OT Problems Moving Out of Apartment

[smokeyblue]

Sorry this is a bit wordy, but I just need to get it off my chest.

I just moved out of an apartment to my new home. Upon moving my furniture I discoverd LOTS of mold on the carpets and walls. My entertainment center was ruined, as was an ottoman I had against the wall. There are long pitch black lines of mold where the entertainment center was. I also found a very large stain on the carpet that I believe was damage from my furniture . . . which would be my fault of course. My quetion is what is my responsibility? They will have to replace the carpet for the mold alone . . . which was due to a condition beyond my control, but they would probably want to replace the carpet due to the damage I caused as well. I've lived in the apartment for 7 years, would I just be charged for the depreciated amount of the carpet?

My landlord asked if he could come in and begin remodeling the bathroom. I paid for the whole month so I told him I had cleaning to do, that I'd do the bathroom first and let him know when I was ready. Well I went over there tonight and he had already came in and ripped out the shower and moved some of my stuff!! I had a necklace with a 1/4 carat diamond pendant sitting on top of the rolling cart that I have all my bathroom stuff in. I can't find the pendant but the necklace is still there. I think it must of fell on the floor or something, but I cant find it anywhere, with all the broken up concrete and building materials around it could be anywhere or just simply gone. My landlord would NEVER take it, I'm sure its just missing.

Most of all I feel terribly violated. I still have stuff there and cleaning I would have done before I was going to give him the okay to start work. I would have gladly allowed him to come in early, but I hadn't planned on getting back to clean until may day off on Thursday.

I just don't really know what to do. I am not big on confrontation. My landlord IS a good person. However I did have a problem several years ago that some of my stuff got damaged due to a condition caused by him and didn't pay my rent for that month. He told me I was doing it because I was going on a trip and needed money; after I explained the situation he understood and appologized. I'm just concerned that if I bring any of this up he is going to say that I am trying to get out of the damage that is my responsibility. The sad thing is that I should be extremely mad that the pendant (which is the diamond from my late grandmothers engagement ring) is missing and I'm more worried about the conversation I'm going to have with him . . . grrrr!!!

Any landlord advice out there? How should I approach this? I just want to say take my deposit for the carpet and be done with the entire thing. I just don't want to fight and move on to life in my new home, but the business side of me says I need to get these issues out in the open in case there are going to be more problems that aren't apparant yet.

 

[pixiewings71]

After 7 years you shouldn't "have" to pay for anything. I did weekend and fill in work for our apt manager years ago, when we had tenants move out that had been there more than 5 years we didn't have them clean anything, because we knew we were going to have to go in and replace things anyway.
I hope you find your diamond.....

 

[bumbershoot]

How is mold YOUR fault?

The two times I've dealt with mold/mildew it was the fault of the way the apartment was built. The place was just damp, and there was nothing I could do about it. Neither time did the landlord blame me.

Both time I only noticed it while moving out (both times I'd been having weird health/lung problems and it was explained as we pulled things away from the walls in my bedroom), but the second time, the damp of the place ended up destroying it. The place was empty after we left, the owners being unable to sell it. Then they didn't check in for quite awhile. When they went back, the damp had taken over and they probably had a leak from upstairs (as had happened when we very first moved in) but with no one to notice...and the mold and mildew were climbing up the walls, they had to tear the condo down to studs, it was awful. And because they had neglected their property, it's likely that homeowners insurance didn't cover it either.


The pendant thing is heartbreaking! Ask the landlord if he had any helpers, and if he's already dumped what he took out of there (so you can go search the trash), because this is a valuable gem you are now missing.

 

[smokeyblue]

Thanks for the early responses, I've calmed down a bit for now. I just went over to the apartment late tonight after work to pick up trash because it's garbage night at my new place. I didn't know I was going to be frantically serching for my pendant in rubble! I just got a bit wound up because as much as the diamond is important to me, the worse thing is that I just don't want to upset my dad (it was his moms's). I've set it there a thousand times and never thought it wouldn't be safe. Hopefully I can just put it out of my mind for a bit and go search in the morning.

As far as the mold. You're right. I'm not responsible. It's kinda a garden level/basement unit and the land is on a large creek; mold happens. I can control many things, but I can't control water!

 

[Halbleib1]

You should not have to pay to replace the carpet either as I am sure after 7 years they are just going to rip it up and replace it anyway.

We moved into our own home after renting for 5 years and we were told not to worry about the carpets as they were going to replace them for the next tenant. Most rental places use cheap carpeting for this purpose.