They made repairs in a rented apartment with the consent of the hostess and eventually remained on the street
Five years ago, my husband and I decided to move to Moscow from a small town. We were preparing for this for a long time, diligently saving up money, so that at first we could feel calmer in a new place. My husband had found an excellent vacancy in advance and the issue of work was resolved. He is a dentist, and the dental clinic where he was going to work was in the very center of the city, and we started looking for an apartment based on this.
Many options were reviewed, but in each apartment there was some kind of minus, something did not suit. And then luck smiled at us. We found the perfect accommodation for us. The apartment building was still wartime. A huge plus was the closed territory and, of course, the location. The apartment was in the city center.
We were incredibly happy and immediately called the landlady of the apartment to arrange a meeting. Despite all the pluses, there was a minus with which we could not reconcile - repair, or rather its absence. Wallpaper in the rooms were ragged and turned yellow from time to time. There were some stains on the ceilings. Old carpets, a creaking floor, a sofa that in a couple of years will surely fall apart from old age - such an atmosphere was overwhelming. We decided that if we rent an apartment on sufficiently favorable terms, then there is money left for a major overhaul. They offered our idea to the hostess, she was not even against it and said that she herself was going to throw out all this junk, but her hands did not reach. That's what they decided.
After the repair, it was a completely different apartment. We threw out the closet and bought him a replacement chest of drawers from Ikea, changed the ancient sofa to a comfortable bed, even put a new toilet. Of course, it was difficult financially, but we managed. The hostess was amazed at how much her apartment was transformed, she thought that after wallpapering we would stop.
My husband and I exhaled and began to live in an already comfortable apartment. The hostess came to us very rarely, there were no special reasons. We are good tenants, we don’t delay the rent, we pay the communal apartment on time, we do not make noise at night and do not cause discomfort to our neighbors.
A year after our move to Moscow, the hostess suddenly rang the doorbell. Usually she warns in a few days about her arrival, but not this time. I did not attach such a strangeness to special significance and invited her to the kitchen. And now, over a cup of tea, she declares to me that she is going to increase the rent by 10,000 rubles! My eyes almost burst with surprise. She answered vaguely to my questions about why such a huge amount and did not give specific reasons. The only thing that was clear was her categorical intention to rent a double fee. Like, if you do not agree, you can free the apartment. I said that I need to consult with my husband, she gave us a month to think about it.
We decided that we would move. Of course, it was a shame: we invested so much money in the transformation of this apartment, in the purchase of furniture, plumbing, but there was no other way out, we would not have pulled that amount. But then we still did not know that the hostess will present us with one more “surprise”. When her husband reminded her of the deposit, she categorically refused to return it. Moreover, she pretended to be offended and said that she allegedly did not agree to the repair, and without her permission we threw away all her furniture, which was a family heirloom. But this was still my fault with my husband. The list of furniture was indicated in the apartment rental agreement, but it was not spelled out in what condition it was.Therefore, they could boldly show us that the apartment did not need repairs, and we all made it up. An agreement was not signed that we will change everything, repair it, the transaction took place only on parole.
In general, we moved. We remained on friendly terms with our former neighbors and met with them even after moving. Recently, they told us that as soon as we vacated the apartment, a young family moved in there. She is not confused by such a high rental price, because the apartment has new furniture and major repairs have been made.
The moral of my story is this: always carefully read the contract and document all changes in the apartment.
