this morning at about 9 am, our landlord shut off our water (without any prior notice) and started replacing the hot water heater (that had been leaking since November 2020, itās April 6th 2021). they were being super loud, talking really loud, we could hear everything they were doing. our unit is right above the basement where they were working. eventually after over an hour, i yelledĀ ācould you keep it downā and someone started to reply but my boyfriend, who hadnāt been asleep long, works night shift, has lived here and dealt with this for years, who also goes to school at the same time, in an irritated moment yelledĀ āshut the fuck upā. a little while later, i smelled gas in our bedroom where my boyfriend was sleeping. i asked him if he smelled it too, he said yes, i threw my shoes and a mask on and ran downstairs to make sure everything was okay. i saidĀ āhey it smells like gas upstairs, is everything okay?ā the landlord, really annoyed, saidĀ āyeah weāre replacing the hot water heater for you. you know your boyfriend has lived here for years and never yelled like that.ā i saidĀ āokay i was just checking on the gas smell, but heās really tired, he works third shift, and heās in school so you knowā. she complained about him saying fuck, i said āyeah heās just really tired and you guys have been going since 9 am, you didnāt even give us a notice. anywhere iāve lived usually gives a notice for this stuff, youāve texted before, you couldnātāve shot a text about this or left a note?ā she said nobodyās complained before and most tenants are really cool about this. i said okay well i was just checking on why my apartment smelled like gas. she said you arenāt a tenant why isnāt your boyfriend down here talking to us (i pay rent but am not on the lease because i moved in here after leaving an abusive ex and my bf didnāt want me to feel pressured to stay bc i had only known him a week). i said well heās sleeping and in his underwear, i smelled gas to run down and see what was up. she again said ever since i had been there that he had been really angry and had never been like that before. (god forbid he complains when she pulls her bullshit like this. she regularly vacuums at 9 or 10 am, sheās known for 6 years now he works night shift). she really tried to pull aĀ āyouāre really not being chill about the bullshit iām pullingā. i saidĀ āare you saying thatās my fault?ā she saidĀ āiām not saying whoās fault it is butā. i just stared at her. the way she was looking at me and around, she was clearly annoyed and had no regard for me and was just treating me like a nuisance. there was a teenager there with the landlord, and her adult brother, the teenagerās dad. the teenager saidĀ āstop running your mouth and go homeā. i saidĀ āIām sorry, what?ā he saidĀ āyou heard me, stop running your mouth. go homeā. i stared at him. he saidĀ āgo homeā. i stared. he saidĀ ādo you have a problem?ā i saidĀ āyes, why are you being so rude? and who even are you? iāve never seen you here before.ā he saidĀ āthis is my dad and YOUāRE being rude to my aunt and dad. weāre here installing a hot water heater for YOU, so just stop running your mouth and go homeā i saidĀ āoh so youāre the landlordās kid?ā and looked at the landlord and her brother as if to see if there was any sense registering in their brains. i saidĀ āyou really didnāt have to bring up anything, i was just trying to tell you my apartment smells like gas. you didnāt have to do this.ā the guy that was actually installing the hot water heater saidĀ āwe were being quiet the only thing that was loud was us moving the heaterā i saidĀ āno, we could hear yāall talking, chains moving, you working on everything. we could hear every little thing, why do you think you woke us up and he got so annoyed?ā he saidĀ āwell weāre almost done weāll try to keep it downā i saidĀ āthanksā and stormed upstairs and slammed the door. i started crying and told my boyfriend what they said. he went downstairs and said they obviously knew they fucked up. his landlord tried to sayĀ āmove if you arenāt happy hereā and he saidĀ āIāve wasted 50 thousand dollars here, weāre looking to move now.ā it was just ridiculous. worst of all, it just triggered this horrible response in me, thatĀ āsit and take it or fight back even though youāre fighting against someone insaneā that my mom and ex put me in over and over and over. i had flashback after flashback and totally melted down. idk. i just needed to write this somewhere. i doubt thereās anything we can really do but try to move. our apartment is full of mold, literally insulated with styrofoam, the sink is always broken, the shower is regularly leaking because itās completely unsealed so we literally just shower at the gym. the cabinets are falling off, the carpet is from the 70s, the drop ceiling tiles are falling apart and thereās obviously been leaks there. itās ridiculously expensive to heat or cool this place because it was built in 1927 and just in shambles. itās old military housing, thereās literally not even doors between the rooms. the walls are thin wood paneling from the 70s. this winter the entire apartment was surrounded by feet of snow and ice and they took weeks to clear the smallest path. itās cheap, and itās CHEAP. they do no maintenance even though theyāre seemingly always here being loud in the morning. itās just a fucking ridiculous place, plus our neighbors are toxic and drunk and crazy. weāre starting the process now to move.Ā
I donāt know why i didnāt throw it in their face that the broken hot water heater wasnāt for my convenience, like they were trying to throw it in my face as some service for me. i didnāt even know it was even broken, our hot water has been just fine. thatās only for their sake, bc we donāt pay water here, they pay for it, and a leak for 6 months from a hot water heater is going to surge a bill. they shouldāve replaced it before it went bad.Ā
theyāre the epitome of privilege. they inherited this building from their daddy and thatās how they make their living, skimming off of other peopleās income. and the space they provide is a total shithole. fucking ridiculous.Ā
