Complaint Review: Mark Gonzales

Open letter to the Landlord:

Dear Mark Gonzales,

Prior to moving in to the property at 8391 Gold Creek Circle, Unit 3, Palmer, Alaska 99645, I asked
several times if snow removal was part of the deal. I was told on each occasion that you came out
every time there was snowfall and that you had been to the property 4 days in a row in the previous week. When I signed the lease and gave it to you, I once again asked if you were going to keep the snow removed so my little car could get in and out of the driveway every day for work. You assured me that it was not a problem. Once I moved in, you did not provide snow removal service. My neighbor actually paid to have someone come plow the snow at her own expense because she has a small baby and could not allow herself to be stranded in a snowed in driveway in case of an emergency. I parked out on the main road and walked, since I could not afford to miss work due to the un-passable driveway.

Upon moving in, which you neglected to tell me that you were even going to rent the place to me or
come take care of the lease agreement which by the way, the prorate on the rent would be $625
divided by 28 days in February, $22.32 per day multiplied by 5 days without any notice would equal
$111.60. So $625.00 $111.60 = $513.40. Consider that extra $111.60 as deposit money that you will owe me when I move out.

Also upon moving in, you rented the place as is. However, you never came and did the walk through I requested, and instead you opted to come to my place of employment to pick up the lease instead of doing a proper walk through of the premises. So, here is my list of problems with the property at the time I moved in to present:  FYI "as is" does NOT negate State and Federal Laws or the Alaskan Landlord Tenant Act.

1. Moulding trim on doors and windows is chewed and otherwise destroyed by what appears to be dogs.

2. Moulding trim on the inside of the back door does not fit the opening. Moulding trim on the inside of the front door does not fit the opening and in fact is missing the entire bottom piece allowing water to leak in under the door, under the vinyl and is rotting and molding the entire area.

3. I do not know the extent of the cosmetic or structural damage to the outside back door, window or yard. There was so much dog feces and trash that I refuse to go out there for any reason. It has been a nasty health hazard that I did not wish to be in contact with for any reason. (after living here 4 months, the fence was removed, dog feces was left as is, neighbors mows over it making it airborn)

4. I was never told that there was any problem with the well or having adequate water prior to moving into the efficiency unit. However, often there is NO WATER, either hot or cold. Putting on a high pressure shower nozzle is great, but it makes no difference if there is no water in the first place. Replacing the toilet flusher was great, however, the toilet seems to run water non-stop for a long time after flushing now. There was never anything wrong with the flusher on the toilet to begin with.

5. There were a lot of trim boards in the closet when I moved in, I asked you to come get them. Several months later they were still in my bathroom, falling on me every time I wanted to open the back door or mop the floor. After having them all fall on me AGAIN one   day, I finally got fed up and set them outside the back door, along with the broken closet
door that you had to walk by twice. Once when you put on the shower nozzle and once when you installed the new toilet flusher.

6. Drawers in the kitchen have been chewed to pieces by what appears to be large dog teeth.
All but the top one are unusable and in fact will not even stay shut.

7. There are no shelves in any of the cupboard. They were all filthy and nasty on the inside.

8. There is no ventilation in the kitchen. Every time I cook, the entire places gets moisture
saturated, it even runs down the walls. The stove gets so hot it melts stuff hung on the walls next to it.

9. The oven was corroded and nasty. First time I turned it on the entire place filled with smoke
and I had to air the place out for two days. Which lead me to the next problem:

10. Smoke detector has not worked since I moved in.

11. The wall in my living room that separates my unit from unit #2 is cracked and coming apart from floor to ceiling. On both sides.

12. The floor in my living room next to the wall that separates my unit from unit #2 is sinking down and unstable from the center of that wall to the front door. On both sides.

13. The ceiling fan was completely corroded with crud. Unusable until cleaned thoroughly.

14. Cupboard under the kitchen sink is sagging into the floor and falling apart. The front base
board was off when I moved in and shoved underneath.

15. Left side closet door had one screw left in the entire assembly, and when I came home from work one day, it was laying partially across the hallway and on top of my computer. I am told that portion of the closet doors is now in unit #1 garage along with the trim mouldings.

16. Rain gutters not attached to the roof properly, therefore all the melting snow and now rain leaks behind the rain gutter onto the porch and comes in under my front door causing the vinyl to lift and mold to grow all around that area. Twice you have walked past the end piece of the rain gutter that the snow and ice caused to come off, and yet there it still lays on my front porch. The neighbor said that you were requested IN PERSON to please put it back on for us.

17. I dont know what is on top of the cabinets in the kitchen because I cannot reach them, however I can see there is stuff up there and that it is grossly filthy.

18. Adequate trash removal receptacles are not available for any of the units.

19. Electric breaker switch panel is in unit #1 where neither unit #2 nor unit #3 have access. If we trip a breaker we have to hope and pray that our neighbor in unit #1 is home. Since that panel also controls the electricity to the well pump, it contributes to the fact that we have water issues.

20. The carpet smells like a nasty dog kennel. No matter how much I vacuum the carpet it smells nasty.

21. Light in fridge has never worked.

22. No light bulbs in bathroom when I moved in. I had to go buy all of them.

23. No Fire Extinguisher on the premises..

24. Screen in bathroom window has holes and is disgustingly filthy.  I refuse to touch it.

Add to this list:
Back door not fully on hinges.  None of the 3 hinges are fully installed.  The dead bolt barely holds the door closed and the regular door latch does not match up with the hole in the striker plate.

Rain gutters dump rain and snow melt pretty much under my front door.  It's rotting and molding at the bottom framing.

The water is shut off to my unit on a regular basis, without warning.  All three units here on the property texted the landlord yesterday evening 8/7/2012 about no water.  And again this morning.  He never responded.  He later snuck in sometime in the morning, after I left for work, without pulling in the main driveway and broke into my back door and left it unlocked and unlatched when he left.  He startled the tenant in unit #1, she saw him coming out my door.  Mark then proceeded to tell the tenants in unit #1 that I left my water faucet on full, so he had to turn it off.  That is a false statement.  

This is the second time someone has been in my home in the last week, while I am at work.  And the second time one of my neighbors has seen them coming out of my apartment.  I gave my 30 days notice with my rent check on 8/1/2012.  I am wondering if I am being harassed?  Paranoid?  I don't feel safe in my own home right now.  I have placed physical restraints at my back door to prevent further ingress.  Unfortunately I can't do the same with my front door.  Think it's time to change the lock.

Got up and started getting ready for work this morning 8/9/2012, no water, again.  Third day in a row without water.  Took my toothbrush to work with me just so I could brush my teeth.

Now the landlord is denying having been in my apartment yesterday 8/8/2012, even though the other tenants saw him and he TOLD them that he went in to shut off a water faucet (which is a lie).

The authorities here say that we are not close enough to Palmer to get help.  

I have secured other living arrangements, just have to get through this next few weeks.