Escaping Hell

Today I am going to be evacuating the cats out of the apartment. They need to leave. I need them in a safe, healthy environment. I don’t need them to be exposed to the hell of where we live currently. I can’t wait to see their reaction to the new place. The new place is almost 200 sq ft bigger than where we are now. The kitchen, bathroom, and the entire dining/room living room is hardwood flooring, with the rest of the areas having carpet.

I talked to Anies this morning, and she let me know that she’s got my bathroom packed and ready to go, and she gathered most of the cats things so that when my friend gets off work, we can head over there and just get what we gotta get, grab the cats, get them in the taxi’s, and escape hell.

I told Anies last night that I don’t want her staying at the apartment longer than she needs to. I am hoping that we can all get out of there soon, and never go back. Again, the plan is to get moved 100% by the 27th, turn in the keys, fob, parking passes, and garage opener no later than the 29th, which is a Friday. That way they cannot argue that we had possession of the apartment after 1/1/2024. I’ll make sure that Anies takes a video of me placing the envelope in the night drop box so that we can use that as evidence to prove we did everything right.

The only thing we won’t be doing is going back to the apartment to clean, anything. As much as I want to leave the contaminated couch behind, we have to do the right thing, and just remove the couch from the apartment, and set it next to the dumpsters. That way they cannot say we did anything deliberately.

I have to start drafting the letter that I will also be leaving in the envelope. It will be quite simple, Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-12-503 clearly states that the landlord has an implied responsibility to:

(1) In every rental agreement, the landlord is deemed to warrant that the residential premises is fit for human habitation.

(2) Except as described in subsection (2.2) or (2.4) of this section, a landlord breaches the warranty of habitability set forth in subsection (1) of this section if:

(a) A residential premises is:

(I) Uninhabitable as described in section 38-12-505 or otherwise unfit for human habitation;

(II) In a condition that materially interferes with the tenant’s life, health, or safety; or

(III) Not in compliance with the standards described in section 38-12-505 (1)(b)(XIII) for the remediation and clean up of a residential premises that has been damaged due to an environmental public health event; and

(b) The landlord has received reasonably complete written or electronic notice of the condition described in subsection (2)(a) of this section and failed to commence remedial action by employing reasonable efforts within the following period after receiving the notice:

(I) Twenty-four hours, where the condition is as described in subsection (2)(a)(II) of this section; or

(II) Ninety-six hours, where the condition is as described in subsection (2)(a)(I) of this section and the tenant has included with the notice permission to the landlord or to the landlord’s authorized agent to enter the residential premises.

(2.2) In a case in which a residential premises has mold that is associated with dampness, or there is any other condition causing the residential premises to be damp, which condition, if not remedied, would materially interfere with the life, health, or safety of a tenant, a landlord breaches the warranty of habitability if the landlord fails:

(a) Within ninety-six hours after receiving reasonably complete written or electronic notice of the condition, to mitigate immediate risk from mold by installing a containment, stopping active sources of water to the mold, and installing a high-efficiency particulate air filtration device to reduce tenants’ exposure to mold;

(b) To maintain the containment described in subsection (2.2)(a) of this section until the actions described in subsection (2.2)(c) of this section are executed; and

(c) Within a reasonable amount of time, to execute the following remedial actions to remove the health risk posed by mold:

(I) Establish appropriate protections for workers and occupants;

(II) Eliminate or limit moisture sources and dry all materials;

(III) Decontaminate or remove damaged materials as appropriate;

(IV) Evaluate whether the premises has been successfully remediated; and

(V) Reassemble the premises to control sources of moisture and nutrients and thereby prevent or limit the recurrence of mold.

It’s quite clear that the property didn’t do what they were supposed to do. The area of concern was this:

You can clearly see all of the black matter spewing from the wall.

When Envirospec came out to do the first mold inspection, based off of the air samples taken, me showing them the area of concern. The findings and recommendations were:

“Due to discoloration, water damage and slightly elevated spores, EVS recommends the following mold remediation by a contractor certified with the IICRC:

Outside patio

• Construct a containment equipped with a HEPA negative air machine

• Remove discolored siding up to the window and materials behind it until reaching the studs

• If discoloration continues to wood studs then sand the discoloration off

• Determine if discoloration continues to the drywall to the inside of the unit

• Remove 2 feet beyond visible discoloration

• Before an antimicrobial encapsulant is applied and containment system is removed, have the property re-inspected and sampled

Upon completion of remediation work but before an antimicrobial encapsulant is applied and containment system is removed, the property should be re-inspected and sampled by an indoor environmental professional familiar with the project who is independent of the remediation company to receive post remediation verification.

The following, comprise of typical post-remediation evaluation criteria:

• Materials visibly clean, to “dust-free environment” levels, and dry.

• Non-viable mold spore sampling consisting of post-remediation air sampling, with levels consistent with normal outdoor microflora concentrations and species. If the post mold air samples do not pass the post-remediation evaluation criteria, the cleaning protocol should be repeated at least once prior to follow-up sampling.”

It’s quite clear, the recommendations were NOT followed by the “mold remediation” company that the property contracted. When Envirospec came back out, as I hired them directly, I didn’t want the property to interfere. I ended up having to pay $465 to have them come back out, and retest using the same equipment, and locations from the first original test. Additionally, I had our bedroom tested, and the bathroom that is attached to the bedroom tested as well. The tests take 5 minutes per capture.

I told the guy who came out how we have gotten to where we are, how I feel when I enter the apartment. The fact that none of the recommendations they made were followed to really any aspect. Realistically all they did, was hire general contractors, whom wore 0 PPE, didn’t drape / protect the work area. Left the patio door open while the work was being completed. Again, I watched them do this all through my pet cam that had a clear view of the outdoor work that was being performed.

You can clearly see the containment recommendation being setup AFTER they tore the wall apart. They didn’t protect anything before they started work. And they left the patio door open almost the entire time during the work. Just fucking irresponsible.

Additionally, the property manager emailed me these photos, as they also found mold in our garbage disposal.

You can clearly see, this shit is everywhere. I can only guess their negligence working on the apartment simply spread the mold throughout the entire apartment. Again, negligence being the key word here.

I did send the property an email back on the 19th, asking for a check to be cut for the overpayment to our account, and of course, I didn’t receive a response at all yesterday. So this morning I sent:

“The balance on our account is quite simply an overpayment, to which we should have no problem getting a check for that overpayment.

Since I have not seen a substantive response to this email within an appropriate amount of time, I have included my attorneys email in the cc field. 

Unless you can get me a check generated today for the overpayment to our account, and dropped off to our mailbox, please reply all and let me know that this has been done today no later than 5pm. 

Otherwise, going forward I will be communicating to you, and your team solely through my attorney going forward. I also expect any communication that is directed towards myself, or Anies to be sent to <my attorney> 

This check is in no way to be interpreted as a form of settlement, nor to be considered at all as such as it is quite simply an overpayment to our account.”

Of course, about 20 minutes later I get the response of:

“Good morning!

Sorry, for the delay our office was closed yesterday for a company event. Regarding the credit on your account, we don’t process account credits by issuing checks. However, upon a departure from the apartment, should a credit remain on the account, we’ll process a refund check when preparing the Final Account Statement.

You might have received the billing statement for January, which indicates the credit. If you plan to continue residing in the unit pass December 31st, your rent payment will reflect a lower amount once the credit is applied to the balance owed for January’s rent.

If you have any further questions or need additional clarification, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Thank you. Have a wonderful day!”

You can clearly see how fucking heartless this place really is. It’s honestly quite sickening. But seeing how this whole thing went down, how it was handled, I know 100% that they are doing everything they can to hold onto their precious money. Let’s do the quick math. The average rent being paid at this place is probably $1,750. I also saw that this place got a loan for “improvements” back in 2021 for the amount of $74.1M. So realistically their monthly revenue for 408 units that range between 1 bedroom to 2 bedroom is $174,000. This also doesn’t bring into consideration all the bullshit fees they charge, and the “garages” they have for $125 a month. This place does generate a pretty good amount of revenue, and knowing the capital they are sitting on, per year they squeeze $8,568,000 from their tenants each year, but do the least amount possible to protect their precious captial.

There were a few exchanges between myself and the attorney today, and since I provided everything to them, this is going to move quickly. I do need to get a moving company secured for the 27th, so we can just be out of this fucking nightmare once and for all.

I’ll post another update once we get everything done today.