What the fuck is going on!?

The BBQ Pit
1

Something’s happening in this apartment building and I have no clue what. This is starting to piss me off. It seems like either we have some really messed up tenants or visitors sabotaging the building, or this place is falling around our ears. I somehow think it’s the former as I’ll admit we don’t live in the best neighborhood. Not really bad but one of the cheaper ones in the city.

Now as to what’s been happening… about a month ago we got several false firealarms, most in the middle of the night and all pulled from the second floor. (Found out by talking to the nice firemen who showed up, and my own glancing at the box whixh tells where the alarm was pulled from) There was never any fire, not even a trace of smoke smell in the hallways. Not even cigarette smoke!!

This past week has gotten worse… you see a few days ago (maybe a week, not even) I went out to head for the store to pick up munchies. I noticed as I went downstairs that the whole building smelled of gas! :eek: According to our caretaker who was trying to fix it, and called the gas company, the line was cut! Not worn away, CUT! People sometimes walk down the hallways with a lit cigarette (we’re not supposed to), if someone had done that the building woulda gone up easily! I came home and I opened all the windows in the stairwell and the windows in our apartment just to be sure though the gas smell hadn’t hit the 4th floor yet.

That was fixed PDQ and by the next morning there was no gas smell or nothing. Now comes today.

This morning I wake up and it’s freezing cold, I can almost see my breath. I had thought someone had just left our balcony door open as it is getting colder up here and the roomie does that sometimes. I go to the bathroom, do my business and turn on the taps to wash my hands. There is no water. Not hot, not cold just rattling pipes. We manage to get the cold running by turning all the taps on. The hot is still out, and it stays out.

I call the landlord and am told that they are working on fixing the problem. Okay, that’s fine. Later that day roomie calls as well… guess what they tell him. The heat and water are out and the way it’s going to be is that it will take them 2-5 days to fix this. There was a fire in the electrical room.

If there was a fire why didn’t the alarm go off?! We know it works! (or did a month ago) Why did no one say anything? I had to call and ask about it to find out what was happening. It affects the whole building! Couldn’t they have printed a note (I know they can) and slipped it under every door? 48 apartments all without heat or hot water for possibly a week right after the cold hits us.

Lovely…

I may just go over to my Dad’s and stay there for a week. At least I can have a hot shower and not be dressed like I’m going out for a walk every minute or snuggled under layers of blankets. I’ll be happy to move out of this building. We’ve had other problems before (the heat went out last winter and it took them a MONTH to relight the furnace) but nothing like this past month and I don’t want to stay here through the winter again if this sort of thing is going to continue.

2

It’s time to move out, Kiddo.

3

Sounds like someone wants the building to go down–false alarms, vandalized gas lines, no water…

What Ginger said.

4

Skeedaddle, now!

You’ve got gremlins and we all know what it takes to get rid of them!

5

I can’t leave right now… but I have been in the process of working out where I am going and shall be starting packing things this week to be ready by the mid to end of October.

I was planning on moving anyway as the way things are falling out with the roomie, as well as my going to have a baby at the end of the year I just felt it was better to be moving. That way I can kinda make a new start and get everything together. This just makes me glad I was already planning on moving.

In fact, back to Calgary! Too bad you’re not still there Ginger.

6

Seems like we’ve been having similar problems, I hadn’t been aware of our problems until tonight. The property manager posted a notice in all the stairwells: some group of young thugs caused $17K worth of damage all over the complex, including gang symbols & graffiti in the laundry rooms (which are supposed to be kept locked). Mr. Property Manager thinks some of the children of who live in the complex either took part in causing damage or at least know who did.

Damn fuckwits.

7

Okay, call me paranoid, but I really start wondering how much insurance is on your building and who holds the policy. Seriously, you might want to go talk to the police about what’s going on – it’s clearly a pattern, and it may not be a tenant doing it, it could even be an owner! And in case you don’t have it now, BUY RENTER’S INSURANCE ASAP! Very cheap, and well worth every penny!!!

8

I wouldn’t be surprised if it was kids in our building. Well not ‘kids’ perse but the young adults who live here. A good portion of our 2 buildings is decent enough people. We have a few seniors who I’ve seen around and talked to off and on, we have a few families and some single mom’s and dad’s who get their kids on the weekends. There are though several partier types and I know that there are some druggies around though the ones still here are pretty circumspect as they haven’t been kicked out yet. They were working on cleaning the building up this past year with new owners.

Like I said it’s not the best neighborhood but overall it’s decent. You just have to watch yourself at night. I’ll still be happy to leave though.

9

No money for renters insurance Mama… otherwise I’d have it. Like I said I’m leaving asap and anyway most of what I have here isn’t all that much. I moved in over a year ago but I never brought all my stuff. So it wouldn’t be a big loss except for my clothing and computer.

10

That’s hard stuff to replace, though. Renter’s insurance is usually very, very cheap – for clothing and a computer, you could probably get it for under $20 a month. Which is a lot cheaper than a computer…

11

My computer is about 5 years old… and I don’t even have 20 bucks. That’s part of why I’m moving. I basically pay my rent pay whichever bill is screaming the most and buy what food I can before I hit the food bank for the rest of the month.

Yeah my computer would be expensive to replace, but I can live with the library computers. I did so before… heck we only got this one fixed a month ago! I was so broke it was broken for 3/4 months because I couldn’t afford a $50 part.

12

If your computer is five years old, you’re right, not to worry. I know where you’re coming from; I’ve been there myself. Good luck finding a better place – before your current one goes up in flames!! (You DO have a good emergency exit plan from your apartment, don’t you, with multiple options???)

13

Of course I do! I’m right next to one of the exits and the other is down the hall… that’s the best I can do but I know which ways I can get out.

14

Obsidian, What area are you in?

15

Edmonton atm Sinshine

16

Is the new owner’s name “Trump” by any chance?

Is the neighborhood ripe for redevelopment?

Does rent control apply to your unit?

Are any of the actions life-threatening?

What you are seeing are classic ways to get people to move out when the law says you can’t evict them.

The law generally comes down hard on stunts which directly endanger folks - fire alarms in the middle of the night, mysterious fires in utility rooms (was there an arson investigation?) do not hurt anybody, just convince to seek shelter elsewhere (while we knock down this dump and put up nice, trendy, yuppie-friendly condos).

But, yeah, get the hell out and let the owners deal with however they wish (they will anyway)

17

A short story.

I was in Vegas for New Years Eve a couple years ago. The party across from me in the hotel was out of control. It was mostly young people, some of them probably not even old enough to drink, but everyone was well oiled from what I could see. So it’s like 4:30AM and the party rages on. Doors slamming, people yelling and screaming, people falling down, loud rap music, people getting sick, etc. I heard one of my neighbors go over and tell them to quite down, it’s almost daylight. They quieted down for a few minutes, then right back to the rowdy insanity. I have a feeling my neighbor called the hotel security and got no satisfaction from them. A few minutes later the fire alarm closest to the party was pulled. Soon after, the party was over. I have a suspicion my neighbor figured this was the only way to “put the fire out”. The cops and the firemen showed up and the party was over (of course the party people were the main suspects). I don’t advocate this procedure, but it sure seemed to do the trick that night.

18

See, we have this (almost) vacant suite in my dad’s building, and I’m hoping to get a decent, law-abiding citizen for the next tenant. But we’re in Vancouver. :frowning:

19

And yet you’d consider installing someone from the boards? Use your head! :smiley:

Kidding, of course. It makes me so happy to see Dopers helping other Dopers.

Good luck finding somewhere new, Obsidian. And be careful; I agree with everyone else who thinks this rash of weirdness isn’t entirely coincidental.

20

Psst, Junie… Sinshine lets Dopers into her home. Me, f’rinstance. For, like, a week at a time. Not that odd, though, since I’ve known her since before the dawn of time.

Obs, we used to own a place in Edmonton (Evergreen) that we rented out (my ex and I). He sold it after we split. I wish I had it to offer to you.