stjohnsatwash's Profile
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September 30, 2009
Adding to/Breaking lease
I just spoke with the woman who answers the phones for my building (I have no idea who she is and have never met or spoken to the owner--I rented the apartment through a rental agent), who is about as unfriendly as they come. She claims I cannot add anyone to my lease. And then she hung up on me! I'm about to resign for a second year, and my boyfriend is moving in, so obviously he'd like to be on the lease and have record of having lived there for his credit score, etc., but the receptionist claims it's policy that no one can be added to a lease. What if a single tenant gets married? I don't understand the policy. Has anyone ever heard of this kind of thing?
Also, assuming I sign this lease alone, my boyfriend and I might want to get out of there before the lease is up so that we can sign one together. What usually happens when you break a lease?
September 25, 2009
Renters' Insurance
I'm in Prospect Heights, in a ground-floor apartment in a building that just lost an entire unit to a fire. It's about time to get renters' insurance! Does anyone have any recommendations? Also, this might be a stupid question, but my apartment is above the boiler room and is sweltering even in the dead of winter, so I tend to leave my windows open. They do have security bars over the bottom half of the windows. Is there any way my apartment would be insured against burglary if I left the windows open of my own accord? (And does anyone have any advice for cooling down an apartment other than opening windows or using an A/C? I've already had all the radiators removed!)
December 10, 2008
Solution to Overheated Apartment?
I live on the first floor of a large building, directly over the boiler. Even when I have my radiators (one in living, one in bedroom) turned off, my apartment is like a sauna! There's a pipe in the bathroom near the wall shared with my bedroom that gets so hot, I'm worried about hanging a towel too close to it, so I think that might be the culprit--but would that be enough to heat an 800-square-foot apartment? I wondered if it was my apartment's proximity to the boiler, but my floorboards and walls don't seem to be overly hot, and stepping into the lobby outside my apartment, I get an immediate blast of cold air.
Last night I came home, after my bedroom radiator had been off all day, and the sheets on my bed were very warm to the touch. I walk around in underwear and a tank top with fans blasting in every room, sometimes windows open!
So I'm wondering. Is it the boiler beneath me? Is it that pipe in the bathroom? Is it something else? And whatever it is, is there anything I can do about it? Any way, for example, to block the heat from that pipe from escaping into my apartment?
Thanks!