Sometimes I just hate people...

[Imperial Knight]

...and right now is one of those times.

It all began a few months ago when I went looking for my first apartment. I found a place that seemed nicer than all the others, and there I let my wonder of "having been so lucky to find such a nice place" cloud my judgment. When I went to sign the lease, it listed the rent as $125 more than what I had been told it was when I was shown the place. I asked was told that there was a "discount" for paying the rent on time and that if you factored that in the price really was what had been advertised. (I asked explicitly whether the rent was X dollars, X being the amount that it had been advertised at). Even though my better judgment told me something just wasn't right, the woman who had shown me the place and had given me the lease to sign was just so nice that I trusted her (despite the fact that I had heard that many landlords who seem nice turn on their tenants once the lease is signed). So I made the huge mistake of signing that lease.

At first everything seemed fine. Then the other day I open my door to find a "5 day notice" taped to my door stating that they would begin eviction proceedings if I did not pay back rent of $100 plus a $25 late fee within 2 days (The notice was dated from 3 days before, but I had gone in and out of my apartment on several occasions during that time span, so it isn't possible that I just hadn't noticed it).

Anyways, the notice mentioned that I needed to call the office to resolve the matter. I called, figuring that I'd simply explain that I had underpaid because I was under the mistaken impression that the rent was $100 less than it actually was (though I wanted to say "because you lied to me about how much it was"). Long story short, that conversation was among the rudest, most condescending things I've ever listened to. Now my apartment feels like a means by which I'm being conned out of $1200. I'm angry about what happened, angry at the company for cheating me, and angry at myself for having been stupid enough to sign a contract that my better judgment was telling me not to sign.

To make this more than just a rant, I feel like I should present "a bitter renter's tips for leasing an apartment." Ignore these at your peril:

DO NOT ASSUME THAT YOUR POTENTIAL LANDLORD IS NICE AND REALLY WANTS TO MAKE YOU HAPPY WITH YOUR LIVING ARRANGEMENTS. Nice landlords do exist, but there's no way to tell which are really nice and which are just acting until after you sign the lease.

-DO NOT TRUST ANYTHING THAT YOUR POTENTIAL LANDLORD TELLS YOU UNLESS YOU ALSO HAVE IT IN WRITING. This applies no matter how "helpful" and "nice" they seem to be. And speaking of having things in writing...

-READ THE LEASE CAREFULLY! Do NOT let them rush you thorugh it.

[phyco126]

$1200? ... Where do you live? New York City? O_O

Anyway, yeah, I've had nothing but bad luck with my landlords. Evicted from my first apartment after only 2 months being there, for something total BS. The second apartment was worse, broken things, run down and old appliances, NO HEAT, and the worst was if you put anything on the floor, within days mildew and wetness appears under that object. I don't know what caused it, but the bottom of my computer has rust. Finally, when I couldn't pay rent anymore, the landlord went into my apartment while I was away (and still moving my stuff out) and threw everything away (clearly illegal, I SHOULD have gotten a lawyer, but I was afraid I wouldn't have a case.)

So yeah, I feel your pain. Sorry that kind of stuff happens.

[Aaron]

i HATE LANDLORDS

lol

seriously, who gives them the right to do that. i wouldn't pay it and I'd go to small claims court just to piss her off.

[Imperial Knight]

$1200? ... Where do you live? New York City? O_O

I live in Madison, Wisconsin.

The $1200 is not my monthly rent. It's how much more I'll pay than what was advertised over the entire term of the lease (i.e. $100 more per month for 12 months).

[YoshiMars]

Dang... and here I am just about to move into my first aparment. This does worry me, but so far all has been working out in my favor as every time I (or one of my other roomates) have asked a question I am answered acuratley according to the paperwork I've seen. Though thanks to this I shall very, very carefully read the offical lease before I sign it. I'm sorry this had to happen to you... what a bummer.

[Kizyr]

$1200? ... Where do you live? New York City? O_O

An apartment in NYC costs you way more than $1200/month. An apartment in greater Washington DC might run you $1200/month for an efficiency or small one-bedroom, but usually more. KF

[GhaleonOne]

Geez... I'm getting into a $630 a month 800 square feet luxury apartment next month, and I have family telling me I'm spending too much... $1200+ is insane. I knew that's what people paid out east, but it still boggles the mind. How the hell is someone supposed to have enough money to live on if they don't have a decent enough job? That's just crazy.

[Pisces]

I did some research on this sort of thing a while back. There was a really crazy statistic...

I live in Omaha. If I moved to NYC and kept the same kind of job, my salary would increase about 30%.

However, my cost of LIVING would increase about 90%. Which means that I could no longer live the kind of lifestyle I currently have without getting promoted to a much better job.

Chicago's a lot more reasonable. The inflation percentage is actually slightly (only slightly, but still) greater for salary than it is for cost of living.

Which is why if I decided to try and pursue an acting career, I would probably start off in Chicago.

Actually, I think the economy's pretty crazy right now. I've been trying to estimate salary/cost of living/budget, and I came to the conclusion that, even in the Midwest, it's not possible for a single, independent person to live completely on their own and have their own transportation (reliable) and eat normal food unless they make like $12/hour or higher. Yet the minimum wage is still $5.15.

And even with $12, you have to spend very carefully.

[Benevolent_Ghaleon]

i HATE LANDLORDS

lol

seriously, who gives them the right to do that. i wouldn't pay it and I'd go to small claims court just to piss her off.

Damn right. Make a point to do this.

[Alunissage]

Sounds like there's no proof, though. Do you have a copy of the advertisement?

Rents are pretty high over here, too, especially the Silicon Valley. When my husband first moved here in summer 2001, he got a 1-bedroom for $1450/month, and that was a pretty decent amount for the area. A friend of mine in Palo Alto (around the same time) had a slightly smaller 1-bedroom for $1600/month, but she moved out when they abruptly announced they were raising the rate to $2600. Yes, a thousand dollars more a month.

[Karthur]

Real estate here in South Carolina is dirt cheap. I bought a 3500 sq ft house with more than a half acre of land for less than $150K.

[ilovemyguitar]

Geez... I'm getting into a $630 a month 800 square feet luxury apartment next month, and I have family telling me I'm spending too much... $1200+ is insane. I knew that's what people paid out east, but it still boggles the mind. How the hell is someone supposed to have enough money to live on if they don't have a decent enough job? That's just crazy.

You do what I do. You find a roommate.

[phyco126]

$1200? ... Where do you live? New York City? O_O

An apartment in NYC costs you way more than $1200/month. An apartment in greater Washington DC might run you $1200/month for an efficiency or small one-bedroom, but usually more. KF

I know I know, but I don't know how much an apartment in NYC costs. I know in the movies, you can get an apartment that's falling apart, no heat, cockroach and rat invested, drugdealers killing people in the hallways daily, and homeless peeing in the corners of the stairwells for about $3,000 a month

Here in the Fountain, Colorado Springs area, a cheap run down apartment runs about $450 a month (and trust me, you really wouldn't want to live in that apartment/area.) For an decent, average sized apartment, you can run up to about $900 a month. The more higher end apartments differ, well, not by a lot, go all the way up to about $2,000. I remember when we first moved here, a brand new two story house with unfinished basement went for around $90,000 -$100,000. Today, the same houses run about $250,000 - $300,000. This is just over the span of 10 years.

Oh, before I forget, I also had my share of false advertisement. My first apartment had a military incentive deal. If you served in the Iraq war (the newest one) you got 3 months off. Well, my roommate served in the war and at the time was medically discharged from the military due to ill-effects of the war. Anyway, we tried to get the 3 months off, but they denied it, saying he still had to be in the military to qualify, despite it just saying "If you served in Iraq, get 3 months off!" He was upset about it, but at the time we just let it slide and settled for 2 months off instead (a different discount campaign.)