Complaint Review: Wanda A. Floyd - Knoxville Tennessee

To Whom It May Concern:

The purpose of this letter is not to share sour grapes or grind my axe. I simply feel a moral duty to allow others to benefit from my own horrendous experience. Indeed, had someone done me this service five years ago I would have been grateful. Landlords often reserve the right to inquire into your rental, credit, and employment histories as well as your criminal record and character in general. Why shouldnt the prospective tenant be allowed access to information about the prospective landlord to better protect themselves? So, in the spirit of equal time for our side, the following is submitted. Included are copies of relevant documentation of my assertions as well as a copy of your rights as a tenant. I wish you well.

Lets start with the house itself. As far as I have been able to learn, it was built sometime in the teens and has the old knob and tube wiring. There are outlets that malfunction, outlets that dont work, light switches and sockets that have shorts. It seems dangerous to me but I am no electrician. The plumbing is equally as old and in need of repair. We have had leaks of all descriptionat the meter, in the cellar, on the floor. The sewer line is a clay pipe choked with roots and the wastewater backs up the drains. There is lead on the walls, asbestos on the kitchen floor, radon coming from the cellar and mold everywhere. The back porch is rotten and ready to fall. The heating/cooling unit no longer works but even when it did the utilities ran $300 - $500 per month. The doors are off the hinges, the windows dont fit and both are missing glass and screens. The roof leaks in several places and there are some pretty spongy spots in the floors. ***please see the enclosed detail***

The owner of the property (Mrs. Wanda Floyd) pays her son (Don) and his wife (Paula) to manage her several rental properties for her. They, themselves, are landlords. In five years we were never allowed to know the exact physical location of any of themonly that it was somewhere past Farragut but not as far as Lenoir City. They had a P.O. box that she changed from time to time and five phone numbers. Two of these were Wandas home and cell numbers, the other three were Don and Paulas home and cell numbers. But dont get too excited yetWanda will not take your calls. If by some accident she answers, she will berate you most viciously for having called her and then, unceremoniously, hang up on you. Don and Paulas home line goes unanswered more often than not. Paulas cell will be answered by Paula who will shriek insults of every description at you and, just as unceremoniously, hang up. Dons cell goes directly to voicemail most of the time or is answered by Paula. Leaving messages of any sort is futile. They do not take or return calls even in plumbing emergencies. One weekend, when the plumbing was belching sewage up and out of every drain, I frantically called Dons cell only to find it disconnected. In desperation I called Wanda. She actually said she didnt care and hung up. Later I found out Don had changed his number and forgotten to tell anyone. It took us a week to reach them and took months to get them to do anything. The problem still exists to a significant degree.

When we were shown the house for the first time I noticed the water damage to the bathroom ceiling. I was told that, yes, there had been a leak in the roof but it had been repaired on the outside but due to the last tenants objection to having them in her bathroom they were waiting until the house was vacant to repair the drywall. This was a lie cut from whole cloth. KUB went back as far as twelve months and could find no recent utilities history for the address. The house was not recently vacated but had been empty for at least a year. The roof they assured us was fixed sprang multiple leaks in varied locations including the one in the bathroom. Also, the hole in the bathroom ceiling drywall they promised would be repaired before we moved in is still untouched. The long neglected roof has significantly damaged the integrity of backmost portion of the house entire, not the least of which the small porch. Last year, as I was taking out the trash, a rotten floorboard collapsed under me causing me to fall down the stair. The Floyds did not respond with concern for my injuries, nor did they agree to pay the medical. What they did do was refuse to acknowledge any responsibility. I was threatened with eviction if I tried in any way to collect them. Further, they denied (and continue to deny) any need to repair the porch. I was told if youre afraid of the porch then stay off it. I now must walk with a cane as a result of the injuries I sustained in the fall from this porch and owe thousands in medical bills. ***please see enclosed detail ***

The Floyds made no repairs during our five year tenancy. We turned over the keys mid October and they offered it up for rent immediately. Neighbors have noted the absence of activity (repair or otherwise). You have rented the same situation I left. It is unrealistic to think that their treatment of you will differ from their treatment of me; to the contrary, it could worsen.

If you havent yet signed a lease my advice is RUN. If you have signed but not yet moved try to extricate yourself. If you have already moved God help you. Take the information in this folder and use it however seems necessary to protect yourself.

You are dealing with a ruthless, avaricious and dishonest group of people have little respect for each other, even less for the rules and none at all for you.

Your neighbors know where I can be reached if I can be of any further service to you.

Good Luck .