Burnt carpeting, junk mattresses, walls not painted – I agree with Jeff Lipsey on that. No student is expected to live in that way. But there is another side to this story. When students check into their apartments they give a move-in report. On this move-in report, they are asked to report whatever it is they are not satisfied with or what is not in acceptable condition. They keep a copy, as do we.

With particular respect to Jeff’s complaint, when he moved in, at least as to what he documented himself, there were two mattresses that were in poor shape. They were immediately replaced. He documented that the apartment was in need of painting, which was done on August 23. Their carpet was not replaced, but it was cleaned a second time on August 20. The carpet at the time they moved in was only a year old and it was difficult to justify replacing it because there were a couple of burn marks.

The refrigerator was not clean enough to his satisfaction – we replaced it. We did not feel we were doing a favor for the tenants, but a duty we owed them.

However, the bulk of his complaint has to do with a flickering switch in his apartment. When we were informed, the maintenance men went there and changed the breaker on the inside of the apartment. When we got a second call we checked the wiring in the apartment and discovered nothing wrong within the apartment, so we felt the problem was external. We called AmerenIP and they promised to send one of their workers to check the problem out. AmerenIP came out and told us there was a breaker that needed to be replaced on the outside of the building. We were given a date on which the work would be done. On the appointed date, nobody from AmerenIP showed up. We called again and we were given a second date. They showed up that second time and the problem was taken care of.

When tenants rent, they have expectations. The landlord has a responsibility to meet those expectations. No landlord will ignore a problem as significant as anything that has to do with electricity. Students should remember that a landlord in our litigious society has every reason not to ignore a problem that could potentially cause a danger to tenants. The problem with the flickering switch was obviously one of those situations that we were at the mercy of the power company.

New refrigerator, freshly painted apartment, new mattresses – all within the first week of move-in and yet we are castigated for one thing beyond our control, which even Jeff acknowledged. Yes, check with the Tenant Union. This year, since a new manager has been at the helm of Gabe’s Place we have only had two complaints. In spite of the number of tenants we have, I still think we can do better. Our goal, like other businesses, is to try to exceed expectations.

Gabe

Gabe’s Place Apartments