A Henderson woman says she was forced out of her condo for more than three weeks after a water leak, and her requests for updates were largely "ignored."
Margaret Aul spent her first night back home in her condo Thursday, saying she couldn't wait another minute.
"I just moved enough stuff on my bed so I could sleep and that was it," Aul said.
Aul moved into a friends casita with her daughter and small dog after the roof in her first-floor condo sprung a leak February 13th.
"It just burst. It was gross," Aul said.
She said she reached out to the property management company after noticing signs of a leak in her kitchen wall.
Those signs soon bubbling over, then bursting onto her kitchen counter.
Aul frustrations exacerbated by the fact she felt ignored by the property management company when asking questions about why the repairs were taking so long.
"On my way to work one day I had to talk to three different people and they kept transferring me," Aul said. "We'll get back to you. Every time I asked they never responded."
Aul finally reached out to 13 Action News for help.
When we contacted Renters Warehouse, the company's CEO, Kevin Ortner, responded with the following in-depth explanation of the problem and the difficulties with getting the leak fixed.
- There was a leak in this unit, however, it was a leak from the condo unit located directly above Mrs. Aul's unit, or a leak in a common wall (this is yet to entirely be determined by insurance or the building HOA).
- After Renters Warehouse received the maintenance request from the tenant, we had to contact the property owner for approval to proceed. The owner is military and stationed overseas, so this took a little time. In the meantime, we did send a handyman (vendor) to the unit to assess the problem. Notes in our system from the vendor indicate the leak is inside the wall or coming from the unit above.
- At this time, we had to involve the building HOA, HOA property manager, and multiple insurance companies. (Insurance for both condo units, and HOA general insurance)
- The major time delay in having the repairs completed were a result of waiting on insurance adjusters to come and assess the property. During this time, Mrs. Aul was not living at the property, and Renters Warehouse and the property owner agreed not to charge rent for the time which she was not living there.
The property is finally back to good condition and the tenant has moved back in as of today (March 8, 2018). There are a couple of minor items that Mrs. Aul has brought up that need to be addressed, such as a bi-fold door not closing properly and a light fixture that was not replaced. Those items are scheduled to be completed on this coming Saturday."
The company also said Aul was not charged rent while repairs were being made, but Aul said that was not communicated to her until after she contacted 13 Action News.
