Complaint Review: Ann & Garrett Alexander - Pacific Missouri

 My boyfriend signed a lease with this individuals at 116 Pinewood Dr. in Columbia Missouri 65203. This BTW is not the only rental property that they offer. While doing the walk through we noted a number of out of the ordinary characteristics of the home but they were quickly explained away by Garrett. For example, there was a large amount of mouse droppings in the kitchen cabinets and poison and traps and air fresheners in every room, but Garrett advised us that the home had been vacant for a long time and that it was from "field mice". We noticed that the flooring in the kitchen was laid crooked as was the deck, but he advised that he lives out of town and is a student and that his wife Ann runs him ragged between their properties and that at time he has to hire help for the repairs- this was how we also dismissed the fact that everything (air return, light switches, etc.) was painted over and he in fact encouraged us to paint the property to suit our tastes. He also explained that when he and his wife purchased the property from the city that he had to redo all of the plumbing- which explained the toilet repair kit in the laundry room. There was a large amount of debris in the backyard and he assured us that he would return in two days to pick it up, as well as cut away the large amount of poison ivy and repair all the holes in the "fully fenced backyard" (which was how it was advertised). The garbage disposal was broken but he offered to deduct it from my boyfriend’s rent if he made that repair. My boyfriend signed the lease and in two days the landlord did not return. Almost immediately we noticed that the smell in the home worsened. I purchased industrial automatic air fresheners for every room and they couldn't mask the odor which you could smell before even crossing the threshold into the home.

Within two weeks we had the first incident of raw sewage, which spewed all over the backyard from an uncapped sewer pipe. He immediately contacted the landlord about the issue and the landlord offered to drive up "in a couple days" to repair it. After my boyfriend emphatically stated that it was necessary to have it remedied immediately due to the fact that it was a health hazard, there were a considerable amount of flies (it was August) and his dog was getting into it, the landlord allowed him to contact Rotor Router to have the pipe snaked. Rotor router advised that the pipe in the backyard had to be capped and that it was the landlords responsibility to have the repair made, and my boyfriend contacted Garrett immediately with this information. Garrett denied that this was his responsibility and stated that the City of Columbia was responsible. My boyfriend contacted the City and they stated that because it was on his private property it was in fact the landlords responsibility to make this repair. Again, my boyfriend relayed this information to Garrett and Ann and to date (November 1) this has still not been address, nor have they made any of the promised repairs. All the while the smell in the home and the fly infestation was worsening. I did some research and found that within the City of Columbia, MO ALL rentals have to be certified prior to being leased. I called the governing body and was advised that for AT LEAST the past 6 years this property had NOT been certified and was therefore an UNLAWFUL rental, so the city sent an inspector to the address to review and report the condition within 24 hours. The inspector immediately noted the stench and postulated that something must be dead under the house. He wrote a report and notified the landlord of a number of repairs that would need to be made so that the property could be made compliant under threat of litigation by the City against the landlords.

Among the necessary repair work was the removal of debris, dead animal and poison ivy, repairs to the deck, fence, capping of the sewage pipe, closure of open access to the crawlspace, and have someone open the water cabinet (access panel to the pipes that was located in the child’s closet) in order to verify if mold was present, etcetera. After having received this from the city the landlord never came out to do any of the work. In the meantime the sewage backed up into the bathtub, sink, stool, and yard again and again we had to call the plumber. This time the plumber noticed that the reason this kept occurring was because the landlord failed to properly install the plumbing and there was a joint where the old pipes met the new pipes where the sewage was getting trapped and therefore the pressure kept causing it to back up. While he was inspecting he actually opened and went into the crawlspace (something the city never did) and that is when we found out the pervasive smell (and fly infestation) was a result of mold that had encased the entire area. He advised that the whole subfloor of the home would need to be replaced because of the extent of the damage. There was no dead animal. When the landlord was notified he advised that he would only be willing to come out and scrub it with lye. I ended up calling Joe Pangborn  who is an ASHI Inspector who specializes in mold testing and mitigation and he advised that would do little more than make it smell better for a couple days (which I imagine is exactly what he does before leasing the home) but that this is an extreme health risk that can have serious negative impacts on those who inhale it (which we had been for months at this point). Still the landlord refused to come out (he never did) to make the repairs which should have been completed before we ever set foot in the place. It was only when we told the landlord that we would be breaking the lease that he finally drove over to the home- but at that point it was too late. My boyfriend, unable to bare the stress took his own life.

When the landlord discovered his body he refused for almost a week to allow a crew to come in and clean the room (which they could have done that same day and it would have been covered by his homeowners insurance) so that we could go in and remove his belongings. By the time we were able to retrieve them they were all permeated with the combination of foul odors to the degree that they left a lingering sent in my vehicle and the area in which they are later being stored. If there was a prize for being the worst person in the world these two would share it, hands down.