Well It's been a busy Monday for me.
Since you brought up possibly having to show in some way I didn't break in, feezy checking that his riser room was locked, and a buddy of mine checking 2 near his place (same complex different building). I decided to wake up at the crack of dawn and check EVERY riser room in the complex. I didn't get a total count of riser rooms but out of them all there was 18 that were unlocked. I took a picture of each one of them visibly open. That should cast a doubt that the maintenance crews have a handle on securing all the doors. And hopefully help my case a little. 3 of the rooms had pre-existing GFCI outlets just like mine and a few other rooms had what appeared to be major fire alarm control panels. But those were the ones connected to residences, not garages. The one next to my garage had NONE of that in it. Just water piping.
My next step was a visit to the city fire Marshals office. According to them there is no violations of any fire codes on my part by accessing an unlocked riser room. I was however informed by them that the fire dept had locked all the doors themselves at some point and the management while not legally obligated to keep them locked, should be making an effort to.
After that I started to search for an attorneys office to possibly get a free consult. But that was a dead end till a receptionist gave me a contact number for the AZ Renters Rights Association. They gave me some pretty good info to cover the rest of my basses. I was pretty much told to officially respond to the notice via a typed and signed letter stating; I didn't believe the punishment fit the crime and if there was some way to reasonably bill me for the used power I would pay; I also intended to continue to my lease and pay my rent on time. In a more detailed and professional manner of course. That way when and if it does come to a court case it shows I made a diligent effort to remedy the issue.
Not that my place is ever really messy, but I went ahead and spent like 8 hrs on Sunday detailing my apartment and my garage. Then I took pictures of everything to kinda show the judge "hey this resident ACTUALLY takes care of the property". Try to get that model resident thing going for me at the same time.
Honestly I think I'm building a pretty strong case and at this point they might back off just from the response they got in writing. If they don't I still have the rest of my case building information and pictures to myself in the event this does end up in front of a judge.
I guess I'll find out within the week.
Regardless of how this goes in the end thank you to the ones that put fourth possible POV's and ideas for me to evaluate and prepare myself to move on them. If not for those opportunities I would have just sorted thru this in anger and not accomplished shit. So thank you!
On a somewhat better note I was also able to pick up my manifold and down-pipe from full-race as well as that cracked fender the body shop repaired. So Now I'll be busting my ass trying to put everything back together in the event I really do have to pack my shit and move.

 

Good luck... Keep us posted!

Hopefully you get some satisfaction for all the time you put into proving your point.

 

Good luck buddy, but just make sure you do everything you can to fight the eviction. A long time ago I was a leasing agent and having an eviction on your record is not good.

 

Glad to hear man.

If you need help putting shit back together let me know.

 

Do you have to pay for your own utils at your apartment like electricity? It's probable that the outlets in the riser room are tied into a different electrical circuit, so the power you were using was not on your meter.

While it sounds absurd to evict someone over it, especially with no prior issues from you, I can see it somewhat from their standpoint as well. Whether or not the riser room was unlocked is beyond the point that you probably should not have been in there. If someone's apartment or garage were unlocked, or the door were cracked with no one home, would you plug your extension cord into one of their outlets?

 

Well. Quik version since I don't have much tome right now.
Got served a court summons last wed to appear in court yesterday. Went to court and lost. Got 5 days to find another place and move. Hopefully I can catch up with you guys more next week sometime. Gotta get vack to packing up my shit.

 

Sorry to hear about you losing in court.

So do you know what happens now with your lease? I mean, obviously they are kicking you out of the place - but do you still have to pay them the remaining months of the lease without living there - or what?

 

I don't believe so. I'm supposed to pay all the lawyer fees and court costs.