Smelly hallways and missing neighboor

14 years ago

I've been renting an apartment in a complex for almost two years now. The past couple of weeks there has been a terrible moldy stench in the hallways, getting worse everyday. Myself and other's have complained to the office. I heard through the grapevine that the maintenance claims it's just from the laundry room and they said the are fixing it next week. the laundry room is adjacent to my apartment, and it's fine.

Well, my neighbor, Whom I got to know fairly well, was having financial issues and moved out/skipped town two months ago, leaving most his stuff behind. two weeks ago there was an eviction notice posted to his door. I have not seen or heard anyone else move in since. So i peeked in his windows (naughty, I know!) and there's junk EVERYWHERE!

So the big question is... How do I get them to do something about it? I don't care if I have to clean the darn place myself! It's out of hand and they won't listen. Should I take this to somewhere other than the complex offices?

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Comments (4)

moonshadow
14 years ago
Since they started an eviction they likely have to finish going through that process in court before they can resume possession of that unit & legally go in & remove the prior tenant's belongings & clean, etc. Eviction is typically supposed to be 30 days in my area but it's more like 6 weeks because the courts are backed up. So there is a wait involved. You could perhaps call the local health department, but I'm not sure who they would go after, either way it's sort of in limbo as I see it until eviction is finalized. Health dept can try to go after the tenant but obviously that won't go anywhere. And until management legally resumes possession via court, their hands are tied as far as taking the person's belongings out of there & cleaning. I'm just trying to look at all angles (with very little sleep) but you could still give it a try with the health dept.
raelynn09
Original Author
14 years ago
That makes sense. I just wonder why they have to go through the eviction if the guy already left weeks ago? He told me he was going to live with family in Arizona, so he's long gone by now.
But either way, thank you for the suggestion, I will certainly try the health dept.
It's getting so bad, we leave bottles of febreez in the hallway, everyone uses them up in a day or two!
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graywings123
14 years ago
According to your Gardweb page, you live in Michigan. Here is a link to information about evictions in Michigan. If I were you, I would read this carefully and then start making phone calls up the chain of responsibility for the apartment complex asking them where in the eviction process they are.

But it seems to me that regardless of the process, they are entitled as the owners of the property to enter the unit if there is an odor coming from it and remedy that situation. That's what you want to push for and make the case that removing the odor causing substance is a separate issue from the eviction. This will take persistence on your part until you reach someone who can order the people who are on site to do this. I hope that man didn't leave a pet behind.

Here is a link that might be useful: Eviction - Michigan legal aid
moonshadow
14 years ago
Do check the link graywings posted, as I said I was posting on little sleep and left out the ever critical 'check your state laws'. Every state is different.