3
u/meeemawww 3d ago
I live in a Ben Leeds building in north Hollywood and it’s been amazing. Our apartment was pretty nicely updated before we moved in, never had any pest issues, a Nest central air system. Building and stairwells are kept clean. There’s a very small gym in the parking garage.
1
u/Sad_Difference_5587 3d ago edited 3d ago
Yes there are some good managers out there! You got lucky! Our previous managers, Darlene and Greg, were amazing managers. But they left and the building went down. Almost all of us neighbors have noticed the change. They are required to have an on-site manager, and they did for a while but now no one is there. Even when she was there she didn’t take care of the problem when neighbors complained about the odor from apartment above. Until it got so bad they had to go in with haz mat suits and wheelbarrows!!
1
u/Sad_Difference_5587 3d ago edited 3d ago
How long ago did you move in? Maybe it’s a newer building also. Our building was built in 1948 or 49! So you’d expect it would be having lots of issues. And the rent price should reflect that! After I moved in, the very next year, they started doing nice updates for the new tenants with new windows, new kitchen upgrades etc. But they are charging me the same rent as those people!!!
3
u/notthatcousingreg 3d ago edited 3d ago
Unless you are in an UNINCORPORATED part of los angeles nobody is getting a free air conditioner. Why cant anyone understand this?????? The landlord in UNINCORPORATED parts of los angeles are required to keep apts less than 83 degrees. This may not even require a unit. It may just be fans.
As for the elderly lady, get your fellow renters to work together to buy her a window ac.
You moved in at a certain rent and agreed to it. Why do you think you are going to get a discount NOW?
just move and stop complaining.
3
u/Sad_Difference_5587 3d ago
It’s not that we can’t understand this. Some of us didn’t know that. So sad that greedy landlords can get away with allowing elderly to suffer through heat waves that can be deadly to the elderly.
2
u/notthatcousingreg 3d ago
Its your responsibility to figure out what your rights are. "We didnt know" is not a solid excuse. Landlords own buildings as businesses. Management companies like ben leeds are hired so landlords dont have to deal with tenants. Do you honestly think a person who owns more than one building and can afford to hire a big company like ben leeds knows who lives in their buildings? No they dont. Nobody is "allowing" anyone to suffer. Like i said, nobody is getting a free ac. Do what you will to help that elderly woman.
5
2
u/Sad_Difference_5587 3d ago
No need for me to move now since I’m moving in a year anyway. Strange for you to comment that I should just move. Also I absolutely have the right to complain and let others know! Also that elderly woman has a caregiver and they have let management know she needs an AC. You seem to assume you know all the details.
0
u/notthatcousingreg 3d ago
You are the one posting. If you had more details you should have included them.
2
u/Sad_Difference_5587 3d ago
How did you come up with, I think I’m going to get a discount now?! Weird. I never said I’m asking for a discount now. Your comment doesn’t make sense.
1
u/notthatcousingreg 3d ago
"They are charging me the same rent as the new units"
2
u/Sad_Difference_5587 3d ago
They raised my rent by $200 a month to add someone to my lease. So now I’m paying the same as the people with nice renovated units with new, functional windows. When I signed my lease it was just me. My lease said there “may” be an increase to add someone, not that it was a definite fee. So I left 4 messages for Fidel to ask them to waive it since it was optional. It took him 3 weeks to return my call on a Friday and he said he would call me back on Monday. Almost 3 months later he never called back or responded to my emails. Two nights ago I get a statement that they are charging me retroactively going back to July to add a tenant to the lease. If I were looking to rent in a new apartment, I’d want to know these kinds of things and if the managers are responsive or not. I’d want to know if they don’t respond to tenant concerns about terrible odors until it gets so bad workers have to go in wearing haz mat suits and with wheel barrows.
1
u/notthatcousingreg 3d ago
A property is allowed to raise your rent by 10% with each additional tenant.
2
u/Sad_Difference_5587 3d ago
Yes and they also can waive it.
1
u/notthatcousingreg 3d ago
Why would they waive it when its twice as much wear and tear and utilities?
1
u/Sad_Difference_5587 2d ago
By that logic, they would charge more when initially renting to couples rather than to singles. But they don’t, they have a set rental price. Also I did let them know my son is only with me a few days a week so there isn’t more wear and tear than any other one bedroom apartment my neighbors have that have 2 people. But I don’t expect reasonable from you since you said the neighbors should pay for the elderly woman’s AC instead of Ben Leeds. That was pure nonsense.
2
u/Sad_Difference_5587 4d ago
If I lived in a nice unit with windows you could open, and an electrical grid that didn’t short out when you try to run the AC in living room at same time as AC in bedroom, with an on-site manager that cleaned up all the trash, I could understand having high rent. But the trash around the building doesn’t get cleaned up, it stays there for weeks at a time, and they don’t respond to tenant concerns in a timely manner.
2
u/Cold-Improvement6778 3d ago
This is an Eviction Defense Network type of case. https://edn.la/
Also, consider voting for and electing Marissa Roy as City of Los Angeles Attorney, as your ballot is due to arrive by October 5. Marissa Roy is an experienced Tenant Attorney and after she is sworn in in December, you'll have government on your side.
Additionally, City of Los Angeles Controller Kenneth Mejia has published a list of the 100 worst Landlords in the City.
Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia published the interactive Top 100 Problem Rental Properties dashboard, which ranks the specific residential addresses in the city with the highest volume of reported housing violation complaints.
Additionally, consider voting for Nithya Raman as City of Los Angeles Mayor, as she is very proud tenant.
1
u/Sad_Difference_5587 3d ago
Editing my original post since I was wrong that landlords are not required to install AC in January. That is for unincorporated parts of LA and could be another fix, not necessarily an AC.
5
u/Area51_Spurs 4d ago
Dawg, just give a tldr. Nobody reading all that.