Sucky Apartment

[RedRoseSpiral]

For the past month me and a friend have been trying to get an apartment. It has not been going well.

Our first road block was my friend's work. They didn't fill out some paperwork the apartments need correctly because of a miscommunication on apartments end. Then the person handling everything decided she would call up my friend's boss during the lunch rush and demanded she dropped everything and fill the paperwork out. My friend almost got written up for it (her boss is a bitch especially during the lunch rush) and the paperwork almost got sent to the corporate office who would have taken over 30 days to get it done.

Everything gets put in and we get the move in costs two days before we're suppose to sign the lease. They were a ton of charges we weren't told about before hand. Almost $400.00 more than what we were originally told about. They had a month to say "hey there's also this, this, and this" that you'll need to have the money for before you can move in.

I'm also the main signer. My friend is my co-signer. Instead of calling me, they keep calling her about everything. The only time I've had any contact with them is when I've called the office and then they were trying to get me off the phone without giving me any information. I was also told that the $150.00 I put down to hold the apartment would be refunded if we weren't approved or if we decided not to take the apartment. They're now telling my friend that I won't be getting that money back because I was approved.

So now today comes around, we're suppose to sign the lease. It's not happening. If they're going to pull all this crap now, I don't want to rent from them.

[Andara Bledin]

I think I would have started seeking an alternate choice as soon as they pulled the crap with the boss.

If you don't mind my asking, what are the additional charges supposed to be for?

^-.-^

[Sapphire Silk]

I've never had to pay any "additional charges" for an apartment. I've paid my security deposit, and sometimes first months rent. That's it.

Sounds like you are well shut of this place. Even if you have to walk away from $150, you are better off not living there.

[RedRoseSpiral]

I know one of the fees was a lack of credit fee because my roommate doesn't have much credit, even though I have a 700+ credit rating. Another fee was for having more than one car which we weren't told about in the beginning. All together it would have been an extra $400.

I would have dropped them at the boss thing, but my roommate didn't tell me about it until a few days ago when the other stuff came about. :/

[Andara Bledin]

Bleh. Yeah, I wouldn't be going with that place, either.

We had pretty non-existent credit and had just been evicted and our place didn't give us any trouble over extra fees. We paid first and last and a pet deposit, and that was it.

^-.-^

[Thatgirl71]

I know when I moved into my apartment, I had to pay first, last and security. I never heard of additional expenses for parking or anything like that. If you're getting a weird vibe already and haven't signed the lease yet, I would go with your instinct and back out to find a place that makes you feel comfortable and doesn't charge you with hidden expenses. Make sure you read your lease from top to bottom too.
Good luck!

[RedRoseSpiral]

That's what we've decided to do. Roommate's grandma even found a few houses we could look at that are for rent.

[georgie]

trust your instincts

think of the amount of stress theyre already giving you and you havent even moved in yet !!!!

[KellyHabersham]

We had pretty non-existent credit and had just been evicted and our place didn't give us any trouble over extra fees. We paid first and last and a pet deposit, and that was it.

^-.-^

That's about how it was when I first started renting at this complex - I didn't have a credit history at the time, so the then-property manager just had my mom co-sign the lease with me, and that was it.

[MoonCat]

Wow, all that for an apartment? I didn't have that much trouble when I bought a house! Sounds pretty fishy. I think you made the right decision.

[Sleepwalker]

Do you have ANY paperwork from them about that 150$? That sounds fishy... either it's an application fee, which normally is non refundable and for a far lesser amount, or it is something else, and I can't imagine what that would be if you haven't signed anything.

[RedRoseSpiral]

No, the application fee was $40.00. The $150.00 was to hold the apartment and was suppose to be part of the security deposit. I was originally told that if I wasn't approved or if we decided not to take the place we'd get it back. Now they're saying we're too far into the process to get a refund of it. I'm not that worried about it. If all I'm out is $150 I'll be glad for it. At least I'm not stuck in a 13 month lease with these scammers.

[Whiskey]

I'm not that worried about it. If all I'm out is $150 I'll be glad for it. At least I'm not stuck in a 13 month lease with these scammers.

Generally, what're youre told doesn't mean squat. They can promise you the world, but if your contract doesn't back that up, they don't have to follow through. If theres no paperwork that states you get the 150$ back, you're not getting it back because they don't have to give it back. Get absolutely everything in writing when you're doing business with someone/a company.

[RedRoseSpiral]

Generally, what're youre told doesn't mean squat. They can promise you the world, but if your contract doesn't back that up, they don't have to follow through. If theres no paperwork that states you get the 150$ back, you're not getting it back because they don't have to give it back. Get absolutely everything in writing when you're doing business with someone/a company.

I plan on it after all this.

[PepperElf]

and ... post about them in www.apartmentratings.com

that way you can tell other potential residents what they were doing