It sounds as if your apartment complex could be a little better run. Can you explain your concerns to the management office? The apartment that I lived in in Mass. before I relocated had a great management company. One of the landlords/landlady I had for the apartment where I relocated to were property-rich but cash poor. A few times I offered to pay for something myself and I deducted the cost in my next rent check which the landlady agreed to. One of those times included paying for a plumber that coworkers recommended to fix the toilet.

Cathy