Complaint Review: Adrian T.H. Malin - Internet

When you rent a car, do you paint the inside, put a satellite on the roof, and hang an air conditioner unit out of the window?

No, I don't live in a car, I live in an apartment. Your analogy is false and disingenuous. To equate living in an apartment to renting a car is engaging in the worst form of sophistry. Following your flawed analogy, am I allowed to move furniture in? A bed? Afterall, I wouldnt do that with a rental car.

Why would it be okay when you are renting a place in our building?

Because I am living there. And because none of those things have actually changed the structure of the building or require repair to revert back to the original appearance. Walls can be painted white, satellite dishes can be taken down, air conditioners can be taken out of windows, and no one would know the difference. Nothing I have done has constituted a material change to the apartment in any way. Other people have CUT HOLES OUT OF THE WALL for their AC unit, I have a temporary one in a window. Why do you act as if this place is a hotel instead of a home? It's very weird.

We are asking you nicely to be a respectful tenant.

I am a respectful tenant. Do I throw loud drug parties like the guys in the back? Letting guests park their cars all over the back, blocking people in? Do I bother tenants with draconian rules that aren't outlined in the lease? No. If the air conditioning was so important to you, you should have put it in the lease. But you didn't. Therefore I will continue to use the air conditioner. As for the satellite dish, as I said, I had asked you about it before signing the lease (this verbal agreement was witnessed by my boyfriend) and you said it was fine so long as no holes were drilled. Now you say the roof is thatched, when it is CLEARLY flat above my apartment. I'm not sure if you intentionally lie, don't have a clear understanding of the facts, or are just flat out incompetent, but it is quite tiresome.

In your eagerness to rent the apartment you neglected to tell me things that are now deemed very important. I asked if my dogs could run around the yard and you said it was fine. But not anymore! Now they have to be on a leash. I asked if I could get a satellite dish, you said it was okay. But not anymore! You never said anything about AC. No AC when we live in southern California, or worse, use one of those internal AC units that I have had the misfortune of using in the past. They are expensive and don't work. In your zeal to rent the apartments you neglect to tell people this little fact about no AC.... in southern California, a desert climate.

The same way we were nice and cooperating with your first rent check that bounced, and then was paid 2 weeks late. And the next last rent check, that was also received lateall the while avoiding and not returning my contact.

As long as you continue to take a disrespectful and antagonistic tone towards me, I will continue to communicate with you however I wish.

As for the check situation, it would have worked out fine had you paid attention when I gave you the checks. One was for the rent, one was for the pet deposit. I specifically told you to cash the rent check and wait a week for the pet deposit check. Instead, you deposit the pet check before the date written on the check and then wait a week for the rent check. Had you simply paid attention you'd have gotten your rent on time. But paying attention seems to be difficult for you. You had also mentioned that I could pay the rent in cash, and once I moved in, you changed your mind.

We made no attempt to evict you, which was well within our options.

Yes, I'm sure it was. Just like you're somehow always with the owner when you text me with one threat or another, trying to intimidate me by using strong arm tactics. Ive asked you at least twice for the owners name and number in which you replied, The owners do not talk to the tenants. Im still requesting this information.

I know my rights as a tenant in California. I have made no attempt to report you and your bullying ways, which is well within my options.

We gave you a chance and respected you, and whatever situations you had going on, and we moved forward, and we would certainly expect and appreciate the same from you.

I keep trying to move on and enjoy my apartment, but somehow that keeps getting stymied by rules that didn't seem in place or important enough to mention before I moved in.

I also have a number of issues I would like to bring to your attention.

1. My doorbell still does not work, It was supposed to be fixed upon my move-in date of June, 1st 2009.

2. Accused me of theft with no proof. Im sorry if you did not receive your UPS package. I did not nor would I ever sign for something that is not mine, and to insinuate otherwise is an insult.

3. Before I moved in, I made it very clear to you that the floors were quite dirty and needed to be thoroughly cleaned. I came to check up on the place a few days before I was to move in, and they were still dirty. I called you and you told me they were going to be cleaned again.... The day of mymove, I spent 2.5 hours hand wiping the floors because they were so disgustingly filthy. I know I am not the only tenant this has happened to upon move-in. You ALSO told me that my bathroom floors were going to be bleached that never happened either.

4. I was told brand new mailboxes were going to be put in. I discovered recently that only a new lock was put on my mailbox with a key taped to my front door, in a place anyone could just walk off the street and take it. Perhaps putting it in an envelope and sliding it under my door would have been the more prudent decision? Added to which indignity, I was notified a few days after the fact, by text no less.

5. I was told (with my boyfriend as witness) that I would be receiving a new stovetop as well. You told me that as soon as they could find one that fits the exact stove, I would be getting a new one. The apartment above mine has a new stovetop. When I asked you about it, you clearly brushed me off as if youd never said a word regarding the matter.

6. I had asked you numerous times to remove the rolls of carpet over my parking spot when I first moved in. I got no response from you. Tired of hounding you, I wound up doing it myself.

7. I was told when I moved in that I could play with my dogs in the front yard. But NOW Im told the dogs must be leashed at all times while on The Jeffersons grounds.

I've tried to give you a chance to rectify these matters, and respected you and whatever situations you had going on. A little give and take would be appreciated considering I pay you well over two thousand dollars a month to live in peace and quiet.

Seems like you said yes to all of my questions/concerns just so I would sign the lease. Your bait and switch has not only upset me, but other tenants as well. False inducement to sign a contract is not a proper way to do business Mr. Malin.

In closing, if you want to contact me again, I will put you in contact with my lawyer and you can speak with him. Thank you.

LETTER #2 

December 2, 2009

Management, 

I am withholding $400 rent from the month of December due to the following issues:

I contacted Adrian Malin regarding the non-working central heating units on October 12, 2009. When I moved in, it was promised this system would be repaired expeditiously. Then I find out it was NOT going to be repaired and I had to have wall units installed. This was not what was stipulated at the outset of my lease.

And then there are the workmen sent over to perform said repairs. As I have said to Mr. Malin, I do not like workmen in my house when I am not home, therefore I set up appointments for the repairs to be made. On November 6, a day I was promised workers would show up, NO ONE in fact showed up, and not only that, Mr. Malin did not even have the courtesy to call and let me know. And when the workers did finally show up, they turn out to be non-English speaking, incompetent, slow and unreliable. This fact necessitated them to come back repeatedly to "finish" their work, and be repeatedly late, as they were on the 13th of November, and over two hours late on the 24th. Over and over again, these workers could not do the job. Sloppy work, drilling holes in the wrong place whereby leaving unsightly holes in my wall, moving large items they're not authorized to touch, and scratching up the walls in the process, installing faulty heaters that won't shut off causing my electric bills to skyrocket. All of this occurs because they either do not understand simple English, or they are willfully ignoring me in order to give me a hard time. Either way, it is completely unacceptable. I am being nice by not reporting you to the BBB or maybe even the INS from the looks of some of these "workers." 

Meanwhile, my floor collapsed under my fiance's foot in our kitchen. I had to ask at least three separate times for someone to come over and do something, and I was then assured by Mr. Malin that the floor would be fixed "properly." It now looks like a five year old put some "goop" around the broken floorboard. This is unacceptable. The lack of quality is unsettling and somewhat ridiculous for the amount of rent I pay each month. 

Also, my closet doors in the office kept getting jammed and would fall off the metal track. I was unable to remove them or fix them myself, so once again the dreaded "workers" were sent over. I asked the guy that showed up to remove the doors because even if he put them back on the track it would just fall off again. Since they did not speak English, they proceeded to spend almost an hour putting them back on the track, and when they finally did, I came in the room, went to open the door, and again it fell right off the track. All because I am denied the courtesy of having English speaking workers sent to make simple repairs.

I should not have to take time out of my day to sit around and wait for workmen to NOT show up, I should NOT have to raise my voice because I am frustrated the workmen do NOT speak english. I should NOT be wasting my time with this letter because the job was NOT done in a timely manner. This is why I am not paying my full rent.

I am no longer allowing these men into my home. They've wasted too many of my days and STILL have not finished their work. I will now be hiring my own independent contractor for any further issues with this apartment. I DO NOT WANT TO BE CONTACTED BY ADRIAN MALIN AGAIN REGARDING ANY MATTERS. 

Lastly, just this morning at 2am, I find Adrian's car parked horizontally (and illegally, mind you) behind two parked cars, half-blocking the entrance to the parking area. I scraped my bumper to prevent hitting his car. I could have had it towed, but instead woke him to move it when I couldn't get by safely.

My time is just as valuable as anyone else's, I signed a lease for $2400 a month to have a properly functioning apartment. I do not expect this type of treatment. I have spoken to several people in the complex and all seem to have stories to tell me about the lack of professionalism that has been going on under Mr. Malin's management.  

With these two letters sent to management, I have received nothing but grief, and now I am left looking for another apartment...