'I walked outside and the stairs were gone': Tenant gets stuck in apartment for 10-12 hours after landlord orders unexpected stair maintenance, she needs to climb down a ladder to get to work

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Dec 30, 2025 2:00 PM EST

No one would want to be in this lady's situation.

Imagine waking up one morning to impossibly annoying construction sounds, only to discover that what's happened outside the front door of your apartment is unexpected stair maintenance that makes it impossible for you to leave your apartment. No, the landlord did not notify the tenant about this maintenance in advance. No, the tenant didn't miss any emails or calls about this beforehand. 

Now, she had no way of getting to work. Sure, in theory, it's nice to have a totally legitimate excuse to stay home. However, it's not nice to feel like you are confined to your apartment while incessant construction noises are happening for 10-12 hours straight. That's not exactly a blissful escape from the workday.

The tenant ended up enlisting the help of the fire marshal. They even went so far as to almost bring a ladder in to get her down all those flights of stairs just to get to work. Apparently, however, that was a liability as well. This is one of those situations where any way you go about it seems to be some kind of liability.

This landlord had better give this tenant some kind of major rent cut, unless he wants to be sued. After all, there is no way that doing repairs of this magnitude without notifying tenants or providing proper safety measures for them to leave their homes was legal. Keep scrolling below for the full story and for the advice the tenant received from several members of this online community.

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  • The most amusing part of the story has to be when the tenant, who is a female, asked for her boyfriend to call the fire marshal and property management for help. Of course, he was taken more seriously than she was. Obviously, this isn't fair, but it's unsurprising given the machismo she was dealing with throughout this process. What a mess!

  • "I walked outside and the stairs were gone (unexpected maintenance, no notice). There’s no other way in or out of my apartment. What can I do?"

    Virginia, USA I called the front desk and they said "uh we'll bring over a ladder for you to get down I guess". Is there anything I can do here?
    via sharks_tbh
  • Nuclear option is call the fire marshall but is there anything I can do first?
    via sharks_tbh
  • Edit: I guess I'm asking if they're required to give us notice. Is there anything I can do in terms of formal complaints? I can't just miss work on NO notice like this
    via sharks_tbh
  • Edit2: Just got off the phone with the code enforcement department and they said a code enforcement officer (?) would reach out to me. The Fire Marshal
    via sharks_tbh
  • said they wouldn't get involved because it's a residential area. Still no ladder and it's been hours.
    via sharks_tbh
  • Edit3: Some points of contention in the comments-there is no second egress other than climbing off the balcony or out of the window. The drop is about 4- 5 feet, a bit taller than I am. I
    via sharks_tbh
  • walked outside to go to work and was showered in sparks (!) with the stairs missing (!!). The first thing I did was call management and I asked for a ladder, I wasn't
    via sharks_tbh
  • offered one. They said they'd get one to me. That hasn't happened. I posted here afterwards. wondering wtf to do.
    via sharks_tbh
  • Edit4: BF spoke to the management company (same person I spoke to) and they took him WAY more seriously than they took me. Someone called him back and said they CAN'T
    via sharks_tbh
  • bring a ladder because it's a "liability". That explains why they were giving me the runaround. Repairs will apparently be done in about 2 hours, so a total of about 8 hours of repairs. Code enforcement has been informed,
    via sharks_tbh
  • Fire Marshal has been informed. I'm on the phone with code enforcement again.
    via sharks_tbh
  • Edit5: they finally left at 5:30pm! The new stairs look very...ugly and concrete (??). Not worth being stuck for 10-12 HOURS. I'm not sure when they first arrived,
    via sharks_tbh
  • but definitely I heard construction noises early in the morning. before 7am so at least 10ish hours. The ball is rolling with filing a code enforcement complaint(?) so I'll post an update when I have one! Gotta keep the evidence/pictures close to my chest until then.
    via sharks_tbh
  • A woman holds the phone by her ear while calling repair service.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • WelshLove what if someone uses a wheelchair, call fire ASAP
    via sharks_tbh
  • OP sharks_tbh I did, they said the Fire Marshall wouldn't get involved unless code enforcement called them in (I also called code enforcement and filed a complaint)
    via sharks_tbh
  • Easy-Low That's super illegal, and should result in fines to the landlord. Call the fire department to at least make a report, call your city's zoning or permit department as well. They can at least help you get to the right department. Are you being prevented from going to work/at risk for lost wages? Even if the fire marshall can't come out immediately, you are stuck in your apartment. Take pictures from a distance, or even record the sounds of welding/construction.
    via sharks_tbh
  • OP sharks_tbh I'm on the phone with the city right now, thanks for this. I'm being prevented from going to work and cannot work, so I'm definitely missing out on wages.
    via sharks_tbh
  • NSFWpersonalaccount Call the fire marshall now. ASAP. Don't fuck around, don't mess. You are stuck, this is a massive fire hazard, and if they're doing this openly you have no idea what is being done behind the scenes.
    via sharks_tbh
  • OP sharks_tbh I did, they said since it's a residential area that code enforcement would have to ask them to get involved. I called code enforcement first and they said someone would reach out to me
    via sharks_tbh
  • ironicmirror Call your city or township or county's code enforcement office. Ask them what you should do. Also, you might want to off- handly ask if the person on the phone could look at the permit that your landlord obviously pulled to do this work and ask how long the work would be.
    via sharks_tbh
  • OP sharks_tbh I just got off the phone with the code department before seeing this comment and they said a code inspector would be reaching out to me! I didn't think to ask about the permits being pulled but I'll definitely ask the code inspector
    via sharks_tbh
  • PrairieFire_withwind Duuude, call 911. Tell them you cannot exit your apartment. The stairs are gone. You need documentation on this from a 3rd party. That police report is necessary.
    via sharks_tbh
  • OP sharks_tbh I called code enforcement and sent an email documenting everything to my BF who also lives here so that there's a timestamp for it. He's technically trapped like me but doesn't have any plans so he's just watching me call people lol.
    via sharks_tbh
  • ironicmirror Did you reiterate that you can't get out of your apartment because they removed the steps? Because this is something code enforcement would be pissed at, but if they did this and did not pull a permit, the landlord's going to get daily fines. If you were truly stuck, perhaps getting the police involved might work. After all this is a form of kidnapping..... At a minimum, a squad car showing up at your complex would get management moving pretty damn quickly.
    via sharks_tbh
  • OP sharks_tbh Yes, code enforcement asked me if there was other access to/from the apartment and I said "I guess I could try to climb off the balcony?" and the lady was like "please don't do that sweetie" lol. I'm trying to avoid the nuclear 911 option because I otherwise quite like living here and don't want any retaliation if possible but if 2 more hours pass with no changes I might do that
    via sharks_tbh
  • Competitive Test5755 this is Definitely illegal and psychotic
    via sharks_tbh
  • OP sharks_tbh I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! I'm drafting an email to the property manager right now
    via sharks_tbh
  • Dadbode1981 Ask them when the stairs are being replaced? It's likely that will happen before a fire marshal even comes out. Even than they'll just issue an "order" for work thats already being done.
    via sharks_tbh

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