superintendents broke stuff in our apt

We got home today to find the superintendants had come in for some reason we are not too sure about and moved all our furniture and broke a load of stuff. There is nothing missing thankfully but my new mirror is broken (do I still get the bad luck?) and a load of random stuff and it makes me feel kinda weird that people have been in here. Not to mention that the cats are terrified and still 2 hours later won't come out from under tables/sofas etc.

Of course they are not answering their phone and a neighbour said her place was the same with no explanation. Its probably a good thing they are not answering my calls because I can't describe how annoyed I am. But if I don't get in touch with them tomorrow I am just going to call the police (well someone at works son who happens to be a local cop) and have him call them. And I am taking the cost of this mess off next months rent.

They are supposed to give us 48 hours notice and a neighbour said they were cleaning vents which they were supposed to do 3 weeks ago but you think they would leave a note saying sorry etc so we don't think we have been broken into as soon as we walk in. They were in the office when we got home too and 5 mins later were gone!!!

I think that I would call the police. They were way out of line & possibly they did something illegal.

I think you should call the police and file a report as well. I would do it tonight rather than wait until tomorrow.

They did clean the vents so that is obviously the reason they were in here (although they sent a letter weeks ago saying they were doing it and I locked the cats up in a room 3 times and they didn't come).

There is nothing missing - just the mirrors are broken where they moved the dresser and the lamp and clock that were on the dresser were pulled out of the socket breaking the plugs.

My coworkers son said there isn't much I can do until I speak to the superintendant as he also can't get through to them to request permission to come onto private property, they can only come on for an emergency

Hmmmm , well I would at least take some pictures of the broken stuff to use as "evidence" in case you need it.
I think it is best to speak to the apartment manager, or whoever they have in charge of the superintendants.

I don't know what the laws are in Canada, but I don't think they can come in without giving you notice, and I certainly think they should at least pay for the stuff they broke. As far as i know you have the right to be present when they come in except for an emergency> Def take pictures of the damage and speak to them about it.

One of them just got my message and came up - she seemed more interested in the fact we hadn't got the notice which was dropped off on Friday. Well I got all my mail Friday and it wasn't there but our neighbour said he got one, maybe the cats dragged that one piece of paper off somewhere???

She said that they had contactors in and that she will speak to them when they come back tomorrow and ask them but either way give her a bill and take it off the rent and she will get it back from them or absorb it. Its not the only complaint she has had because one of my neighbours told me she had complained too.

I took pics just in case though.

That sounds really strange to me...I'm from Ontario Canada and also rent. Landlords aren't allowed onto your premises unless they give you 24 hour written notice. I would be checking into the rental laws on that one!!, that sounds like a complete violation!

Our neighbours did get a letter so as far as they are concerned they did give notice - our contract actually says 48 hours notice will be given and usually they have given us a week.

She admitted however that they were not in here with the contractors so she can't tell if they did it. But they didn't say anything to her.

Seemingly the contractors were annoyed that we hadn't moved our furniture away from the vents!

Gosh I would be FURIOUS

But it goes some way in justifying it that your neighbour did get a notice, and that she said she will pay for the damage.

But even still, that's pretty bad - if your landlord is letting people into your place they should be there to supervise...

Originally Posted by icklemiss21

Our neighbours did get a letter so as far as they are concerned they did give notice - our contract actually says 48 hours notice will be given and usually they have given us a week.

She admitted however that they were not in here with the contractors so she can't tell if they did it. But they didn't say anything to her.

Seemingly the contractors were annoyed that we hadn't moved our furniture away from the vents!

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That is ABSOLUTELY no excuse to break you things! I'd tell your landlord to have a chat with them. tell her/him that you're very upset and that your cats could've gotten out, they are upset, how these people breaking your things has upset you, maybe they will not use them in the future. That is horrible! I'd be pi**ed if that happened to me!

Originally Posted by icklemiss21

They did clean the vents so that is obviously the reason they were in here (although they sent a letter weeks ago saying they were doing it and I locked the cats up in a room 3 times and they didn't come).

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Argh. Do you live in my building?
My landlords will also do this...Put a notice up or under your door saying they will be in your suite on such and such a date...I get things ready (ie, move furniture or my things out of the way for what they have to work on) and they don't show up!!!
They then show up 3 days later and act like its ok...The last time they did this, I was home when they came so said they could come in but not go in my bedroom as the cats were in there. He just walked right in the bedroom!!!

I would make a formal complaint to the board or to the owner or other such authority, ESPECIALLY if they broke stuff. I would expect compensation directly!

Good luck!!

That's terrible! What if they had left the door open on accident or otherwise let your cats out? That's what scares me about getting an apartment. I go to great lengths to make sure Cupid doesn't get out, and to know that someone can come in my home at any time and do it just makes me crazy with worry.

I have a friend who lived in an apartment and stayed home from work. Someone went into her apartment while she was sleeping and she heard them and it scared the heck out of her! She peeked out and saw it was the fixer-guy, and coughed or something to let him know she was there and he ran out, like he knew he wasn't supposed to be in there.

Oh, and she talked to the manager and she denied ever having let someone in there. The fixer-guy doesn't have keys to the apartments. She left shortly after.

Even if they did give you notice does not give them the right to break your things, If they move intems in your apartment it is their responcibility to provide "due care" and if items are broken they should be replaced by a responcible landlord.this site might Help.
http://www.ontariotenants.ca/law/tenant.phtml

It sounds like the people that performed the work are a careless bunch!!
I would agree on taking pictures for "proof".
Yrs ago the landlady we had when we rented a house from her would come all the time when we weren't home. I resorted to taping a tiny piece of paper on the bottom of the doors to "catch her"!! ( I saw that in a movie actually it was supposed to be a hair)
I wouldn't be happy either that syour stuff got damaged.

It's good that you got photos of the damage. If necessary, they will help back your claim.

I believe they had NO reason to go into your apt.. Unless it was an emergency! Like, overflowing tub etc..

Well iy kind of was an emergency - the heating on the whole side of our building won't work properly, it only heats up to about 10c so we had all complained. I have never had a problem with them coming in (with the exception of one superintendent who opened my door to put a package in and let magnum escape so they know my views on the cats escaping - but she "left" shortly after).

Thanks for the link Sibohan. It seems to be all sorted, she brought up a note to attach to our lease allowing for a rent reduction of $200 to pay for the broken stuff and mess on next months rent and were really good about it.

She has also decided to put a notice board on each floor and put a copy of all notices just in case someone misses one.