A metro landlord under fire again. His former tenant is in legal limbo, having successfully sued over plumbing problems, but getting nothing in return.
Turns out, the landlord is well known by In Your Corner.
Sammi Hodack has had enough of her last landlord. She moved to SE 48th Terrace a few years back.
The family of four at the time began facing plumbing problems late last year, and during the freeze of February this year.
“The first toilet in the main bathroom was overflowing water all the way out into the hallway,” Sammi explained. “Then our back half bath was over flowing sewer water that got onto our carpet, flooded over into my daughter’s room.”
Through her lease agreement, Sammi was responsible for repairs up to $200.
Problem is, she says a number of plumbers found the same issue.
“Every time the plumber would run the snake, same thing on the report. About 40-50 feet out, they’re getting stuck,” said Sammi. “A shift in the mainline, so something completely out of my repair.”
But her landlord, Ravi Singh, instead claimed through texts the plumbers were attempting to rip Sammi off.
He sent out his own maintenance man, on Sammi’s dime, to snake the drain yet again.
But Sammi says he was unable to provide a receipt, which led to a tense exchange.
“[Maintenance] said oh I can’t give you a receipt, so I called Ravi and said I’m not giving this man any of my money. I’ve already paid a plumber to come out here and snake the drain 3-4 times now, And he’s doing the same exact thing I’ve already had somebody out here to do,” she added. “So at that point we had had enough, that’s when we filed paperwork to get a lawsuit.”
The lawsuit was filed in Oklahoma County, against Ravi and KRC Trading LLC.
Both of these might ring a bell for News 4 viewers.
Just weeks ago we visited SNS Apartments where tenants were without hot water for nearly a month.
The property, which was previously owned by Ravi, was sold just after the hot water turned off.
The new owners told News 4, the water and other issues weren’t disclosed before the purchase.
As for Sammi’s court date, which was back in April, Ravi was a no-show.
“He didn’t show up,” said Sammi. “So the judge asked us what was going on. We told him the whole story. He said fine, awarded everything to us.”
The settlement was for $3200 and change, making up for property damage, carpet patches, and brief hotel stays.
Sammi says the hotel stays were to give her family brief access to proper plumbing from time to time.
“It was hard. Me and my fiancé at the time, we’ve parted ways since then. It was hard, financially we struggled,” she added. “I don’t mean to get upset, but it’s been difficult, been really really hard. I feel like had we just had that gap, or the money back from what we lost. We wouldn’t be struggling and fighting like we were.”
This go-around, Ravi was less talkative than before, refusing to comment on Sammi’s situation and hanging up the phone twice.
Sammi is now stuck, wondering how or if she’ll ever chase down her judgement.
“Just blatantly disobeying the order of the judge and everything else,” she said. “It’s insane this man can get away with all of this.”
We’ll check back.