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Jet Set Jettison posted:I'm signing my lease tonight, but the lease specifically says "The lease grants no rights to parking." Now this dude usually does apartments closer to the city where parking is limited, and sent me a couple of responses saying "I know parking is a sure-thing, that clause is in there for the city apartments. You won't have to sign a seperate agreement to get a parking space. There is plenty of parking."
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# ? May 28, 2013 18:27 |
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# ? May 16, 2024 18:58 |
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Thats my concern too, BUT I do have him saying these things in email. I know specifically that verbal agreements in MA are non-binding. I didn't know if an email counted.
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# ? May 28, 2013 18:28 |
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Tell him to strike that line from the lease you sign. If it really isn't a big deal, he'll do it.
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# ? May 28, 2013 18:35 |
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Blast Fantasto posted:Tell him to strike that line from the lease you sign. If it really isn't a big deal, he'll do it.
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# ? May 28, 2013 19:32 |
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If the emails are from the broker, then they mean jack poo poo. Because the broker can and will lie to you to get your signature on a lease. Look at it this way - the lease is a contract between you and the landlord; the broker is there to facilitate that transaction, but they aren't party to the contract and nothing they offer you is as binding as the lease itself. I have been in this situation before and it sucks; because really if they lie to you, you don't really have any reasonable recourse. I mean you can show the correspondence to the landlord and if they are a decent person they will be sympathetic, but if the broker is lying there may not be any reasonable accommodation the landlord can provide at that point (like if there is actually limited parking and it is all taken now). So you really have two options: 1) Strike that clause in the lease and initial it, as above; and 2) Decide that you are willing to gamble on it and sign anyway.
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# ? May 28, 2013 19:46 |
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I took a gamble on the parking situation. He showed me the 'resident hand book' which made some mentions of parking in the area that made me more reassured. I did, however, cross off a line in the lease about utilities. The lease definitely said "the tenant is responsible for all utilities including blah blah blah which may include heat and/or gas." I said gently caress no I'm not signing this unless I cross off the line about heat & gas. I move in on saturday, which is supposed to be 90 degrees and muggy .
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# ? May 29, 2013 12:26 |
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Jet Set Jettison posted:I move in on saturday, which is supposed to be 90 degrees and muggy . Thursday but same.
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# ? May 29, 2013 13:47 |
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Eggplant Wizard posted:Thursday but same. I bought a whole case of water for my friends who are helping me move. I might buy some gatorade or something so they don't die in the heat. Also I'll get my friends the standard beer & pizza as reward too (or possibly tacos, since apparently I live near a taco place now). Luckily, the AC is already built into the wall, so the minute I get the key I'm gonna go in and crank it up thusly creating my first incredibly high electric bill. E: VVV I can't start until 1 . Bread Set Jettison fucked around with this message at 14:59 on May 29, 2013 |
# ? May 29, 2013 13:51 |
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If you can, start early in the morning - it will be cooler then. Then you can work for several hours, and take a break during the hottest part of the day before finishing up in the later afternoon. Obviously you might not be able to do that depending on how much poo poo you have to move and people's schedules, but if you can it helps a lot.
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# ? May 29, 2013 14:20 |
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My move is happening tomorrow as well. Despite getting a full-pack service I'm still getting nervous and worrying about not having done stuff I'm supposed to do, when my responsibilities, as far as I am aware, are limited to making sure everything's as clean and tidy as possible, and having tea and coffee available at all times.
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# ? May 29, 2013 14:51 |
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I move the last weekend of June, so we get to deal with the throes of Las Vegas summer. I suppose if I gotta find a bright side, at least the insects can't be loving bothered either, but still While I'm tempted to hire packers because I'm lazy, I don't have much stuff so I'll probably end up just hiring movers. I do wonder what sort of price difference is involved, though. Anyway, what are my responsibilities for movers when it comes to large stuff (furniture like bed, TV stands, TVs, dressers, desks, what have you)? Should I just leave them where and as they are, take them apart if possible, move them to the front room, or what?
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# ? May 29, 2013 18:15 |
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Aaaaaah, more lease issues. The lease definitely says "The tenant shall pay, as they become due, all fuel and utility bills for electricity and other utlities, whether they are used for furnishing heat or other purposes, that are furnished to the demised premise and seperately metered." Am I crazy for thinking that says Heat and hot water is not included? I mean it goes on to say that the land lord keeps it at a certain temperature and etc. I crossed off the "furnishing heat" part of the lease and sent it back and they said no but I need to figure out what to do by tomorrow. It sounds almost like I pay for utilities that are seperately metered to me. If heat isn't seperately metered to me, I don't control it and thus don't pay it. Also I got in contact with the prior tenant and he said that he never paid heat and hot water. Should I just gamble here and sign it? E: I talked to the property manager and they said that they have "Heat & Hot water included" on file, so I feel way better and am going to sign the lease. Bread Set Jettison fucked around with this message at 18:43 on May 29, 2013 |
# ? May 29, 2013 18:16 |
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Hey guys so I moved yesterday in 90 degree heat and uh the truck didn't have a/c so that was an awesome 5 hours. Or rather, it did, but it seemed to just be blowing hot air. My dad thinks it was trying but the black interior of the cab absorbed and gave off so much heat that it was futile (the floor was hot to the touch). Either way, . I drove about half the way and my dad drove the first half. It wasn't that bad apart from the whole 'melting' issue. Future tips: Budget sometimes is cheaper than UHaul, especially if you get a coupon code! Hurray! However, they apparently book things without any regard whatsoever to actual stock available at their licensee franchises. I got lucky and got a 16' truck instead of the 10' I signed up for, for no extra cost, but the woman running the office said people regularly reserved 24' trucks... which that office never has. Complaints to Budget get "hurrr use your Avis trucks" which would be fine if they had 24' Avis trucks, but they don't, and so yeah that has to suck. Anyway, I suggest that if the Budget price is better for you, CALL AND RESERVE VIA THE LOCAL OFFICE. This should probably go for all such things even though I never have had that problem with UHaul. Jet Set Jettison posted:It sounds almost like I pay for utilities that are seperately metered to me. If heat isn't seperately metered to me, I don't control it and thus don't pay it. Yeah that's fine and normal. It's really annoying that your LL/broker uses such a generic lease for such different types of properties.
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# ? May 31, 2013 13:01 |
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Eggplant Wizard posted:Hey guys so I moved yesterday in 90 degree heat and uh the truck didn't have a/c so that was an awesome 5 hours. Or rather, it did, but it seemed to just be blowing hot air. My dad thinks it was trying but the black interior of the cab absorbed and gave off so much heat that it was futile (the floor was hot to the touch). Either way, . I drove about half the way and my dad drove the first half. It wasn't that bad apart from the whole 'melting' issue. Uhaul has the same issues with truck reservations. They're supposed to let them know so the trucks can get moved around the night before to the right pick up location, but that never happens. You should write in to their website. We have had a lot of moving truck issues, and they usually give you a pretty good coupon that doesn't expire as compensation for your lovely melting experience.
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# ? May 31, 2013 14:11 |
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Eggplant Wizard posted:Hey guys so I moved yesterday in 90 degree heat and uh the truck didn't have a/c so that was an awesome 5 hours. Or rather, it did, but it seemed to just be blowing hot air. My dad thinks it was trying but the black interior of the cab absorbed and gave off so much heat that it was futile (the floor was hot to the touch). Either way, . I drove about half the way and my dad drove the first half. It wasn't that bad apart from the whole 'melting' issue. You're moving near NYC (or in), yes? Just wondering because I'm about to shop for moving trucks and wondering what you found was worth it/wasn't for the market.
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# ? May 31, 2013 17:35 |
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john mayer posted:Uhaul has the same issues with truck reservations. Yeah, I've had the same problems with Uhaul too. Some of the franchises are more scummy than others in your local area, so recommendations from friends is usually the way to go. I even had a Uhaul truck that I noticed had a blown tire before I drove off with it, on the rear axle that has four tires, and they tried to tell me "It's fine, you've still got one tire on that side." No gently caress you, get me a different truck.
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# ? May 31, 2013 22:58 |
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Anyone have any recommendations for getting cat (pee) smell out of a place? Or any products. Previous tenant had at least 3 cats. Luckily the whole place is hardwood.
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# ? Jun 2, 2013 15:57 |
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Are you a new tenant? Complain to the landlord. It's not your cats, not your responsibility to get rid of it. They should have blasted that place clean between tenants, especially with pets (and as a cat owner, god knows every landlord is happy to charge me for that). I think the cheap go-to for cleaning is white vinegar or baking soda, which are old school but really pretty effective. Otherwise I would like for a fancy pet store in your area and see if they have some of those specialized cleaners.
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# ? Jun 2, 2013 16:27 |
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Nature's Miracle is specially formulated for getting pet smells out of things. I think they sell it at Walmart, but you can for sure get it at any pet store. If it wasn't your cats you should complain, it's unreasonable for your landlord to rent you a place that smells of cat pee. I'm moving Friday, and I'm trying to figure out what all I need to change my address on. So far I have: Post office Work Driver's license Renter's insurance Bank/credit cards Am I missing anything obvious?
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# ? Jun 3, 2013 03:41 |
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:Nature's Miracle is specially formulated for getting pet smells out of things. I think they sell it at Walmart, but you can for sure get it at any pet store. If it wasn't your cats you should complain, it's unreasonable for your landlord to rent you a place that smells of cat pee. Blood Bank/Bone Marrow Registry.
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# ? Jun 3, 2013 08:04 |
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:Nature's Miracle is specially formulated for getting pet smells out of things. I think they sell it at Walmart, but you can for sure get it at any pet store. If it wasn't your cats you should complain, it's unreasonable for your landlord to rent you a place that smells of cat pee. Consistent bills that'll come with you. Cellphone, magazines, anything you subscribe to. Health insurance
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# ? Jun 3, 2013 08:07 |
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I moved into a place sight unseen on Saturday and I'm pretty worried I got screwed. It's an old house in CT and I'm renting the first floor for $1200/mo. At least half of the windows either don't lock properly and they could be opened somewhat easily from the outside, or the 2nd window pane on the outside is rusted or jammed and won't close at all. One of the windows is a crank style that only partially opens. The wood is so rotted that the window pane is falling out and you can't close it all the way, so there is a constant 1" gap between the window frame and the window. I called the landlord right after finding all this stuff (he wasn't there when I picked up the keys, just the broker lady in her Mercedes who was in a rush to get out of there), and he said he'd get his carpenter over here "one of these days" to take a look at it. Not only are the windows hosed up but there's a slow leak under the sink that I called him about and his response was to just tighten the pipe a bit, which of course didn't do anything. Also, whoever installed the cheap Ikea kitchen cabinets in here did a shoddy job and they're all lopsided and uneven, and one of them has a straight up broken hinge. What do you guys think my options are? Wait for his carpenter to maybe come? I'm going to call him again tomorrow if I don't hear anything, but I really want to either get this poo poo taken care of asap or quit the lease and move somewhere else or something, because the window situation is uncool and unsafe.
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# ? Jun 4, 2013 02:42 |
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$1200 for a piece of a shared house sounds insane anywhere in CT, unless you're in the depths of Fairfield County, but if you were then all your poo poo wouldn't be so lovely. Definitely price some comparable local options, either to use in the fight with your landlord, or just to move to instead.
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# ? Jun 4, 2013 02:48 |
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I'm in Milford and it's about 850 sq. feet. I have a private entrance and kitchen and all that... the location is awesome and I think the place would be kind of charming if it weren't for the window situation, but yeah... too much money.
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# ? Jun 4, 2013 02:53 |
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Jerome Louis posted:I moved into a place sight unseen on Saturday and I'm pretty worried I got screwed. It's an old house in CT and I'm renting the first floor for $1200/mo. At least half of the windows either don't lock properly and they could be opened somewhat easily from the outside, or the 2nd window pane on the outside is rusted or jammed and won't close at all. One of the windows is a crank style that only partially opens. The wood is so rotted that the window pane is falling out and you can't close it all the way, so there is a constant 1" gap between the window frame and the window. I called the landlord right after finding all this stuff (he wasn't there when I picked up the keys, just the broker lady in her Mercedes who was in a rush to get out of there), and he said he'd get his carpenter over here "one of these days" to take a look at it. Never do sight unseen! Crazy. In your lease what does it say about repairs? If your landlord is responsible for repairs as per the lease, keep hounding him. Give him a reasonable amount of time (1-2 weeks?), and if he doesn't pull through let him know your going to hire your own people to take care of it and that you're going to take it out of the rent. Either hell get his poo poo together quick or your stuff will get fixed. As far as breaking the lease goes, I think your pretty hosed unless the landlord is willing to let you, which is pretty drat unlikely.
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# ? Jun 4, 2013 04:23 |
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Look around online for a boilerplate move-in inspection worksheet/checklist. Keep a copy for yourself (to help retrieve your deposit when you move out), and mail him the original by Certified Mail. Take pictures of the move-in condition of the entire apartment. In the letter, ask that he make necessary repairs to make the unit habitable and secure. Include pictures if you want. Request that he return a signed copy of your inspection sheet. Do this first before you mail a letter notifying him of your intent to pay for repairs yourself and deduct from your rent. Withholding rent is a tricky matter, and he may call your bluff if he knows the law.
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# ? Jun 4, 2013 06:31 |
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Kingnothing posted:You're moving near NYC (or in), yes? I was making a 260 mile move from about an hour outside NYC into New England. My quoted rate for a 12' UHaul was $260ish and for a 10' Budget $299 BUT I got a coupon code from the usps address change thing that made it $239. After insurance ($40) & taxes & fees it was $347, plus $85 in gas and ~$16 in tolls. No packers, no loaders, no extra supplies. I imagine it's 2x as expensive in NYC given how everything else in life there works. Costello Jello posted:Yeah, I've had the same problems with Uhaul too. Some of the franchises are more scummy than others in your local area, so recommendations from friends is usually the way to go. I even had a Uhaul truck that I noticed had a blown tire before I drove off with it, on the rear axle that has four tires, and they tried to tell me "It's fine, you've still got one tire on that side." No gently caress you, get me a different truck. Suddenly no a/c seems less terrible. My new apartment is great except the toilet has decided to run and also the water (townwide, we think) turned rusty yesterday afternoon and hasn't stopped yet
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# ? Jun 4, 2013 12:51 |
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My move went well! It was on Saturday in 90 degree humid weather which sucked. Also my AC didn't work well and I think the dudes underneath me were smoking weed. So my apartment was hot, smelly, and full of unassembled IKEA furniture. It was stressful, but we got it all done. Living on my own rules. I really expected to feel lonely by now. Nope. Totally cool with being alone. It also helps that I've kept busy and when I wasn't busy I've had company over. Is there a way to find out if my complex recycles/my town recycles? All I see at my apartment is a big dumpster, and no place to put bottles. I assume the town must do it?
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# ? Jun 4, 2013 13:15 |
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Some towns don't recycle, or just have one central recycling center that you have to drive to yourself. I told my new landlord I'd be moving in Friday (in writing, I have the email with her agreeing to it), I just now got an email saying "so you're moving in Saturday, right? I have shampooers coming Friday." NO DAMMIT. I have movers scheduled, the reason I'm moving Friday is because they were already booked both days this weekend and if I can't move this weekend I have to push it back three weeks. Aaarrghggh.
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# ? Jun 4, 2013 14:00 |
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Apartment hunting right now and in a bit of a conundrum. Apartments in my area are generally poo poo. There's honestly only five or so complexes that I want to live in, and they're all above 800 dollars. My girlfriend and I are currently at 30 grand combined income, so that's already a little more than I'd like. One choice is 820 for rent, in a worse area, with a 500 nonrefundable pet fee and 800 dollar deposit. The other is in a nicer area, newer building, better amenities, 100 less square footage for 890. The pet fee there is just 300, and they also knock 300 bucks off your first month rent for a 12 month lease. Deposit is 200 refundable, 200 non refundable. I'm really leaning towards the second one, but sticker shock is getting in the way. We pay 670 for a shared house right now, but have to strike out on our own this time. Our only transportation costs are gas (car insurance and maintenance is covered by my family until I get a better job, her family because she does errands for them), work is 5 miles away, and I've got a couple grand of emergency cash in the bank right now. I also just graduated college last month and am hitting the job market pretty hard, so I'm hopeful that income should be closer to 50-60k by the end of the year. We've lived in cheaper apartments (650 for a single) around the area and have had nightmares. Oh god, the roaches. There's one pretty nice complex in the area for 600, but you're locked into Comcast as an ISP and required to subscribe to cable which is a complete deal killer. I've crunched my budget and it's not going to kill me at all to cut 150 a month, but going above 30% of income on rent is kinda scary.
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# ? Jun 4, 2013 14:18 |
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deadwing posted:Apartment hunting right now and in a bit of a conundrum. Apartments in my area are generally poo poo. There's honestly only five or so complexes that I want to live in, and they're all above 800 dollars. My girlfriend and I are currently at 30 grand combined income, so that's already a little more than I'd like. One choice is 820 for rent, in a worse area, with a 500 nonrefundable pet fee and 800 dollar deposit. The other is in a nicer area, newer building, better amenities, 100 less square footage for 890. The pet fee there is just 300, and they also knock 300 bucks off your first month rent for a 12 month lease. Deposit is 200 refundable, 200 non refundable. I'm really leaning towards the second one, but sticker shock is getting in the way. We pay 670 for a shared house right now, but have to strike out on our own this time.
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# ? Jun 4, 2013 16:36 |
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I don't know if this is a law that varies state to state, but despite what the management tells you I believe it is illegal to force residents into using a particular ISP with no alternatives. I was looking into renting a place with the same deal with a horrible cable company a while ago and came across a law regarding that. You just have to decide if your hatred of Comcast is worth the ensuing fight because it's going to be a big one.
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# ? Jun 4, 2013 19:28 |
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:I don't know if this is a law that varies state to state, but despite what the management tells you I believe it is illegal to force residents into using a particular ISP with no alternatives. I was looking into renting a place with the same deal with a horrible cable company a while ago and came across a law regarding that. It's not illegal in New York.
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# ? Jun 4, 2013 20:46 |
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Flood insurance: I'm going to be living within 1000' of a river in an AO8 flood zone, so I am definitely, definitely getting flood insurance. It looks like that has federally set rates, though, is that right? If so I imagine that shopping around flood insurance doesn't make any sense, I'll just add it on with the renter's insurance underwriter?
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# ? Jun 4, 2013 21:04 |
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Thanatosian posted:Why is Comcast a deal-killer? What's the total cost if you factor in Comcast as part of the rent? A) Comcast is literally terrible in my area. No one else I know has them by choice. I didn't even know they were available here until I talked to someone living there. Internet is apparently absolutely awful B) It's not cable Internet they make you buy, it's cable TV. I have no interest in a TV subscription. I talked to a buddy who lived in another of that companies property and said they pile on fees on top of that: to expect an extra 100 on your bill before the Comcast bullshit.
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# ? Jun 4, 2013 21:28 |
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:I don't know if this is a law that varies state to state, but despite what the management tells you I believe it is illegal to force residents into using a particular ISP with no alternatives. I was looking into renting a place with the same deal with a horrible cable company a while ago and came across a law regarding that. My apartment complex only gets Brighthouse. Comcast/Xfinity won't go into my poor people zip code and U-Verse wants a huge installation fee. I could get a dish if I really wanted to, but I don't.
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# ? Jun 4, 2013 21:58 |
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The complex I'm moving to at the end of the month forces Cox cable on us, but since A) it's cheaper than the normal due to group rates, B) they're the only real game in town that isn't a satellite, and C) I was gonna get cable anyway, I didn't raise any eyebrows. vv
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# ? Jun 4, 2013 22:36 |
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I like turtles posted:Flood insurance: I'm going to be living within 1000' of a river in an AO8 flood zone, so I am definitely, definitely getting flood insurance. It looks like that has federally set rates, though, is that right? If so I imagine that shopping around flood insurance doesn't make any sense, I'll just add it on with the renter's insurance underwriter? To answer my own question, yes, it doesn't make sense to shop around on flood insurance because the rates are federally set.
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# ? Jun 4, 2013 23:01 |
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I signed the lease to my apartment today and got the code to grab the keys out of the landlord's lockbox (the landlord is long-distance so we've done mostly everything via email except for the initial viewing, which is why I can't just get the keys from them directly) so I went out there to grab the keys and the garage door to the unit was open, the garage was still full of someone else's poo poo, with a car parked inside. It looked like they'd made no effort to pack or anything. I'm moving in Friday. What do I do if this person hasn't moved out by the time I move in? They were supposed to be out May 28th. The landlord has hired a cleaning crew to come by Thursday before I move in, so hopefully they'll alert the landlord if this jackass hasn't gotten out.
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# ? Jun 5, 2013 02:23 |
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# ? May 16, 2024 18:58 |
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I'm moving into a new apartment on Friday and I got a call from them today saying they broke the shower/tub in the master bedroom somehow. They offered to let us move into a different apartment, however, that one is facing a school that is under construction, while the first one was in a more secluded area. They were not sure how long it would take to order a new tub and they would need someone to come in and install it after we move in. We asked for a discount on the first month's rent, but they didn't go for it because they "used a contractor, so its not really our fault" and their manager was not there to discuss it. Its not a deal breaker, but it is inconvenient/annoying. Is it worth pursuing further with the manager, or just drop it??
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# ? Jun 5, 2013 02:46 |