Sitting on our couch in a dim, dingy apartment, surrounded by boxes, my wife cries. We are scared and disappointed. The apartment isn’t the one seen on our video tour. We feel trapped; crushed and defeated. It looks as though there’s no way out. This is a tale of getting out from a temporary tenement apartment and monetary pressure. This is a personal story not national one. Escape through the cracks and crevices of a man-made system.
Dark wood and bad lighting set the mood as we entered in.
Dust and dirt in the pantry, a microwave set in its space at a downward slant.
Bathtub knobs black from dirt and rust, bathtub bottom porcelain chipped
rendering it unusable. A toilet loosely bolted to the floor so it moves when
you sit on it. Dark and dinge creep into hearts. Ceiling ringed with water
damage and one or two black spots. Mold? And yes, there were bugs. At night.
One is too many; more than one in a new apartment is not acceptable. But
backing out of the lease was costly. How much money would we forfeit? The
painful but difficult answer is two-and-a-half month’s full rent on top of the
initial month and down payment.
From my computer in our delightful, bright new apartment, I
type. Finding the management company information online I send them a request
to waive all rent based on their bait-and-switch. Upon the third email I found
out that the property had been sold to another management company. More
research. More emails. No answers. We go back to the previous leasing office.
“Nothing we can do. Talk to the previous management
company.” They use completely different systems. We are not in they’re system.
While the previous leasing company keeps saying it’s no longer their
responsibility! Through this all we have got no bills; no closing statement and
the system online shows zero balance. We have fallen through the cracks! What a
providence! “We can laugh, and we can cry, and never see the strong hand of
love hidden in the shadows.”
