My thoughts are:

1. The owners owe you for one set of towels - the first batch you ran through the dryer before you knew they could be ruined. If you dried more towels after the first batch got ruined, then that's on you for not mitigating your damages. You can't continue to use something you know to be broken and then expect a third party to compensate you for the damage that you know is going to happen.

2. Some cities/states permit you to make certain repairs to your apartment and withhold the costs of those repairs from the rent in situations where landlords are not responsive to repair requests. In most instances I'm aware of, those allowances are for repairs that can affect the safety/health of the occupants, not convenience items. I think both the dryer and the bird wire fall into the convenience category. If your heat went out in winter, your hot water heater started to leak - those are the kinds of things you can fix and withhold payment if the landlord is non responsive.

I think your landlords are jerks. Jerks who know how to operate just within the boundaries of the law, but jerks just the same. Wish I knew a way to help you more, but that's just my 2cents.

One thought re: the birds, you may want to send a certified letter, signature and return receipt required, informing the owners or management company of the bird situation and stating that you are going to cease cleaning the items on the exterior of the apartment and that any damage, stains or vermin that result from the poop will be though no fault of yours. Also, if feasible, you could just string your own wire above your unit. I can't imagine the wire would cost more than a couple of bucks, but whether you have access to where it needs to go is another issue.

One thing on the birds, some are protected by the Migratory bird act.......like the blasted mud swallows. It might help to note what type of birds are the problem.

Skip the bird foot goo, it only works a few days, the spike things work for some birds but not others, hanging plastic owls, snakes cd's etc are useless as well.

After the first torn towel the maintenance people made several visits to solve the problem and their efforts failed. They then brought in a dryer from another apartment. Still torn towels. Of course, every time they claimed it was fixed we continued to use the dryer; therefore the huge pile of torn-beyond-use towels.

As for the birds, although I am a bird lover I am unable to identify this large black bird with a glaring yellow beak, and would in no way harm a bird of any kind. Actually I would love to feed the birds, but these fellows keep all the song birds away. We are unable to use the deck at all because of them.

Thanks for your input. To show how much they are disliked here, they offered a free dinner recently, and not one soul came. There are also many vacant apartments here.

Well, the number of vacant apartments tells you a lot--the management doesn't care and people move out.

You can read your lease carefully and see if there is any room for redress there. But your best bet is to get out. I don't quite understand why you feel like prisoners, but I know I would not continue to renew my lease for an apartment or management that made me feel that way.

It sounds like you have European Starlings. One thing that I've done to discourage birds on the house that is easy but requires some $ is to get a mylar balloon (or 2 or 3) with helium and attach it where you can reach below (like the back of a lawn chair), let out enough string that it bobs around near where the birds are pests. the Mylar stay inflated longer than rubber and can be reinflated (some places do it for free if you buy the balloon from them). You have to be really careful to not let the balloons escape, as they are terrible for the environment and other birds if they end up in the landscape.

I agree with giving your LL written notice about the bird pests. You should research your state's tenant laws to see what your rights are, if the LL won't fix a "pest" problem. Starling droppings in the volume they usually produce are a health worry. Most states allow you to break your lease with proper notice to the LL and time given to fix the problem. If you break your lease and move, then it can be a defense to any lawsuit they may bring to collect rent. (If you are over 60, check with your local Area Agency on Aging to see what free legal services are available to you in your area- you don't have to be low income to receive some help, if you are over 60).

Here are some other ideas for controlling European Starlings, but they are ruthlessWAys to get rid of Starlings

Olychick: Yes, they are European Starlings. Your post is full of good information which I shall follow, and I thank you for your help.