Complaint Review: NSA 10th St Properties

Be Warned:
DO NOT RENT FROM MICHAEL ARMEL. There's no NSA Properties. It's a one man s*** show. My wife and I moved here from out of state. We did not have the luxury of coming to town to find our place prior to moving, so we had to trust that a skype tour and the word of this slum-lord would suffice. NOPE. The apartment we rented was 1006 N 5th St. 55411. It's that dilapidated building on the corner of N 5th St and N 10th Ave., just down the hill from Target Field. Right?! Great friggin' location we thought. Near Washington Ave, cheaper than our place in Portland (1295/mo, we came to learn is not so cheap here), etc...

Now, where we moved from, most rental housing is rough. It's old loggers' cabins full of mold and ants. So I'm familiar with rough. But this...

Michael told us that the building was a bit of a "Bohemian" retreat. That it was populated by artists and musicians, and was a cool atmosphere. My wife and I are musicians and theatre artists, so I thought that will be cool! But I'm also a Realtor, who has seen a lot, and when we arrived, and our pods were out front, and we moved into this place, it became very clear very quickly that deferred maintenance was out of control. I know that he owns a bunch of these dilapidated old places and just collects checks. Everyone's apt is supes run-down. At least you know that none of the local homeless will try to rob you because they'll assume you're poorer than they are. OOPS! Our first month, someone tried to break into our apt at three in the morning because the windows don't lock.

In an old apartment there are only a few mechanicals that need to work. Stove, water heater, kitchen sink, the electricals, and the heater. Dishwasher if there is one.

List of items not working:

Stove (we didn't have a stove for the holidays, and it never got fixed while we were living there)
Water Heater - 40 gallons of cold water in 5 mins flat
Furnace (one heater for a 1400 sq ft apt. The room it's in is warm as hell! But every other room is frozen and the draft comes through the walls)
Kitchen sink leaks so bad it rusted the cabinet out below the S drain
Electrics (the box pops once a week due to normal use. Awesome in the winter when you have to go out there and reset the circuit in 10 below)
Floors are made of old asbestos tile which is breaking up
Ceiling plaster is falling down
No ventilation in the bathroom, like, at all
etc....

You get the gist.

Summary:
We moved in on Sept. 1, 2015. By Jan., I'm certain that he is never going to comply with his obligations. So I give notice. We get out of there before we said we would, offer for him to keep our deposit, even. So we're supposed to be totally out according to the notice I give him, on Feb 15. On Feb 8 he replaces the stove - enters the apt without notice, also illegal - and on Feb 9th, he files an eviction notice with the Hennepin Co courthouse. I don't live there, have told him I've vacated, gave notice a month before, and he files an eviction notice.

And now, on Monday, I have to go into the court and take a second day off of work (today I am preparing for this nonsense), to defend myself against a guy who is greedy, lazy, and lets people live in squalor to satisfy his addiction to money.

Luckily, I documented everything on video and have transcribed all of our texts over the months to show the judge that Michael Armel violated our lease and we were constructively evicted.

Here's the funny part: What he's suing me for is $1,818. He already has my deposit of $1,295, which I told him he could keep. Then, he paid the court $395 to file the eviction after I was already moved out. I think he must be missing some brain cells, because if you do the very simple math, he's now going to lose the deposit, AND the money he put into the court fee! I guess it's a perfect fitting end to the choices he's made all the way through.  

DON'T RENT FROM MICHAEL ARMEL at NSA 10th ST PROPERTIES.