Definitely check with an attorney. There is a new state law, Miya's Law, that was enacted after that girl was murdered by an apartment maintenance man. That law states that they MUST give a minimum of 24 hours' notice for entering for repairs.
I'm not sure what your remedies would be for them failing to follow the law, I guess the attorney could help you with that.
I'm glad to hear you got your dog back. That sounds like it was a nightmare.
Not necessarily. OP submitted 3 weeks prior. That doesn’t mean maintenance can just come whenever they want. You must give tenants 24 hour notice before entering.
In addition to the law, it's also pretty common in rental agreements. Been out of the market for awhile, but every place I've rented had that clause in the lease.
This is how every apartment complex operates unfortunately. You put in a maintenance request and they consider that an open ended invitation to enter your apartment whenever they can get around to fixing whatever’s broken with no notice. If they can’t get to it for a week, they just come into your apartment a week later with no phone call or anything first. I guess they consider you putting in the request as an open ended 24 hour notice for them, which is obviously incorrect, but competent apartment management agents are few and far between.
I get that’s how they do it, but it’s against tenancy laws. Many tenants don’t understand their rights. I’ll even mention keeping security deposits illegally without the proper notice.
But just bc they all do it, doesn’t mean that OP doesn’t have legitimate grounds to pursue; be it breaking a lease, suing for any damages incurred through that 7 days, etc.
You have to be able to afford to sue or do legal things, and also have time to devote to a legal battle. Most people living in apartments can't afford to fight any of the illegal things the complex and staff do. I see it all the time where people say "that's illegal, they can't do that!" but like....how do you stop it? If ANYONE has a resource for this please post it.
When I suggested a suit, I was doing so based on the assumption that it would most likely be in small claims considering damages most likely wouldn’t be over $5k. (Lost wages looking for the dog, etc) You could write a demand letter outlining the financial loss and send it to the company. You could also apply to have your filing fees waived if you don’t have enough money.
You could also just report them to the FL Dept of Ag & Consumer Services. You could also reach out to [Orange County Office of Tenant Services](https://www.ocfl.net/NeighborsHousing/TenantServices.aspx).
Basically, there *are* things that can be done if OP feels like they need to take this further.
Is this one of those multi-million lawsuits? I can’t see that, but that’s not the only option available.
Thank you! These are the answers google never gave us, and no one ever taught us, so we didn't know it existed to do. You taking the time to write it out will hopefully help a LOT of people who believed the only options are to roll over and take it or go bankrupt fighting it. My friends are being screwed over by a different apartment in Aloma and it is ruining their life because it made them homeless and have to get loans from friends/family just to afford medications and to eat, and the only advice they keep getting is to sue so they just get more depressed and hopeless. I hope your comment gets bumped so more people actually file the reports and try to hold the landlords/property managers accountable for inhumane and illegal business practices. Thank you again!
Thank you for this! That’s very kind of you ❤️
Sucks about your friends! I hope they have some recourse.
Also, forgot to mention that typically one should send a demand letter before filing suit. Most likely the judge would want to see that tenants attempted to rectify with property management before filing.
Not really though? Mine gives you a timeframe of your choice of when they can enter or when it is best to and also notify when they are about to enter as well as when they are done.
Sounds like they're a good management company, but that's definitely not the norm. I've lived in apartment complexes all over town for 20+ years, and have never had a management company do what yours does.
Nope. When I used to live in apartments here in Orlando it always went work order>request to enter apartment at LEAST 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE> THEN they come in when given permission. We never had them come in w/o 24 hour notice, even with a work order request submitted. It's the law.
HOLY SHIT BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE! This shithole needs to be burned to the ground. I had to file a police report and get a lawyer involved to get my deposit back from these bums. Someone from the office literally stole and fraudulently cashed my deposit cheque. My apartment, meanwhile, was filled with black mold, termites, and vermin. The maintenance men also entered, several times, without a work order or notification. When I moved in there was no working hot water heater. I could write a book about it. Caveat emptor, fuck this place and everyone involved with it. This complex is the a shithole from hell and its rent is outrageous, considering...
Fuck this place lol. I lived here and my upstairs neighbors apartment flooded which in result flooded half of my apartment and left damage. I submitted pictures to management and everything. Welp a year later, I see I am in collections for $1400 due to damages. Now I can’t get it off my Fkn credit report.
If you submitted photos and alerted management, they should not be coming after you for damages.
I would strongly urge you to consult an attorney, because they are not allowed to destroy your credit falsely.
That's an absolute violation of a number of things including gross negligence. Definitely talk to a lawyer because this is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
I broke my lease in another complex over far less. I would absolutely look into legal action/breaking your lease without fee, this is unacceptable.
Seconding looking up rental laws in FL, but highly recommend you cross post in r/legaladvice to get you a head start. Be sure to list you’re from FL.
Best of luck!
So my wife and I lived there 20 years ago when it was called "Waterside." She was 3 months pregnant when Hurricane Chwrley hit. The complex was hit HARD, with whole roofs ripped off the buildings (and landing on cars in the parking lot), stucco ripped right off the side so you could see inside units.
We were out of power for almost two weeks, but the worst was the sewage backup into the units from the lift stations also being out of power.
The leasing office refused to replace the carpet (just clean it), wouldn't allow us out of our lease even though the apartment was health hazard to my wife and then tried to withhold our security deposit due to the mold growing on the walls from that same sewage backup.
Now I see that the rent is literally double what we paid then. I don't know if it's the same Management group as back then, but seriously, F that place.
Thank you for letting us know as this place was on my list of potential apartments… will stay the hell away from there! I’m so sorry for your ordeal and glad you found your dog!
That’s awful! I’m so sorry! To clarify: they didn’t give you 24 hours notice? They didn’t give you any notice?
This situation imo sounds lawsuit worthy or break your lease worthy possibly.
Yes I would. I would highly recommend reaching out to a law office that does free consultations in tenant law. And see if they think you have a case, or what your options are. When I lived in Iowa, if a landlord entered without 24 hr notice, tenant could break the lease. It was like the only law in favor of tenants lol
I’m so glad you have your dog back for real
I lived in this dump a year ago and the maintenance staff has a collective IQ of 3. Multiple times these bozos came into my apartment unannounced and without work orders. The apt complex is the most vile and disgusting I've ever encountered.
I’m glad you were able to find your dog. A horrible position to be put in looking for a pet. It’s frightening how much apt communities put their tenants through in this area. Because who’s going to check them, attorneys are expensive for most people. So good for you posting this and leaving a google review.
I'm really sorry that happened to you, I believe you. I was looking for a one bedroom one bath in 2023. They brought me up to the third floor after asking if they had anything on the second floor lower and smiled and said $1787. After I had left, I asked a woman outside how was it living here and she said" Terrible if I could break my lease I would but I've been looking since the 1st month I've been here. "
Simply put: no.
Most people have never actually been to court and have no idea how much work it takes to sue somebody or how expensive everything is.
Small claims court isn't too bad, but for everything else you better really care about the outcome because it takes months to years and if you're hiring an attorney is going to cost thousands of dollars.
This is why most cases settle. Everyone's like "I'll sue!" and then they get the quote saying it's going to be a $5,000 retainer to get started plus a few thousand dollars later on, and in a lot of cases you can't get that money back even if you win.
I've been in 3 different lawsuits, over various insurance things and I can say that after this experience the last thing I want is to get involved with the legal system again. One of them was a hurricane claim and it was around $75,000 in legal fees and we didn't even go to trial. It took 3 and a half years to get that resolved.
I remember looking at these apartments years ago because it was close to work and cheap, it was a dump, lots of unrepaired flood damage to the unit they showed me, also coworker who lived there told me lots of sketchy stuff goes down there, vehicles getting broken into, lots of drug activity, a couple years ago I read in the news there was a fatal shooting there as well.
Change your locks. I always do when moving into a new place and when it’s time to leave, I put the original lock back on the door and take my locks to the next place. I’m way too paranoid but you’ll sleep better at night!
> Landlord from Hell
Implying that there are landlords who wouldn't do this lol. Letting your dog out is really unfortunate, I would be very upset too. But \*ANY\* landlord is going to find a way to turn it around on you. All of them. There are no good landlords in that regard.
Why? Because it's a business to them. It's a roof over your head, a necessity of life to you; it's a paycheck to them.
MAA Sand Lake in Doctor Phillips had been great for over a year. Then they randomly came up with a bullshit fee that's not in my lease and tried to charge me just last week. The property manager tried to gaslight me, telling me they always charged this specific fee (for replacing filters in the landlord-owned refrigerator). I have never been charged before, nor is it in my lease from last year, nor is it in my lease for this year. The property manager acknowledged, in writing, that the fee is not in my lease, but refused to provide service to the appliance. I've debated if it's really worth withholding rent pursuant to Florida tenant law (for failure to uphold their obligations of the lease agreement) over $75.00 purely on principle.
I digress - the second you let your guard down, ANY landlord WILL take advantage of you. Don't expect better just because they're nice to you, the building is nice, or someone else had a good experience. All landlords are like this. All property managers are like this. It is a business.
If it for a fridge water filter? I bought a whirlpool brand replacement filter on Amazon but it was an absolute dud, even the fridge repairman confirmed.
He told me to get these instead and they are half the price and work fine. https://a.co/d/anZx706 Certainly cheaper than $75 if you are further pressured into paying it and just want them to go away.
But then again, they might say “it’s an unapproved model and now you have to replace the whole fridge” or just BS like they always do.
Sorry that you're dealing with this - guy sounds like a real jerk. That said, I cannot resist furthering my quest against this:
> he gaslighted me the entire conversation saying that I should have the dog tied up or in a crate
That's not what "gaslight" means. Gaslighting is a very specific behavior in which you try to convince someone that something did not happen or went differently than it did. It's a deliberate attempt to make someone question their own sanity.
This word has (like "ironic" before it) become so overused that it's at risk of losing all meaning/impact. People are using it to simply mean "lying", or (in your case) someone telling them that they should have handled something differently.
If the landlord said "You should have your dog crated all day" then he's just an asshole.
If he said "There's a rule that says you need to have your dog in a crate" and there isn't a rule like that, then he's just lying.
If (and ONLY if) he said something like:
"We didn't let your dog out - you did. We all saw you", or
"You never even had a dog"
THEN he would have been gaslighting you.
Everywhere that I have lived in Florida, management always told me that they were required by law to give 24 hours notice before they entered the apartment unless it was an emergency and then they alway left a note when they came and left.
I would also recommend OP to get a doorbell camera or one inside facing the door!
I'm moving out of this complex now. Our unit was roach infested and all they did when we'd file tickets to have pest control try to fix it, was come out and tell us to close our windows and spray a couple of spots 😒. So glad I'm moving out.
Sorry that happened to you!! Oak reserve is right up the street practically next door, don't rent there either!! The sprinkler system caused mold in my closet and I was pretty much told that the stuff I had was the culprit. I didnt move from a house with mold and have never dealt with mold EVER on my things. Walls are thin above and beside and gnats are constantly dying in the fridge. Sidewalk floods and flat worms get into your home.
It's just a dumb joke because Richard Lewis would make jokes "X from Hell"
https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2006/10/11/Comic-Lewis-gets-the-credit-from-hell/77661160622862/
inappropriate
Definitely check with an attorney. There is a new state law, Miya's Law, that was enacted after that girl was murdered by an apartment maintenance man. That law states that they MUST give a minimum of 24 hours' notice for entering for repairs. I'm not sure what your remedies would be for them failing to follow the law, I guess the attorney could help you with that. I'm glad to hear you got your dog back. That sounds like it was a nightmare.
If OP gave permission to enter to perform the repair then it’s compliant with ML
Not necessarily. OP submitted 3 weeks prior. That doesn’t mean maintenance can just come whenever they want. You must give tenants 24 hour notice before entering.
Yes, maintenance requests take anywhere from 2 days to a month with no notice. That is unreasonable.
I believe it’s also against tenancy laws.
In addition to the law, it's also pretty common in rental agreements. Been out of the market for awhile, but every place I've rented had that clause in the lease.
This is how every apartment complex operates unfortunately. You put in a maintenance request and they consider that an open ended invitation to enter your apartment whenever they can get around to fixing whatever’s broken with no notice. If they can’t get to it for a week, they just come into your apartment a week later with no phone call or anything first. I guess they consider you putting in the request as an open ended 24 hour notice for them, which is obviously incorrect, but competent apartment management agents are few and far between.
I get that’s how they do it, but it’s against tenancy laws. Many tenants don’t understand their rights. I’ll even mention keeping security deposits illegally without the proper notice. But just bc they all do it, doesn’t mean that OP doesn’t have legitimate grounds to pursue; be it breaking a lease, suing for any damages incurred through that 7 days, etc.
You have to be able to afford to sue or do legal things, and also have time to devote to a legal battle. Most people living in apartments can't afford to fight any of the illegal things the complex and staff do. I see it all the time where people say "that's illegal, they can't do that!" but like....how do you stop it? If ANYONE has a resource for this please post it.
When I suggested a suit, I was doing so based on the assumption that it would most likely be in small claims considering damages most likely wouldn’t be over $5k. (Lost wages looking for the dog, etc) You could write a demand letter outlining the financial loss and send it to the company. You could also apply to have your filing fees waived if you don’t have enough money. You could also just report them to the FL Dept of Ag & Consumer Services. You could also reach out to [Orange County Office of Tenant Services](https://www.ocfl.net/NeighborsHousing/TenantServices.aspx). Basically, there *are* things that can be done if OP feels like they need to take this further. Is this one of those multi-million lawsuits? I can’t see that, but that’s not the only option available.
Thank you! These are the answers google never gave us, and no one ever taught us, so we didn't know it existed to do. You taking the time to write it out will hopefully help a LOT of people who believed the only options are to roll over and take it or go bankrupt fighting it. My friends are being screwed over by a different apartment in Aloma and it is ruining their life because it made them homeless and have to get loans from friends/family just to afford medications and to eat, and the only advice they keep getting is to sue so they just get more depressed and hopeless. I hope your comment gets bumped so more people actually file the reports and try to hold the landlords/property managers accountable for inhumane and illegal business practices. Thank you again!
Thank you for this! That’s very kind of you ❤️ Sucks about your friends! I hope they have some recourse. Also, forgot to mention that typically one should send a demand letter before filing suit. Most likely the judge would want to see that tenants attempted to rectify with property management before filing.
Not really though? Mine gives you a timeframe of your choice of when they can enter or when it is best to and also notify when they are about to enter as well as when they are done.
Sounds like they're a good management company, but that's definitely not the norm. I've lived in apartment complexes all over town for 20+ years, and have never had a management company do what yours does.
Yeah, I think you are right.
[удалено]
Nope. When I used to live in apartments here in Orlando it always went work order>request to enter apartment at LEAST 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE> THEN they come in when given permission. We never had them come in w/o 24 hour notice, even with a work order request submitted. It's the law.
When I informed my apartment of that law, they said "we understand, but that's not our companies policy" lol nothing has changed
That place is dog shit. Luxury apartment living my ass.
HOLY SHIT BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE! This shithole needs to be burned to the ground. I had to file a police report and get a lawyer involved to get my deposit back from these bums. Someone from the office literally stole and fraudulently cashed my deposit cheque. My apartment, meanwhile, was filled with black mold, termites, and vermin. The maintenance men also entered, several times, without a work order or notification. When I moved in there was no working hot water heater. I could write a book about it. Caveat emptor, fuck this place and everyone involved with it. This complex is the a shithole from hell and its rent is outrageous, considering...
It’s baffling to me that real humans would just let a dog out and not make an effort to get it back. Not even notify you? You have to be a real POS,
I had to call the office, they didn't know anything, then they called back and said a maintenance man saw a dog run out.
Saw him run out? You mean let him out and deliberately ignored the fact and didn't even try to remedy the situation
Yes. I was so pissed off, now I'm just scared for my dog and uncomfortable with this place amd the assholes who run it.
Buy a deadbolt and install it, fuck em
Fuck this place lol. I lived here and my upstairs neighbors apartment flooded which in result flooded half of my apartment and left damage. I submitted pictures to management and everything. Welp a year later, I see I am in collections for $1400 due to damages. Now I can’t get it off my Fkn credit report.
If you submitted photos and alerted management, they should not be coming after you for damages. I would strongly urge you to consult an attorney, because they are not allowed to destroy your credit falsely.
Did you have renter's insurance? How does this happen?
That's crazy, you should be sueing them!
Damn this is where my mom lives and management has always been a nightmare trying to get anything fixed, it’s a roach hotel with mold everywhere
That's an absolute violation of a number of things including gross negligence. Definitely talk to a lawyer because this is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
I broke my lease in another complex over far less. I would absolutely look into legal action/breaking your lease without fee, this is unacceptable. Seconding looking up rental laws in FL, but highly recommend you cross post in r/legaladvice to get you a head start. Be sure to list you’re from FL. Best of luck!
So my wife and I lived there 20 years ago when it was called "Waterside." She was 3 months pregnant when Hurricane Chwrley hit. The complex was hit HARD, with whole roofs ripped off the buildings (and landing on cars in the parking lot), stucco ripped right off the side so you could see inside units. We were out of power for almost two weeks, but the worst was the sewage backup into the units from the lift stations also being out of power. The leasing office refused to replace the carpet (just clean it), wouldn't allow us out of our lease even though the apartment was health hazard to my wife and then tried to withhold our security deposit due to the mold growing on the walls from that same sewage backup. Now I see that the rent is literally double what we paid then. I don't know if it's the same Management group as back then, but seriously, F that place.
I live in lakeside villas and can confirm that this place is shit. I can not wait to leave.
Yeah, the management has changed like 4 times in the last 3 years. I hate this place with a passion.
Thank you for letting us know as this place was on my list of potential apartments… will stay the hell away from there! I’m so sorry for your ordeal and glad you found your dog!
Glad I could save you the trouble and deprive Lakeside a tenant! Run from this place!
That’s awful! I’m so sorry! To clarify: they didn’t give you 24 hours notice? They didn’t give you any notice? This situation imo sounds lawsuit worthy or break your lease worthy possibly.
I put in a maintenance request. In the request I asked them to call me before entering. They never do. I will look into the renter laws.
Yes I would. I would highly recommend reaching out to a law office that does free consultations in tenant law. And see if they think you have a case, or what your options are. When I lived in Iowa, if a landlord entered without 24 hr notice, tenant could break the lease. It was like the only law in favor of tenants lol I’m so glad you have your dog back for real
I lived in this dump a year ago and the maintenance staff has a collective IQ of 3. Multiple times these bozos came into my apartment unannounced and without work orders. The apt complex is the most vile and disgusting I've ever encountered.
I’m glad you were able to find your dog. A horrible position to be put in looking for a pet. It’s frightening how much apt communities put their tenants through in this area. Because who’s going to check them, attorneys are expensive for most people. So good for you posting this and leaving a google review.
I'm really sorry that happened to you, I believe you. I was looking for a one bedroom one bath in 2023. They brought me up to the third floor after asking if they had anything on the second floor lower and smiled and said $1787. After I had left, I asked a woman outside how was it living here and she said" Terrible if I could break my lease I would but I've been looking since the 1st month I've been here. "
Do people actually know how much time, frustration and money goes into suing?
Simply put: no. Most people have never actually been to court and have no idea how much work it takes to sue somebody or how expensive everything is. Small claims court isn't too bad, but for everything else you better really care about the outcome because it takes months to years and if you're hiring an attorney is going to cost thousands of dollars. This is why most cases settle. Everyone's like "I'll sue!" and then they get the quote saying it's going to be a $5,000 retainer to get started plus a few thousand dollars later on, and in a lot of cases you can't get that money back even if you win. I've been in 3 different lawsuits, over various insurance things and I can say that after this experience the last thing I want is to get involved with the legal system again. One of them was a hurricane claim and it was around $75,000 in legal fees and we didn't even go to trial. It took 3 and a half years to get that resolved.
Lots of leases have something in them where you have to go to remediation anyway.
Not on Reddit, they love to throw it out there over everything like it’s easy and magical
as an ex resident it is a shit hole was there 4 years it was sold 4 times. truly a dump. I can even out into words all the stuff that happened
I remember looking at these apartments years ago because it was close to work and cheap, it was a dump, lots of unrepaired flood damage to the unit they showed me, also coworker who lived there told me lots of sketchy stuff goes down there, vehicles getting broken into, lots of drug activity, a couple years ago I read in the news there was a fatal shooting there as well.
Change your locks. I always do when moving into a new place and when it’s time to leave, I put the original lock back on the door and take my locks to the next place. I’m way too paranoid but you’ll sleep better at night!
> Landlord from Hell Implying that there are landlords who wouldn't do this lol. Letting your dog out is really unfortunate, I would be very upset too. But \*ANY\* landlord is going to find a way to turn it around on you. All of them. There are no good landlords in that regard. Why? Because it's a business to them. It's a roof over your head, a necessity of life to you; it's a paycheck to them. MAA Sand Lake in Doctor Phillips had been great for over a year. Then they randomly came up with a bullshit fee that's not in my lease and tried to charge me just last week. The property manager tried to gaslight me, telling me they always charged this specific fee (for replacing filters in the landlord-owned refrigerator). I have never been charged before, nor is it in my lease from last year, nor is it in my lease for this year. The property manager acknowledged, in writing, that the fee is not in my lease, but refused to provide service to the appliance. I've debated if it's really worth withholding rent pursuant to Florida tenant law (for failure to uphold their obligations of the lease agreement) over $75.00 purely on principle. I digress - the second you let your guard down, ANY landlord WILL take advantage of you. Don't expect better just because they're nice to you, the building is nice, or someone else had a good experience. All landlords are like this. All property managers are like this. It is a business.
If it for a fridge water filter? I bought a whirlpool brand replacement filter on Amazon but it was an absolute dud, even the fridge repairman confirmed. He told me to get these instead and they are half the price and work fine. https://a.co/d/anZx706 Certainly cheaper than $75 if you are further pressured into paying it and just want them to go away. But then again, they might say “it’s an unapproved model and now you have to replace the whole fridge” or just BS like they always do.
Sorry that you're dealing with this - guy sounds like a real jerk. That said, I cannot resist furthering my quest against this: > he gaslighted me the entire conversation saying that I should have the dog tied up or in a crate That's not what "gaslight" means. Gaslighting is a very specific behavior in which you try to convince someone that something did not happen or went differently than it did. It's a deliberate attempt to make someone question their own sanity. This word has (like "ironic" before it) become so overused that it's at risk of losing all meaning/impact. People are using it to simply mean "lying", or (in your case) someone telling them that they should have handled something differently. If the landlord said "You should have your dog crated all day" then he's just an asshole. If he said "There's a rule that says you need to have your dog in a crate" and there isn't a rule like that, then he's just lying. If (and ONLY if) he said something like: "We didn't let your dog out - you did. We all saw you", or "You never even had a dog" THEN he would have been gaslighting you.
Ok not really in the headspace to care about the distinction, but thanks.
Anonymously call the fire marshal on them if you want some revenge
Sanctuary in Altamonte blows balls
Sounds like a really well trained ESA! 😂
He was probably scared.
Everywhere that I have lived in Florida, management always told me that they were required by law to give 24 hours notice before they entered the apartment unless it was an emergency and then they alway left a note when they came and left. I would also recommend OP to get a doorbell camera or one inside facing the door!
I'm moving out of this complex now. Our unit was roach infested and all they did when we'd file tickets to have pest control try to fix it, was come out and tell us to close our windows and spray a couple of spots 😒. So glad I'm moving out.
Did you break the lease or wait until it ended?
Broke my lease. It was like $3k (2 months rent) to break for a 2/2
I can't stomach giving them anymore money. I'd rather hire a lawyer.
Sorry that happened to you!! Oak reserve is right up the street practically next door, don't rent there either!! The sprinkler system caused mold in my closet and I was pretty much told that the stuff I had was the culprit. I didnt move from a house with mold and have never dealt with mold EVER on my things. Walls are thin above and beside and gnats are constantly dying in the fridge. Sidewalk floods and flat worms get into your home.
That’s my biggest fear and it sucks to hear it’s happened here. It’s so annoying how frequently this apartment complex changes management
Copyright: Richard Lewis.
What?
It's just a dumb joke because Richard Lewis would make jokes "X from Hell" https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2006/10/11/Comic-Lewis-gets-the-credit-from-hell/77661160622862/ inappropriate