Okay so I moved into this apartment at the end of August 2025. It's a historic building in Italy, I'm a student here, 12 month lease. I went in knowing it was old and would probably need some upkeep. Fine, I get it. But I was not prepared for this.
Literally the first night I moved in it rained heavily and water started leaking into both bedrooms and the bathroom. At this point I was in contact with the landlady and the real estate agent/relegation agent. The landlady sent someone to fix it but it took two inspections and then two actual repair visits to sort out. So four visits total for one leak.
Then on top of that, in the first two months of living here I had 9 visits from repair people to inspect the AC and heating. For issues I never reported. Because I wasn't having any issues. They just... kept coming.
It settled down for a bit and then recently it rained heavily again and the primary bedroom started leaking in the exact same spot. I told the landlady. She has not mentioned any plans to fix it. Fine hopefully it doesn't rain heavily again anytime soon.
And since spring started I've had two more visits — one to fix AC that I didn't even know was broken because I had never used it and don't really need it yet, and one to change parts on some technical units. Again, not things I asked about or complained about.
Meanwhile the things I HAVE flagged — leaking freezer, the roof (still leaking!!), the B&B guests below who smoke — none of that is being addressed.
Now here's where it gets more annoying. The landlady's father owns the building, and between him, his secretary, and the landlady's brother, a lot of people have keys to my apartment. When maintenance people need to come in and I'm at school, either the brother or the secretary just lets them in. Sometimes I get a week's notice other times I get 30 minutes. I let it happen at first because they kept apologizing so I just kind of rolled with it.
My dog arrived in December and now every single visit means I have to either bring her to school with me or pay for a dog sitter. That cost and that planning is falling entirely on me for maintenance I didn't ask for and sometimes find out about last minute.
And the workers? They leave the place a mess every single time. Dust everywhere, footprints all over the floor, random bits and pieces from whatever they were fixing just left behind. I come home and have to clean up after people who were in my home without me there.
But the thing that really gets me — there's a second bathroom that's en suite to the primary bedroom. It's kept locked. Apparently the landlady uses it for storage. Which, okay, I didn't love that when I moved in but I accepted it. Except she comes in and accesses it during these inspections and maintenance. I come home to things moved and drag marks coming from the usually locked door.
Oh and they leave my mailbox unlocked. One day I opened it and found a spare key to my apartment just... sitting in there. In an unlocked mailbox. In a building open to the public during the day (there are offices and stores on the ground floor). I took it and put it in a drawer inside my apartment. No one has asked about it. No one has noticed. But anyone could have taken that key before I found it and had full access to my place.
Is this normal? Any of it? I feel like I've been really patient and accommodating and I pay a lot in rent but it's been almost 9 months of this and I'm exhausted. Is there anything I can actually do here? Or do I just keep eating it until my lease is up and then inform the relocation people and real estate agent about my experience?