Should I take my landlord to small claims court?

[JD7.62]

Long story and Im at work so I am going to rush it but bare with me.

We moved into our apartment in October of 2008. When we moved in the carpets were freshly cleaned and walls repainted. The chemical odor lingered for about a month. We had always thought we smelled cigarette smoke though.

Well fast forward to Thanksgiving. We head out of town for the weekend and upon arrival we opened our suitcases and our CLEAN clothes smelled like a hooker bar! It was disgusting! I guess since we were in the building and the chemical smell from the paint and carpet masked the smoke odor enough that we kind of got use to it. You know how you get use to a smell when you are exposed to it for a prolonged amount of time?

Well when we got back home and walked into our apartment it smelled horrible! But again, after a day or so we got use to it. In the mean time I have had the WORSE sinus issues ever plus my 23mo old daughter has STAYED sick with upper respiratory issues ever since we moved in.

After Thanksgiving we immediately contacted our landlord.

They did take immediate action by putting a carbon filter in the ducts and sealing off any cracks. Well that didnt help so they offered to move us.

Well this week they finally called and said they have a unit open for us to move in and we must be in by this weekend.

Well I work full time and this week my wife my wife started a new school and her old school isnt even over yet so she is going to two different schools a day plus working on Tues and Friday!

I asked them if there was anything the could do to compensate us for this MAJOR inconvienence and they offered to move our big furniture. Well that is great and all but all we have is our bed, three dressors and a washer and dryer. I could do all that with a friend and a hand truck in less then an hour. Also we HAVE to clean ALL of our clothes, even our clean ones because everything we own smells like smoke. This is going to be a MAJOR expense.

I asked if they could do that for us and they said no, and that if we didnt move in to the new unit by this weekend we are stuck.

She said they would give us permission to break the lease and get our deposit back.

I am thinking about doing that and finding a better place because honestly this place sucks for the amount of rent we pay.

Anyway back to my main question at hand, is it possible to sue for the laundry bill and possibly ourhealth bills? My daughters pediatrician even said her respiratory infections were probably because of the smoke.

I am not bringing clothes that smell like smoke to our new place when we find one and it WILL cost ALOT of money to wash everything.

What are our options here? What would yall do?

I am looking for real adult replys please!

 

[jcardona1]

that sucks man, but i would leave and then try to get them to pay. im no lawyer, but would this fall under the same idea of "constructive eviction"???? i would think theyd have to be responsible

 

[armac]

I would say by living there for 3 months, you would have essentialy accepted the conditions. They are being nice offering you a way out.

Just my opinon.......

 

[jcardona1]

I would say by living there for 3 months, you would have essentialy accepted the conditions. They are being nice offering you a way out.

Just my opinon.......

thats a good point. they could argue that and ask why it took you so long to say something? why all of the sudden do you want out?

 

[sp33dstix]

It really depends you have to read your lease.
If it says no smoking and there are people smoking in the apartment then someone is breaking the rules and the landlord is not keeping up with his end of the deal.
You have to really read your lease. Also find a lawyer.
I know in Ontario you cannot smoke inside any place of work. An apartment is considered a place of work so if people are smoking in there they get in big trouble.

 

[armac]

thats a good point. they could argue that and ask why it took you so long to say something? why all of the sudden do you want out?

Immediate refusal of the home would be a defensible position, not living there for months then deciding something was wrong.

 

[rook45]

I'd forget the laundry bill...just suck it up and go to a laundry mat with some of them big commercial front loaders and wash away. The major issue is your baby's health if you don't have insurance I would sue for the medical expenses. If you feel that your paying too much in rent for the apartment and the new unit is no better then start looking for a new apartment now. By all mean necessary please get the child out of that environment. Maybe ask grandparents to care for her while you find a new place.
Best of luck to you Jay

 

[Ang]

ugh. They have obviously done what they can to help you out. Put in carbon filters, offered to move you to a different unit, offered to help you move your big items, offered to let you break your lease....

And now you feel the need to sue? Common. I hate smoke. I do. I get pissed when people smoke around me and make me smell that trash.

But seriously? Just wash your clothes and break your lease and you'll know better next time to insist that wherever you move has had NO smokers.
Its just a live and learn situation. Its SUCKS. I dont dissagree there. But the Apartment complex is trying to make it up to you.


Not paying for your laundry bill is not something to sue over.

 

[JD7.62]

I would say by living there for 3 months, you would have essentialy accepted the conditions. They are being nice offering you a way out.

Just my opinon.......

After we first contacted them they said the first plan of action was to seal any cracks and add the filter. After that didnt work they said they would move us to another unit. They just now told us another unit was available.


And like I said, we didnt even notice until we went out of town. The chemical odor fromthe carpet and fresh paint masked the smoke odor. In fact we still cant smell it unless we go out of town for a day or two, but when people come over or I go to their house, they ask when we started smoking because we smell like smoke!

 

[JD7.62]

ugh. They have obviously done what they can to help you out. Put in carbon filters, offered to move you to a different unit, offered to help you move your big items, offered to let you break your lease....

And now you feel the need to sue? Common. I hate smoke. I do. I get pissed when people smoke around me and make me smell that trash.

But seriously? Just wash your clothes and break your lease and you'll know better next time to insist that wherever you move has had NO smokers.
Its just a live and learn situation. Its SUCKS. I dont dissagree there. But the Apartment complex is trying to make it up to you.


Not paying for your laundry bill is not something to sue over.

Its the people below us that smoke, for some reason their smoke leaks into our unit.

Plus its going to cost well over $300 to wash our clothes, couch, linens, and mattress plus the expense of moving plus the time, which we DONT have, to move.