Josh's Updates: 101 Reasons why Robert Berner Sucks

You think you have had a bad landlord?   Read some horror stories about one of our old landlords in Chicago back in the day.     We lost of security deposit to this hoser for false accusations & denials.

Even though Josh helped improve the apartment as much as possible, Robert had no appreciation and since Josh didn't own the place, it was a complete waste of time.   

"I can't believe I wasted hours of my life on a scumlord like Robert!"

The Stop Payment Issue:

Since the rent was incidently in the last set of numbers of the lost checkbook, a stop payment was made on all checks from 2138 to 2150 on 03/13/01.  2137 was the last check that had cleared and did not think anything else was written.   Since I had lost my entire checkbook, I could not make any reference that I had written the rent check in the sequence of numbers.   

After Robert notified me on 03/29/01 that the check did not go through, I immediately attempted to correct the issue when I rewrote the check (#2155) on 03/29/01.  

He explained that because my check did not deposit into his account, he had bounced three other checks.   He wanted to pass the charges for his bounced checks of $20 each and a total of $60.00.     I explained that I should only pay a late rent fee and it was clearly a mistake that the rent check was incidently in the line of checks that were stopped for payment.    He said that he would take it out of the security deposit whether I liked it or not.    I explained that it is his responsibility as a check writer, to ensure that deposits go through before writing checks.    It is a general responsibility as a check writer.   You do not go writing checks for money that you do not have in the account.
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Entry by the landlord for any other reason require the landlord to give written notice 2 days in advance.   Robert has never provided written notices.

Carbon Monoxide issue

Robert failed to do this when we experienced Carbon Monoxide issue twice.   The first time, he had assumed that the heating units were causing this.   He had them replaced due to this as well as our air conditioning was not working at all.  
The second carbon monoxide incident resulted in Nicole and myself (Josh) feeling very disoriented and feeling sick to our stomachs.  I had a headache.  Before the Chicago Fire Department arrived, I heard the detector go off in the basement.   I removed the Sensor pack so that we can call the Fire Department.   Robert and Trish had called the Fire Department.   When the Fire Department arrived, they tested the carbon monoxide levels and they were approximately 700 ppm.   The Fire Department strongly urged that we ventilate the apartment and basement.   They also recommended purchasing a new Carbon Monoxide detector.
This event occurred 5 or 6 weeks before we moved out and Robert had not replaced the sensor pack, the detector, nor reconnected the detector during that entire time after the event.
Here are the Carbon Monoxide levels:
? 200 ppm - Level at which US NIOSH recommends immediate evacuations of any building - level above which US CPSC and UL approved home CO alarms must sound after 30-60 min. - Level of CO (air-free) allowed inside water heater flues by an American gas association (now ANSI) standard.
? 200 - 300 ppm - Range of CO in exhaled (diluted) cigarette smoke (exceeds water heater limit!).
? 400 ppm - Level above which CPSC and UL approved home CO alarms must sound after 5-15 min. Level of CO (air-free) allowed inside furnace flues by an American gas association (now ANSI) standard.
? 500 ppm = 0.05% CO - Roughly the level of CO thought to be lethal in humans exposed over a period of many hours (42-45% COHb at equilibration).
? 800 ppm - (air-free) Level of CO allowed inside oven flues by an American gas association (now ANSI) standard, # Z21.1. [this level is unchanged since 1921 when oven flues were still vented outdoors like woodstoves, instead of directly into the kitchen as they have since 1950s!
? 1,000 ppm = 0.1% CO - Level of CO commonly considered rapidly lethal in humans (approx. 62% COHb at equilibration).

It has been known for decades that CO poisoning can produce lasting health harm, mainly through its destructive effects on the central nervous system. Some studies found that 25-40% of people died during acute exposure, while 15-40% of the survivors suffered immediate or delayed neuropsychological deficit.

Now, an emerging body of evidence suggests that longer exposures to lower levels of CO, ie. chronic CO poisoning, are capable of producing a myriad of debilitating residual effects that may continue for days, weeks, months and even years.
Source:  Dr. D. Penney, ph. (248) 547-9375, FAX (248) 547-4634 Wayne State Univ School of Medicine.