VeeshanVault

Okay, quick backstory. My girlfriend was in her apartment last night and she heard this "crackling" noise. Her blinds were down, so she thought some kind of big bug got behind them. When she opened them up to check it out she saw that cracks were forming throughout the window behind the blinds. She didn't open or close the window, or bang into the window, and had just gotten home from work. Now the whole thing is spider-webbed with tiny cracks, though it hasn't yet shattered out of the frame.

When she called the leasing office this morning, they said that they'd talk to the maintenance department who would determine if she had to pay to get the window fixed or not. Is that reasonable? It was broken through no fault of her own, either some external force (bird? vandal?) caused it to crack or it's a faulty window that was installed in her apartment.

Anyone know if she has a leg to stand on if they try to say that she has to pay for it, or advice on what she should say to them if they try to make her pay?

I have no advice other than my opinion. And that is that it should be covered by the apartment people. Unless it was obviously intentionally broken. Such as when someone in my last apartment building kicked in their own door because they had locked themselves out. Yeah.. Real intelligence being displayed there. First place to look would be the lease agreement I suppose.

I would definitely look at the lease, but that seems like bullshit to me.

In my opinion, there isn't a single thing maintenance wise you should have to pay for unless it's something you break because of misuse or abuse.

The only thing I recall from my college years in apartments is that you had to keep the AC filters clean. Everything else was covered by the Apt Complex.

Nah, there's no reason at all she should be liable for it.

With your winters up there, glass is going to spiderweb if it has any flaw or chip whatsoever. And I can't tell you how many times the landscaping company the apartment complex hired bounced rocks off my windows with their weedeaters and such. (so there's an easy excuse for you)

It varies state to state, but generally the tenant is responsible for basic cleaning and not breaking things. The landlord is responsible for maintenance and fixing or replacing things that break through no fault of the tenant. As long as your girlfriend or one of her guests didn't break the window themselves, she should not have to pay to repair it.

Here's my guess as to why that window is really broken:

semi *NWS* so don't click at work.

[Show]

Clean off the hand prints before they inspect!

It sounds like normal wear and tear, so apt company would be liable. They probably just said they wanted to look at it just per policy. People probably try to scam "oops my fist went through the window" and its not my fault shit all the time.

Unless her lease states otherwise, that is most definitely the landlord's responsibility. A quick rule of thumb is that if it affects sale value of the property, it's the landlord's responsibility. A cracked window not only affects the sale value but it affects her safety. Have her use that angle to strong-arm them into fixing that quickly.

Also, have her wear something revealing, a la Erin Brockovich.

A few years back I had a small party at my apartment where someone broke my window. The next day I called the office and let them know the window was broken, they sent someone out to fix it, and never asked me about how it got that way, even though it was technically my fault. However, I will say that I had been living there for over 2 years and knew some of the people in the office. I guess it just depends on the details. She definitely should not be paying for it.

I hope the leasing company is Ohio State fans!

Kilmoll the Sexy wrote:I hope the leasing company is Ohio State fans!

Uh oh, if they were and had seen me parked over there...

haha very clever!

You're the first person who has called that clever. Most people think I'm a clown and/or douchebag for having that!

Douchebags can be clever from time to time.

i find it shallow and pedantic

That doubles as a handicapped plate outside of Michigan!

Sylvus wrote:You're the first person who has called that clever. Most people think I'm a clown and/or douchebag for having that!

tally me up under this column, douche.

of course we lost to lsu and fucking georgia so who am i to make fun.

I wish my university tag had the big ole "F" instead of the gator head logo. Oh the possibilities...

Sylvus wrote:

Ok, that's hilarious!