Fire Hazard

The problems with my apartment/landlord continue...

The handyman just left, after replacing the breaker (and the power works again in both bedrooms, for now). But he told me two really alarming things - (1) there was something wrong with one of the wires in the fuse box, and had it touched the wall, there would have been a fire; and (2) the building needs to be rewired b/c the outlet wires are the "wrong size"and this is also a fire hazard. The handyman said he told the landlord this, but the landlord says it's "too expensive" to fix.

I'm not sure what to do with this information. Should I complain to the LA Housing Department? Should I first get my own electrician to come look at the wiring and obtain an affidavit of his findings? I really don't want to get the handyman fired (he was so nice and forthright), and I assume if I make the complaint now the landlord would be able to figure out where the info came from. Maybe I should write a letter before I make the complaint? Or write letters to the other tenants and ask if they want to all meet?

Does anyone have any suggestions??

5 comments:

DogAteMyFinances said...

Ooooh, this is good. Nice to finally have some ammo against such an arsehole.

You have to do something! That sounds really dangerous! I would start with your city building inspection enforcement office. See if you can explain what is going on and just get them to schedule an inspection. Then you don't pay anything and boy howdy will it get fixed.

If there are other people in your building, sounds like it, you might be able to get some backup if that doesn't work.

FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com said...

1. Need to get an official inspector from the city to come in and write up the situation.

2. Keep a hard copy of this and use it against the landlord to fix it

3. [Optional] You can take him to court (tenant protection act) for having put you in that position for so long.

4. [Optional] Get the electrician to write that he has reviewed the situation before and the landlord said it was too expensive to fix.

Good luck

Fabulously Broke in the City
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver...

Shtinkykat said...

Here is a good resource on how to deal with this situation. It gives you your options and the risk you run by taking the action. Good luck!

Sunflowers said...

Thanks everyone! I'll let you know how things turn out...

Miss M said...

Let us know what happens, I really didn't know how to answer your question. There has to be a way to get those problems fixed. Good luck with the fight.

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