So my landlords (first time homeowners I think) paid somewhere between $350,000 and $400,000 for the house I'm currently renting. It's a new house, built just a few years ago. To the best of my knowledge, its “warranty” expires this year. There are a myriad of problems with the house, from minor stuff (cheap toilet fixtures breaking internally, dishwasher failure, barely functioning central air, and so on) to larger problems like the fact that every time it rains water leaks into the walls and pools in the basement ceiling and leaks out — the deck appears to be the culprit, but parts of the roof are coming off as well, and the top story has a massive crack along the roof seam running the full length of the house.
I've kept the landlords (who moved to the UK) updated, as well as their property manager. However, the property manager hasn't bothered to come an see the problem, or event to get their mail (which includes tax information, banking information, and more), nor to even come and pick up the lockbox that contained the key when I moved in. So anyway, even though I've been telling them for months and months that these issues need to be fixed or the house will start to have real damage soon, nothing has happened.
Eventually a contractor was sent over, and we spent about a month and a half of them not showing up for appointments. Then that got cancelled, and another contractor (as far as I know, the guy who built it, and would thus be responsible for repairs under warranty) showed up. He didn't think it was really a problem, and thought that maybe a sheet of plastic should just be laid over the deck (not that he's returned to do so, and for all I know that could make the problem worse). I mentioned that the neighbours were all having similar problems with their houses leaking, and he just started insulting them. It was humorous, but sad as well, because my landlords (and neighbors) really seem like nice people.
My feeling is that the builders went cheap and are just trying to stall this until the warranty is up, and that the property manager is not caring for the house. A few years from now this place is going to be in rough shape if the problems continue to escalate and aren't dealt with. Part of me wants to tell the landlords that they should strongly consider selling this house while it still has value… I know if I ever buy a house (I'm planning on building), it would be an old house that's solid and has stood the test of time.
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