Apartment Review for Michael Barry Properties - Birmingham, AL

I've been renting from Michael Barry for almost a year, and that's only because I couldn't afford to break my lease. Thank God the end of this month will set me free from this place. When I first moved in, the furnace on the back porch exploded when the man from Alagasco tried to get my gas turned on. He immediately called the people at MBP using my phone, and they came out to fix it...which made me think I had immediate service on my side. Apparently this is only when people from a major utility company call. I've had a massive leak in my kitchen that kept getting worse and worse, no matter what I did they never completely fixed it. That is, until my father called and gave them hell. I have bugs everywhere in the kitchen, crawling out of the drains in the sink, going in and out of my microwave and toaster (which I will have to throw away and will not be able to continue using). The back door doesn't quite seal up, the windows are so old and have places where the air escapes. I had to deal with HUGE roaches when I first moved in, everywhere. When I asked someone to spray, and they finally did, I thought the problem was over. Not so. I continued to see them and their dead counterparts everywhere. My gas bill was RIDICULOUS living in this place where I can never seem to keep the heat in or the cold out. My power was off for FOUR days. I immediately called maintenance. They came out—four hours later—only to tell me it had to be the power company's fault because they were changing the meters earlier, and the meter box was loose. Then I had to call Alabama Power MYSELF, who sent someone out, and then told me that it wasn't their fault, it was the internal breaker. Surprise, there isn't an internal breaker. I called the maintenance line from my boyfriend's house 30 minutes outside of Birmingham, because it was the only place I had to stay with power. The next day, I didn't return until later, only to find out maintenance STILL hadn't been there. The girl gave me some sob story about how her transmission was out; she couldn't get a ride. Someone who is supposed to be on-call 24/7. She finally came out there the next day and got the problem fixed—only after I had to spend four days away from home and all the food was ruined and had to be tossed. These people are jerks, and I can't get out of here soon enough. PS For anyone wondering, I lived at Tipperary Court.