea to send a registered letter to your landlord summarizing the situation, including dates, times and conversations reminding her that you wanted it noted on the inspection report. That way you have a dated record of the damage and cause. See if you can get a letter from the management company confirming that the damage was caused by the upstairs neighbour as well. You never know, it may save your ass in a lawsuit down the road if she tries to keep your damage deposit.

Okay the second part was already suggested, but I think it bears repeating. (Registered mail is your firend in these circumstances)