THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 11, 1995 TAG: 9502090324
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 26 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Landlords & Tenants
SOURCE: Albert Teich Jr.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
I am a resident of an apartment in Virginia Beach and have been since September 1994. When I moved in, no one did a walk-through with me to investigate the unit. I was, however, given a form on which I made a list of 40 items in the $615-per-month apartment that needed repairs.
I found out about a month after moving in that no one cleaned the apartment, made repairs or investigated for damages. Since no one responded to my list of repairs, I wrote a follow-up letter about a month later.
The management informed me that they had lost my original repair list. I gave them a copy and they completed all the small repairs. However, they ignored one major problem - my gas range.
The gas range has been covered with a half-inch of grease and dirt since the day I moved in. Also there is a white powder resembling boric acid that filters down into the broiler area. There are rust spots surrounding the door of the gas range.
In response, the complex sent someone to clean the range. She used an old washcloth and a bucket of dirty water and only wiped the front door of the range. Now the oven has begun to burn food.
What can I do to get the management to replace the range?
Compared to some of the letters we have been receiving recently about apartments and landlords making efforts to correct defects, you are almost living in apartment heaven.
However, the range does bother me. Since you are dealing with a gas range, I feel there is a possibility of its being a hazard. I suggest that you call the gas company to check the stove. There may be gas leak and if it's found by the gas company, you would be able to use this additional pressure against the apartment management to give you a new range.
Further, it is recommended that you send a letter certified mail, with return receipt requested, to the apartment management telling them about the condition of the gas range and the fact that the over is beginning to burn the food. I would also suggest to them that you have a concern over the safety of the gas range. Ask them to inspect it an once.
In the meantime, if the range is still covered with grease and dirt, I would suggest that it certainly is not going to be beneficial to your health and, therefore, you should clean it immediately. Right now, the defects in the range do not seem to be serious enough for you to terminate you lease.
However, if the range is a hazard, it certainly could be grounds for terminating the lease.
You could possibly go through placing you rent in escrow with the General District Court in Virginia Beach, but, quite frankly, it is a cumbersome process. I believe that the certified letter and the gas people coming to inspect the range probably will remedy your problem. MEMO: Albert Teich Jr. is a real estate lawyer based in Norfolk. Send
comments and questions to him at Real Estate Weekly, 150 W. Brambleton
Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23510. by CNB