24 Hours Without Hot Water

We just went 24 hours without hot water in the apartment, but it's back!

Forward Management and Confusion Over Early Rent + New Flat Electricity Fee

We received a letter from Forward Management stating that we owed $75.00, and if the bill is not paid by July 5, 2014 that we would owe an additional $50 late fee. However, since our rent is auto-paid through the bank (every month, 3 weeks before it is due to prevent late fee issues such as this), I knew that this was not actually possible. A phone call to the receptionist revealed that we did indeed owe $25 (a mid-lease rent hike to include a flat electric bill), not $75 for our new electric fee and that the landlord does not (cannot?) charge a $50 late fee for utility bills.

So, the $75 the letter says we owe would be $25 for electric plus a $50 late fee although the receptionist said we only owed $25. Since I've been paying rent about one month in advance, this didn't mesh well with the changeover to a flat rate for the electric bill, which lead to this confusion. But I sent Forward Management a $25 check, and everything was sorted out without any ridiculous late fees for a missing $25.

Forward Management Pittsburgh One Month Response to Ceiling Leak

A month since I last called Forward Management Pittsburgh, and they've finally sent maintenance over to fix the bathroom ceiling leak. The maintenance guy claims he replaced some pipes and such of the upstairs neighbors' bathroom, but we'll see how that works out. In the meantime, here's their one day progress in fixing the damage to my ceiling/wall:

Hopefully they do a better job of cleaning up when they finish the job...

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[Edit 12/8/11 Fixed and somewhat cleaned. A little?]

Fixed.

Rubble on top of the medicine cabinet

Rubble in the medicine cabinet

Forward Management Pittsburgh - Not-So-Past-Due Rent

A few days ago, I got the following 'Past Due' rent notification from Forward Management, indicating that my rent was more than 5 days past due and that I now owed them $50 in fines. However, I don't pay my rent, my bank does so automatically: every month, on the same day. So, I knew for a fact that my rent was not late, and if it were, it would be my bank's fault.

I called the Forward Management secretary, and she claimed I still owed money. So, I printed off a bunch of stuff from my online bank account (like a copy of the check they deposited, a copy of my bank statement showing when the money was withdrawn from my account, etc). The next day, the office manager called saying that I was correct, nothing was overdue.

I'm guessing this mix-up had to do with the fact that they addressed the letter to Apartment #104 (not my apartment number). Maybe they mixed up names and apartment numbers? I'm getting so tired of having to jump through hoops.

Two Problems for Forward Management Pittsburgh: Peeling Ceiling and Toilet Handle

Two maintenance requests today (Wednesday, October 13). No answer when I called, so I left a message. I called sometime last week and there was also no one to pick up.
[Edit 10/14/10: Received a call from Forward Management's secretary this morning, confirming receipt of the maintenance request.]
[Edit 10/18/10: Came home from work and the peeled-ceiling-paint was repainted and the toilet seat handle was fixed and replaced with a plastic handle.]

The first, a problem I had last year. Whenever it gets humid in Pittsburgh, my ceiling paint starts to peel. The edges of last year's fix is beginning to peel again as well:





The second problem: the toilet seat handle appears to have dislodged itself from whatever was holding it in. It still functions, but you have to hold it down until the water refreshes.

Giant Trash Heap

The trash situation here is less than par. I can't say for sure whether the trash heap appeared before Wednesday, 8/11, but let's start recording now...

By the way, it smells pretty terrible, too. And the flies...

[Edit 8/17/10: The trash mountain has finally disappeared.]

Photos taken 8/16/10.

No Hot Water

Woke up at 11am today and there wasn't any hot water. Cold water will come out of the cold-spigots, but nothing comes out of the hot-spigots.

[Edit 4:20pm: Hot water is back.]

Fixed: Bathroom Leak #5

After [regrettably] having to curse at the Forward Management secretary [whose fault this issue isn't], one day later the secretary calls me to say that the maintenance guy and a worker have fixed the leak again. 15 minutes later, I get a call from the Forward Management office manager and she tells me that maintenance fixed the leak by going to my upstairs neighbor's apartment and dealing with it there.

From the look of some new caulk in my bathroom, my guess is that they fixed the issue by re-caulking the upstairs neighbors' bathroom. They also repainted the drip spot that was re-appearing on my wall.

Let's hope this sticks.

Photos taken 1/24/10.

Fixed: Bathroom Leak #4

No photograph this time, and just an approximation of the date. Forward Management will have to check your maintenance records for this.

I returned from winter break, and the giant hole in the ceiling had been fixed. There was, however, bits of rotten wood on top of my mirror, in my bathroom cup, in the bathtub, and all over the floor. There is new lumps of spackle slopped above the sink and the Forward Management maintenance guys tracked sidewalk salt all over the floors.

Fixed: Bathroom Leak #3

No photograph this time, and just an approximation of the date.Forward Management will have to check your maintenance records for this.

Called Forward Management maintenance and after a few weeks someone came over and tried to redo the paint [again]. However, the damage was too extensive, so he ripped a small hole in the ceiling and attempted to patch it up with a piece of drywall over the hole, using spackle.

Fixed: Bathroom Leak #2

No photograph this time, and just an approximation of the date. Forward Management will have to check theirmaintenance records for this.

The Forward Management maintenance guy came over and redid the paint around the leaking area again. This time, he also had to replace the light fixture since it no longer worked.

Fixed: Bathroom Leak #1

After having a Forward Management maintenance guy at my apartment while I was absent, nothing happened. The maintenance man thought my complaint about the steaming/boiling light fixture was about the light switch. There was nothing wrong with the light switch. It is the light FIXTURE.

I called Forward Management during the day when the leak was happening, the maintenance guy came over in 15 minutes, and said it would be fixed. Forward Management fixed the molding/wilted ceiling paint with some spackle and another coat of paint. The maintenance guy also talked to my upstairs neighbor. Perhaps he is improperly using his shower head?

We'll see how long this lasts.