HOA entered for plumbing inspection, left my apartment trashed with a giant fan running and no communication.
[US-CA] I’m renting a condo in California and had a pretty frustrating situation happen.
The HOA gave notice that they’d be entering units between roughly 9am and 4pm for a plumbing issue on Friday (about two days ago). The faucets were only putting out hot water, so they said a professional plumber would be taking a look.
I got home around 8pm that night and my apartment was completely messed up. They had clearly entered, moved everything out of my closet into my living room, and left a huge industrial fan running at full blast. The carpet in the closet area was damp.
There was zero communication. No note, no email, nothing explaining what happened or what I’m supposed to do.
They also used my personal towels to soak up water and left them wet in my bathtub. One of my clothing items got messed up too. Now the closet has a musty smell.
The fan is still running and all my stuff is piled in my living room, so it’s honestly hard to even walk around my apartment right now. It’s also loud enough that I can’t really sleep with it on. I thought about turning it off but I have no idea if that would make things worse or cause more damage.
I texted my landlord and he said he didn’t know anything about it, agreed this was unprofessional behavior, and told me to contact the HOA directly. I’ve emailed the HOA multiple times and haven’t gotten any response.
I understand if there was some kind of leak and they needed to act quickly, but is it normal for them to just leave my place like this with no explanation or timeline? And can they come back in again without telling me just to grab the fan or do more work?
What should I be doing here? Just keep pushing both of them? Document everything? At what point does this cross a line?
Appreciate any advice. This whole thing feels pretty off.