Harris, Kenneth A. And Wanda S, SLUMLORDS!!!!WARNING Private Owners, Slumlord Alert Tampa Florida

I rented an apartment off of craiglist. I was told that it was a "studio" apartment duplex. It did not have a stove, because it was not legal in a duplex. As my rental days went on, I discovered that the apartment had serious problems i.e. code violations. My ceiling began to sink, there were bugs everywhere and the outside deck was unsafe and the entire apartment was "gerry rigged."

I paid my rent of $525 per month on a month to month basis with an oral lease. Things would come up such as the cracks in the walls, leaking pipes, sinking ceiling, unstable deck outside and various other problems such as mold and mildew, I would ask the landlords to fix them and they would usually attempt a very sub-standard hillbilly maintenance of the problems. The kitchen did not have an AC at all and it was always humid and hot. The entire apartment was extremely poorly built. The only reason I did not move, was due to finances. I also believed the landlords would fix things, as they constantly said they would, but dragged their feet. There comment usually was that they were going to Home Depot, but that never happned.

Frustrated and at a breaking point, I filed a code enforcement complaint regarding the ceiling sinking and various other problems. When the CE officer came out he declared both my and my neighbors apartments illegal and told us to get out in 15 days. The landlords proceeded to tell me that I was evil and was making them lose their home. They told me to get out and tried to illegally evict me even after my rent was paid. I also did research on them and discovered that they own a lot of property and are not in dire poverty as they claim. They have many lawsuits against them and a lot of code violations.

The couple are Jehovah's Witnesses and are blatant slumlords who attempt to cut corners in any way they can. They are both on disability and the husband is in a wheelchair and tries to play stupid regarding the law. He is highly manipulative and intelligent and knows what he is doing.

Artsycat
Tampa, Florida
U.S.A.