Snowed In

[Craig Jessop]

Ugh. With this most recent snow, the driveway to the underground parking at my complex is completely blocked. My car is stuck down there, and I don't have a snow shovel. I called the landlady to see when/if the snow would be plowed out of the parking lot, and she basically said to go jump in a lake. I'd even be willing to do it myself -- if I had a shovel, that is. When I mentioned that, she said that she wasn't going to leave her house on a Sunday to unlock the shed-thing to get the shovels and that we'd have to deal. Well guess what, I have places to go.

[UnluckyStuntman]

That is pretty lame of your land lady. I hope you got out of your apartment okay...

[Dragon Lady]

That is pretty lame of your land lady. I hope you got out of your apartment okay...

amen.

[bobtheenchantedone]

I told my mom about this, just as a little story to pass the time, and she went off on a rant about how in the wrong your landlady was. She talked about things like how she'd be liable if someone got hurt in the snow that she refused to have taken care of, or what if someone had had an emergency and couldn't get out, and then she complained about how much Utah laws favor landlords, etc. etc. And when my dad got in the car she ranted to him about it as well.

[Craig Jessop]

The snow isn't shoveled yet, nor is our parking lot plowed. It's all a compacted mess, and my car is STILL stuck.

And thanks for all the sympathy!

[Dragon Lady]

I might consider calling BYU Housing if it's not plowed by tomorrow. That's gotta be against some landlord agreement.

[thebigcheese]

I might consider calling BYU Housing if it's not plowed by tomorrow. That's gotta be against some landlord agreement.

It is! If you go here and click on Housing Handbook (at the top), you can find all the rules for landlords and tenants. I've read through this thing so many times, it's ridiculous...all my stupid landlords with their stupid problems *grumble grumble*

Anyway, here's the part that's relevant to you:

Section 20.08 Maintenance and Services

7. Landlord shall make a reasonable effort to remove snow and ice from stairways, walkways, and parking lots within 12 hours after snow falls. In the event of a continuing snowfall, the landlord shall make a reasonable effort to remove snow at least once in each 24-hour period.

One thing though, you should check your contract to ensure that the landlord hasn't written an addendum about snow removal in there. One of my landlords wrote an addendum saying snow removal is the responsibility of the tenants. *more grumbles*

[thebigcheese]

Dang it, now I've gotten all worked up over those old landlords again. I still shudder every time I drive by that house.

Stupid...lazy...good-for-nothing...can't even fix the locks on our doors...can't even give me a proper place to plug in my laptop...cold showers...no water pressure...obscene utility bills...fixed everyone's windows except ours...fixed everyone's swamp coolers except ours...blamed us for painting when we didn't...wouldn't let us talk to potential tenants...

Very few people make me angry. But they make me ANGRY.

[Katya]

I might consider calling BYU Housing if it's not plowed by tomorrow. That's gotta be against some landlord agreement.

Please do, Craig. Landlords need to be held responsible for their actions.

[Craig Jessop]

I lodged a complaint with the super today by e-mail. If they give me any guff, I now have a record to take to the housing office. If the snow (now it's ice) isn't gone by tonight, I'm going to the housing office first thing tomorrow.

[UnluckyStuntman]

Good luck, Craig, and way to go for keeping a record! Landlords can be... fun... to deal with, but it sounds like you have the housing regulations on your side.

[Craig Jessop]

UPDATE: They were very nice and understanding in their return e-mail. However, if the snow is not gone I'm still going in. They also told me to refer to a student living next door to me next time, because he is in charge of all snow removal. I want to respond and say "oh, so wait, I'M in charge of getting YOUR employee whom YOU pay to do HIS job?" but I'm not going to send that one yet because I don't want to cause unnecessary conflict.

[Katya]

I want to respond and say "oh, so wait, I'M in charge of getting YOUR employee whom YOU pay to do HIS job?" but I'm not going to send that one yet because I don't want to cause unnecessary conflict.

Just keep documenting everything. Next time you get a whole bunch of snow and it's not gone within 12 hours, send them a nice email letting them know that the snow needs to be removed, and print a copy of the email out for the housing office. If they respond (again) that it's the responsibility of your neighbor, tell them you appreciate the information, but that your contract is with them, not with your neighbor, so it is ultimately their responsibility to see that the snow is removed in a timely manner. (I suppose you should probably review your contract before doing any of this, just to make sure that they don't have any sneaky snow-removal clauses, as thebigcheese pointed out.)