I figured I’d put up a post to my OS buddies asking for advice on a problem I’m having with my landlord. I’m in week 4 without any air conditioning. Now I know, I know…it’s not generally been hot here, but that’s not the point (and we have had a few 80 degree plus days). Here’s the story. My A/C quit working March 25th. The landlord had a company, ABS A/C, come out on Friday March 26th. They looked everything over and said my unit was only 6 years old but they would not be able to repair it because the law prohibited them from ordering the part and installing it on any units that didn’t meet certain energy requirements (it’s the new government energy efficiency requirements). They told me they would tell my landlord I needed a new central air unit and it would cost about $2500-3000. They said there was simply no way around it and they'd have to put aside a whole day to replace everything.
So the following Tuesday this other guy calls me and shows up. He’s not wearing any special uniform or anything like he works for a company. He tells me he used to work for ABS and is now a private, non-union, contractor and my landlord had requested a second opinion to what ABS told them. So the guy flips open the unit outside, shows me the part and says, I can get that part and have this fixed for $200 tomorrow. Fast forward 3 weeks and all I’ve heard is “Tim is trying to get the part, it’ll be another week”. Whenever I ask any questions of my landlord like this “Is he going to have overnight delivery on the part when it’s available?” they will say something coy like “Tim will try to get it as quick as possible”. At this point I don't even know if Tim is even working on it to be honest.
They are not keeping me updated, they are not calling or emailing me unless I contact them. They also have a real attitude about fixing the thing, as if they are highly annoyed by my inquiries as to the status. I’ve also heard the response of “it’s not even hot so whats the issue”. Again, totally not the point, I don’t like opening all my windows and leaving them that way to cool the house and even if I did I can’t do that when I’m at work so whatever temperature it is outside when I get home it’s +10 degrees give or take. Not to mention having all the open windows means the dog is barking at everything and I’m hearing my neighbors, etc.
But bottom line is when I’m paying $995 a month rent I feel I should have a workable cooling unit. I’ve consulted with an attorney who says there’s not much I can do as not having an A/C in April is simply not going to impress a judge as being something that makes the house uninhabitable. Of course I’ve read on the net that repairs should be completed in a timely manner (30 days) even if it’s not something that makes the house uninhabitable. I’m a patient guy and easy to get along with but I’m at about my wit’s end at dealing with these people. They get nastier each time I contact them just to find out what’s going on and I see no end at all in site for getting a workable A/C. And knowing Ohio weather it could turn pretty hot any day now.
Has anyone ever been in a situation like this and do you know of any agencies or anything I could involve? I’ve asked an attorney to draw up a letter saying she represents me and that this needs repaired, etc, etc and plan to have that delivered to them on Monday but I’m wondering if there’s any government agency or anything like that I could also report them to? In Texas I had a similar situation and there was an actual Tenants Council which I got involved and they got my problem fixed right away but I can’t find anything comparable to this for Ohio.
Honestly I think that they may be up to something illegal to work around that whole energy efficiency law and are probably trying to get that part from overseas or on the black market to save themselves some money (this is what the attorney said). And I really don’t care if they do aside from the fact that it’s just been a huge waste of time so far with no end in sight to a fix.
So does anyone have any other ideas maybe thinking outside of the box as to what I could do here??
Help!
So the following Tuesday this other guy calls me and shows up. He’s not wearing any special uniform or anything like he works for a company. He tells me he used to work for ABS and is now a private, non-union, contractor and my landlord had requested a second opinion to what ABS told them. So the guy flips open the unit outside, shows me the part and says, I can get that part and have this fixed for $200 tomorrow. Fast forward 3 weeks and all I’ve heard is “Tim is trying to get the part, it’ll be another week”. Whenever I ask any questions of my landlord like this “Is he going to have overnight delivery on the part when it’s available?” they will say something coy like “Tim will try to get it as quick as possible”. At this point I don't even know if Tim is even working on it to be honest.
They are not keeping me updated, they are not calling or emailing me unless I contact them. They also have a real attitude about fixing the thing, as if they are highly annoyed by my inquiries as to the status. I’ve also heard the response of “it’s not even hot so whats the issue”. Again, totally not the point, I don’t like opening all my windows and leaving them that way to cool the house and even if I did I can’t do that when I’m at work so whatever temperature it is outside when I get home it’s +10 degrees give or take. Not to mention having all the open windows means the dog is barking at everything and I’m hearing my neighbors, etc.
But bottom line is when I’m paying $995 a month rent I feel I should have a workable cooling unit. I’ve consulted with an attorney who says there’s not much I can do as not having an A/C in April is simply not going to impress a judge as being something that makes the house uninhabitable. Of course I’ve read on the net that repairs should be completed in a timely manner (30 days) even if it’s not something that makes the house uninhabitable. I’m a patient guy and easy to get along with but I’m at about my wit’s end at dealing with these people. They get nastier each time I contact them just to find out what’s going on and I see no end at all in site for getting a workable A/C. And knowing Ohio weather it could turn pretty hot any day now.
Has anyone ever been in a situation like this and do you know of any agencies or anything I could involve? I’ve asked an attorney to draw up a letter saying she represents me and that this needs repaired, etc, etc and plan to have that delivered to them on Monday but I’m wondering if there’s any government agency or anything like that I could also report them to? In Texas I had a similar situation and there was an actual Tenants Council which I got involved and they got my problem fixed right away but I can’t find anything comparable to this for Ohio.
Honestly I think that they may be up to something illegal to work around that whole energy efficiency law and are probably trying to get that part from overseas or on the black market to save themselves some money (this is what the attorney said). And I really don’t care if they do aside from the fact that it’s just been a huge waste of time so far with no end in sight to a fix.
So does anyone have any other ideas maybe thinking outside of the box as to what I could do here??
Help!
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