Why You Should Never Ever Rent an Apartment You Haven't Seen in Person

To: [redacted---landlord]
Fr: Lisa [redacted---tenant]
Re: Apartment Repairs and Condition

The following are items that were identified upon my move-in on August 16, 2006, and have not been addressed since I took occupancy of [redacted] Madison, WI:

1. Storm windows need to be replaced in the front and middle rooms.
2. The middle room and kitchen need to be repainted. The current paint is peeling from the walls of both rooms and around the window sill and frame in the kitchen. Furthermore, the paint in both rooms is heavily scuffed and the doors are dingy, yellowed, and scuffed.
3. The paint around the window frame in the bathroom is peeling and the contact paper on the sill is peeling off.
4. I have not received a copy of my lease with your signature.

In addition, I have identified the following problems since the initial walk-through:

5. The refrigerator is missing shelf fronts on the door shelves in both the fridge and freezer sections.
6. The electric outlet in the bathroom is loose.
7. Some tiles in the bathroom are loose.
8. The cable outlet cover in the front room is loose.
9. The right-side blinds in the front room have a broken rail; it was taped together, but the tape is not holding.
10. The right-side window in the front room and both of the windows in the middle room will not stay open.

Furthermore, I would ask that you give attention to the following areas:

11. The common areas, including the front and back entrances and the laundry room are filthy. Litter has sat in the front entrance area for the past three weeks. The back entrance is covered in dirt and cobwebs; there are holes in the walls.
12. The garbage area does not have sufficient canisters for disposal and is not well-maintained, which is causing stench, flies, and rodents in the area.
13. Residents in the other units continue to be disruptive---speaking loudly, slamming doors, and generally creating noise late at night (between approximately 1 am and 3 am). I have spoken to them about the problem but the noise persists; a word from the landlord might have a greater effect.

I ask that you clean up the common areas to at least a sanitary condition and that you speak to the residents to remind them of their responsibities as good neighbors.

I would appreciate a quick resolution to these issues.

And this doesn't even include a mention of the two---count 'em, two!---dead mice I found on Sunday: one in my apartment and one outside the laundry room. I called the landlord to let him know and his response was to get miffed that I had called on a Sunday.

I tried to speak nicely to the girls upstairs about the noise problem; their response was "Hey, it's an apartment." I've lived in apartments for almost ten years and have never once had to complain about noise.

So learn from my HUGE mistake and never rent an apartment based on a couple of pictures. They somehow "forgot" to send me the pictures of the gunk hanging from the laundry room ceiling or the stains on the ghetto carpet in the front hall.

I'll be sending this note to my landlord this week and calling the Tenant Resource Council this week to discuss my options.