Bought a flat in Ikskile
This May my husband and I bought a flat in Ikskile, Latvia. It was rather cool. It was not overly large and has only two rooms i.e potential 1 bedroom, a full bath, a guest toilet, a large general area with a kitchenette and the main buying point a large outside terrace. It was/is a white wall flat i.e just bare walls and design ideas began to swirl in our heads.In following post I will share with you our adventure in endeavor. I call it an adventure or a journey for if I dwell to much on how things have gone since our March 2013 purchase till now I will hit my head against a wall :)
Wife
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Signed on the dotted line and then it pours
So we signed on the dotted line, paid the money,
registered the
flat and got the key. All within the deadline or we would have to
pay
penalties. We were happy.
Decoration
plans were afoot. Parquet flooring was lugged up 4 flights of
stairs, along
with saws, drills and other paraphernalia need for hubby to start
turning our
white wall box into a modern chic 1 bedroom. Then after a week it
rained. Not a little rain but a serious down pour. “Ring” “ring” - I got a call
from hubby
telling me that water was pouring through the ceiling of the flat,
and in other
areas it was seeping and bulging. I could not believe it, I
thought he was joking
or at least exaggerating, but alas he was not.
What the bleep happened!!! We saw the flat a number of
times when the
snow was melting, we asked the couple people we met about the
building and
leaks, for we had seen one leak damage in one area but all the
other areas were
good. We were given information that there was a little trouble in
the past but
repairs were schedule to start in April. So we bought the flat, we
figured
everything was good, the building may be a tad in need of the
normal repairs,
but it was sound. Little did we know.
A learning wife
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Prieki bija īsi
15. maijā parakstam dzīvokļa pieņemšanas aktu, bet 22. maijā uzlīst lietus un augšējā stāva dzīvokļi burtiski pludo.
Top šāda vēstule pārdevēja māklerim (Oberhaus), pārdevējam (Latectus) u.c.:
Izskatās, ka sācis
darboties negatīvais scenārijs:
Jumta bojājumi ir daudz
nopietnāki, nekā bijām informēti. Lietus ūdens
brīvi ieplūst augšējā stāva dzīvokļos, bojā griestus, appludina
elektroinstalāciju. Mūsu dzīvoklī ir applūduši griesti visās telpās.
Vakar ūdens kāpņu telpā aizplūda līdz otrajam stāvam. Kaimiņienei Līgai
14. dzīvoklī ūdens savākšanai jāizmanto spaiņi.
RBSSKALS uz e-pasta
vēstulēm nereaģē, uz vakardienas īrnieku/īpašnieku zvanu atbildēja, ka
nevar ierasties, aizbildinoties ar nevaļu, bet pēc tam ierādās un
uzņēma fotoattēlus.
Uzskatām, ka pārdevējam
vajadzēja mūs informēt par jumta problēmu nopietnību un iespējamiem remontiem. Mūsu rīcībā tikko nonākusī informācija par līdzīgu situāciju pagājušajā gadā un pats fakts,
ka šogad bija paredzēts jumts remonts, liecina, ka pārdevējam bija labi
zināms jumta patiesais stāvoklis, bet pārdevējs šo informāciju
noklusēja pirmspārdošanas posmā. Pārdevējs ir radījis
maldīgu priekšstatu par pārdodamo objektu, bet mēs uz tā balstījām savu
lēmumu par pirkumu. Faktiski tas izskatās pēc
krāpniecības un bezdarbības zem Oberhaus un RBSSKALS izkārtnes.
Iegādāto īpašumu mēs
nevaram izmantot: uzturēties tajā nevar, apdares darbus veikt ir
bezjēdzīgi, jo padarīto sabojās lietus. Turklāt tas ir bīstami: kāpņu telpās krājas ūdens, tur ir slidens, ūdens
iekļūst slēdžos, elektrības sadales skapjos, un
pastāv reālas elektriskā trieciena briesmas.
Pašreiz vēlamies
sazināties ar Latectus, kas, iespējams, ir virs mūsu dzīvokļa esošās
terases īpašnieks un attiecīgi atbild par konkrēto ūdens noplūdi un arī
lielākās mājas daļas stāvokli. Tāpēc, lūdzu, informējiet, vai Latectus
ir šīs terases īpašnieks un, ja ir, kas ir atbildīgā persona (vārds,
uzvārds, e-pasta, pasta adrese), ar ko mums jāsazinās. Paralēli
turpināsim konsultēties ar juristu par plašākiem
pasākumiem, iespējams, iesaistot citus mājas iedzīvotājus.
Vēlamies uzsvērt, ka
mūs interesē miermīlīgs šo problēmu risinājums. Domājam, ka tas ir arī
Oberhaus un Latectus interesēs, jo pārdodamo dzīvokļu ir vēl daudz un
negatīvs risinājums nepalīdzēs nevienai pusei. Taču neizslēdzam
jebkādas citas iespējas, lai aizstāvētu savas intereses un piedzītu
zaudējumus. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We met some of the other owners
When those rains of May began to pour the leaks really began to show. Not just one leak but 4 or 5 serious areas. In the full bathroom the whole ceiling now needs to be replace, in the bedroom a section need too, above the entrance door, by the windows in the main room, walls were the rain has dripped are now stained and the plaster has begun to peel in an area. However, our flat was not as dire as the one next door where buckets had to be placed on the floor and the dripping combined how the electricity is done made it was dangerous if a light switch was used that the electricity to that flat had to be turned off - this is a flat with 2 young children too. It rained and leaked so much that the rain began to run down the steps from the 4th floor to the second floor. And with these leaks my hubby began to meet other owners and we discovered that the possible little leak problem was not so new nor so little. We were also told that a second floor flat (with no direct roof) had water coming in from a ventilation shaft (how is that possible?? Does this newly built building now have drainage and ventilation problems too??). We were also told that the property manager and all the other *owners of the apartment house were aware of this problem. (*Other being owners who had bought a flats before April 2013). They had been aware of this problem for over a year and seeking a solution! So when we asked the sellers about leaks, about possible future leaks and responsibility and were not told about them, when we wrote the property manager about leaks and were not answered about them we now know the reason why- they were serious leaks and it looks like all were keeping mum about it. We were also told by other resident owners that the April repairs plans will not go through! So all decoration plans to our chic 1 bedroom flat were put on hold.
A stupefied wife
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A meeting which is supposed to be a formal general meeting of all owners
A few weeks pass and an official meeting of owners and the property manager is called. We are all to meet. I should state here the owners are people like hubby and I ( a total of I think 14 flats) and the SEB Bank real estate company Latectus (more flats in the apartment building are occupied but they are tenants of Latectus). So we arrive on time and see a group of people standing on the play ground. We join the group by the swings and then from my limited understanding of the language the meeting is to begin. This is an official general meeting like none I attend and I had to ask my husband if it had started, for I swore a flat owner asked should we introduce each other and a man who looked more smartly dressed than the rest of the group said no, and then they began to talk or picked up on a conversation that was going on. Me being myself that is quite pedantic at time, wanted to know who was the bank and who was the property manager. I did eventually find this out, although the bank’ s real estate company Latectus was not there in person and like when they were selling the flats they used another company (Ober-Haus). For this meeting Latectus was represented by BTP - a smart looking guy.
It was an interesting “official” meeting for the players were not introduced, no one was appointed to take minutes, and no one appeared to take any, nor have I to the time of this posting received an official letter about what was discussed or tabled at the meeting. And when the meeting was over I asked the bank’s representative and the property manager for their business card and neither had one to give - I still shake my head at this.
The Latectus representative had a proposal. I should step back and state the meeting was meant to be a discussion forum or so it was billed, and prior to it a number of the owners got roofers to come in and give official quotes. We ourselves had a number of roofers come and look at our problem but to get official quotes on paper from many of them was not an easy task. So the 14 owners came to meeting to discuss with Latectus (the other owner) what they have found out and what they can all do, as Latectus still owns majority of the flats. To this second point Latectus representative had no power to discuss anything and was sent my Latectus to put forward their plans. That is, Latetus has organised a roofing/ construction company to come and repair the roof and would remove the existing tiles and the glue, and then put one layer of torchable asphalt roof on top of the old leaking roof.
The problem with one layer vs two layers 2 my hubby has gone into detail in this section (click here). But for a layperson like me it boils down to this the product manufacture recommends two layers, government roof tenders require two layers and we are told that one layer is fine is we don’t use it, walk on it in only appropriate footwear, not on warm days (as the tar will melt) and make sure nothing (especially metal things) drops on it as it will melt through the layer (the last part is from roofers) ... but wait I bought a terrace flat.... what do you mean I cannot use my terrace! Yes my present terrace looks like crap with missing tiles, crumbling plaster and trees growing on the neighbouring one, but I can use it. I can walk with any shoe, I can sit in a chair and read if I wish.
So the long and short of it at the meeting we were presented with a plan to fix the leaking roofs to a substandard level (I think it was said with a 3 year guarantee - but I am not sure) as well as change the purpose of my terrace to that of a roof which is non-usable, and this also will apply to the terrace flats above us (which I think at the time I write this are still being offered for sale and registered in the land registry as terrace flats). But then again all of this is word of mouth for to date I have received no written word of the meeting or plans or the roof/terrace of the apartment building.
Not very Happy Campers
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