awful treatment by landlord, threw away my stuff and denies it, and more, please read

A few months after we signed our year lease we found out we were expecting our second child, due to fire code laws we have to get another place. We have been looking for a few months now, while we were looking for something else we have had to complain to our managers several times. Our neighbors were smoking marijuana and it was going through our ventilation system and making me very sick, not only did they not do anything about it, they accused us of being the ones to smoke and refused to believe that it was making me (pregnant) sick. It got so bad that we actually could not stay in our apartment anymore and had to stay at my parents because I couldn't stand to be there. I was diagnosed with HG which has been proven to be brought on by marijuana use (i didn't use it) They called me a liar, directly, when I said something to them about.

Our living room light has not been working right for months and we feel it may be a fire hazard, they have yet to do anything about that.

Our water heater started leaking and causing the carpet to stink, they have yet to do anything about that.

They came in to "look at the water heater" and blamed the smell on my apartment being "filthy" I will admit it was not the cleanest apartment to be found but it was far from filthy.

We had several garbage bags of clothing and misc. items since we knew we were going to be moving soon.

They called us and told us to "remove the open bags of garbage from our apartment" there wasn't any. The next day they charged us 40.00 dollars for removing garbage bags. We went back up there (i am still not able to stay because I never know when the neighbor will smoke pot and when he won't) and they had thrown away bags of clothes.

The next day (yesterday) we found a house. I called the apartment manager today and she called me a liar about everything I mentioned above, spoke to me with more disrespect than I have ever even imagined possible, accused me of being disrespectful and accused me of trying to get out of paying just because I was asking questions. She called me a filthy person and hung up on me half way through the conversation.

I am upset about the situation, needless to say. Is there anyway I can get some justice in this situation?

Why would you have to move due to fire code laws? Unless your unit is already overcrowded, an infant child will not violate any codes. HUD guidelines normally allow a newborn to stay in the parents room for several months before they consider the child to need its own room. (Their guidelines call for 2 people per bedroom plus 1. That means 3 people can stay in a one bedroom unit.) This doesn't make sense. A newborn isnt going to need any room except a crib for quite a while. I don't see where this necessitates you breaking a lease.

Management cannot do anything about someone smoking (marijuana or anything else) in their apartment unless there is a police report on it. Without proof, they are not permitted to do anything. It would violate the other tenant's rights to try and evict them if there is no proof of what you say. (Management could be sued.) For this reason, you should have called the police, not management. Once you had a report on the drugs, management could have taken action. Without it, there is no proof of any violation and no way they can act on it. Call the cops. Get a report. I do not know what you are referring to when you say HG, but I seriously doubt an occasional next-door inhalation of second hand smoke would cause any harm to you. If you mean HbF, many diseases are asociated with high HbF levels. Can you show that yours was from the second hand smoke and not another disease?

Did you put the requests for repairs in writing? You must request repairs in writing or you have no proof you ever requested any. If you put them in writing, send them by certified mail return receipt requested. Keep a copy and the postcard that will come back. If they don't correct within a specific amount of time (no more than 30 days), you may be able to repair and deduct the repairs from your rent. (PLEASE LIST YOUR STATE. THIS REMEDY IS NOT LEGAL IN ALL AREAS.) Unless you send this in writing, you cannot terminate for lack of repairs.

Didn't you tell them that the trash bags were filled with clothing and not trash when they requested the removal of these? They assumed the smell was from garbage you left in the unit when you vacated. They saw trash bags. They removed it to keep pests and rodents out of the units (they thought). Why didn't you tell them it wasn't trash? Tell them they tossed your clothing, not trash and that you will not pay the charge.

I'm sorry, but I can't see the need for you to move. A newborn will not make the unit too small per the govt.'s Housing and Urban Development guidelines. You have not documented any drug use in the unit. You have no police reports. You have no written requests for repairs. You have a current lease. If you break it, expect to pay rent until it is re-rented, advertising costs, agent fees to find a new tenant,

We already have a child, this is our second and it is a one bedroom. She is in our room, so we have to move when the baby comes.

We DID call the police, twice, and got two police reports, and notified the management after both police reports were made.

2 of the requests for them to fix the problems were in writing, and several others verbal.

We didn't "vacate" the apartment, we have still been paying rent, I just have'nt been able to actually stay there, basically at this point it is a place for my stuff to live.

The HG is basically excess "morning sickness" I was throwing up 7-10 times a day, and my OBGYN agrees that the marijuana usage probably irritated, if not caused, this problem. Which I told them when they called me a lliar and accused me of forging the letter he wrote in regards to that.

Yes, I did tell them that it was bags of clothing, the next day while my husband was at work and I was out they still entered my apartment and threw them away and say that it was not clothing, it was garbage even though I know for a fact that it was not. I told them i wasn't going to pay and they told me they would take me to court. And they are saying they are going to charge us cleaning fees even though there is nothing for them to clean. The carpet is not stained and is well vaccuumed, nothing is on the walls or doors and counters or anywhere at all.

So far so good. But a few problems and issues.

The doctor saying it was "probably" from the neighbors is useless and can't prove a cause. Unless that doctor writes a statement that it WAS from them, you have nothing to prove it. It has not been proven to be caused by the neighbors as you said. While it may have been from the neighbors, it may not have been. Morning sickness is extremely common during pregnancy. Doubt you can link this to the neighbors. Sorry.

What did the police reports say? Did they charge the neighbors? Did they document that marijuana was being smoked there? Or did the police just write down your complaint but find no evidence of it when they arrived? Did you give copies to management? Please eview these reports and see what they document. Without documented proof, management cannot proceed to evict.

What were the 2 repair requests you made in writing? Has a reasonable amount of time passed since you made them. How long? WHAT STATE ARE YOU IN? I can give you the statute of repairs for your state and how you must procede.

Since you told them it was clothing, you should send them a bill for the depreciated value of the clothing they threw away. (Used clothes prices, not prices of new clothes.) Your door was locked, no one broke in, only management could have provided the key and removed these items. Bill them for it.

How much time is left in your lease and when are you due? Becoming pregnant is not a reason to break a lease, I'm afraid. You will have the consequences of breaking the lease.

Morning sickness is common, HG not so much, maybe it wasn't caused by the smoking but it was aggravated by it and I am sure my doctor would document it is it was something that would help. He told us outright that he believed it aggravated my condition.

The light and the water heater were the 2 written repairs we requested, its been a little over a month since the first one, about 2 weeks from the second one.

We live in Georgia

The police did charge him, I believe he had to go to rehab? I know he had to go to court about it.

They are claiming that it was not clothes and I have no proof that it was, should I still come up with an amount and bill them even though they are saying that I am lying? and I know they will not pay it.

I am due in October, lease is up in January, what should we have done in that situation then? Since we couldn't stay past October anyways?

Again, "Believed it was caused by" is not the same as "will testify that it was caused by". Were any tests done on you to see if you had this in your system or this was the cause of your illness? Or is it just his opinion? It is not proof that it was the reason for your condition or that they were smoking it. Belief is not good enough for court.

Check court records and see if he was found guilty or not. A court date is not a guilty verdict. Look up the records and see what it says. Get a copy of it and the police report . Send them to management. Prove to them that drug use is going on. Only then can you demand that they take action.

Unfortunately you are in Georgia. They have no statute on repair and deduct remedies there. You would have to check case law to see if a precident has been set to allow you to repair the problems yourself and deduct the amount from the rent.

There is only 3 months with the infant until your lease ended. At 3 months a child does not need his own room. He will be sleeping most of the day. So will you because you'll be up half of the night feeding him. Doubt this would be a code violation in that short period. Call code enforecement and ask.

First of all you cannot develop any medical conditions from second hand pot smoke. Only direct excessive inhalation. Even then its only if you smoke heavily, daily for years. I agree that its not good for your baby though and therefore this situation can not continue. Did you ever consider talking to the pot heads and politely explaining the situation and coming to some amicable agreement? Most potheads are very nice and willing to accomodate situations such as this. It may already be too late for a peaceful solution though, seeing as how you rudely and thoughtlessly went to the management first. Now you guys are talking about cops. Again im sorry for the health of your developing baby but, have you been watching too many weed porpoganda movies like reefer madness? These people are not bloodthirsty junkies. You could and should have worked this out peacefully rather than trying to ruin their lives and bringing more stress on yourself.

Just one note. The last poster is not the same poster as replies #2, 4, & 6. I wrote the 3 above answers, but definitely did not write the last one!