When we moved in we were told cats were allowed for an additional fee. We asked Hope (the manager) to set this up and she said, “I don’t know how to do that.” Okay, um, figure it out? She hemmed and hawed and kept stalling and making excuses. Eventually we called the management company directly to get the forms. Hope didn’t seem to think we should be allowed to have a cat because it might cause problems for her.
One night we were cooking a pizza and the carbon monoxide alarm went off. Hope came
...in and said, “Don’t worry! I’ll change the battery!” Okay, but it said carbon monoxide alert, not “low battery.” She didn’t listen and a few minutes later the carbon monoxide alarm went off again. We were really concerned at this point. Carbon monoxide can make you pass out and die pretty quick, and isn’t something to mess around with. Hope came back and said, “Oh the alarm must be broken, I will get you a new one.” I agreed that it could be a false alarm, but it could also mean there was CARBON MONOXIDE in the apartment. That’s what a carbon monoxide detector does, right? Detects carbon monoxide?
Hope became extremely combative and hostile, saying all sorts of nonsense like “Carbon monoxide doesn’t vent” meaning it would still be present even with the windows open (of course it vents), and that she “didn’t smell anything,” even though everyone knows carbon monoxide is an odorless gas. I just couldn’t believe the property manager of a building would argue with a paying tenant over an obvious health and safety issue.
When it was clear I wasn’t getting through to her, I told her I was going to shut off the gas and get the apartment checked. She argued with me over that too, saying over and over again, “I don’t want you to do that.” I just couldn’t believe a company could hire such a relentlessly incompetent person. We made the decision to move that night.
After all that, the Highland Management company refused to budge on the lease. In the past I’ve had reasonable landlords who only asked me to pay if they were unable to find a new tenant when breaking a lease. But these people wanted DOUBLE their money, new tenant or no. Completely outrageous, especially considering we were being driven out by a nutty manager who would rather argue with tenants than do her job. They used the old excuse of “company policy,” even though this was clearly extenuating circumstances due to negligence over health and safety. It’s just a rotten way to treat people.
