Greedy Landlords Suck
Last Saturday, we went out hunting for a new apartment; we have to be out of this place by the end of the year, because the whole complex is being renovated.
So my wife printed out a bunch of good places from Westside Rentals, made a few calls, and we headed out last Saturday to see a few apartments (as well as scout out the neighborhoods they are in).
The second apartment we saw was in North Hollywood, and we thought we struck gold. The living room was smallish, but the two rooms upstairs were huge, with big walk-in closets. And it had a big two-car garage. The rent is around the upper limit of what we wanted to spend, but the neighborhood was perfect, and the lady who owns the place (Maria) seemed very nice.
We applied, and Monday she called, to tell us it's ours. We made arrangements to meet in a couple of weeks to sign the lease and drop a big cashier's check on her.
Cool. Great. A place to be excited about, and now we don't have to worry about finding a place, so that hassle is eliminated.
Not. So. Fast.
Today Maria calls, and says that her "partner" (someone she'd never mentioned before, and who I'm not entirely sure exists) thinks the apartment is worth more, and now the rent is $100 more.
Bait and switch much?
I told my wife when she came home for lunch, and she was pissed. Because though we wanted the place, and could probably swallow the extra bucks, who wants a landlord like this?
Particularly since -- get this -- the apartment has been sitting empty for a year because she was using it for storage.
So we reported her to Westside rentals, and this weekend we get to go out and search for another place in the same general area.
Sigh.
I hope her new higher-paying tenants turn out to be the tenants-from-hell. Because that would be karma.
posted by Scott the Reader @ 1:43 PM
7 Comments:
A guy pulled something like that on me when I was hunting a house to rent for my mother except he called to say "so and so offered my partner more so .. sorry for your bad luck". Later, we learned the house burned the ground. Not enough evidence to arrest the guy but he was engaged to a woman whose previous husband had been suspected of torching their own house for insurance money.
Same thing happened to me in NoHo. Found a place, filled out the papers and handed over the check, then the landlords called and said another person offered them more.
Got the deposit and credit check back. I would've gone Barbarian if they hadn't returned all the $$.
Turns out it was a good thing: my apartment went condo and I got the relocation money, and now I have a WAY better new place in a WAY better neighborhood.
You don't want shifty landlords anyway. Good luck in your hunt!
I suggested this place before (in another post about you looking to move) and I don't know what your spending range is, but I do know there are vacant apartments. Anyway it's Catalina Apartments in Studio City. Most of the residents are in the industry (or traveling nurses), it's a good location, too, right on Laurel Canyon Blvd on the west side of Ventura. There's a TJ's, Von's, Long's and CVS with a two minute walk. Starbucks is another minute away. and Ralph's and Whole Foods are a less than a five minute drive (it's those damn traffic lights).
Anyway, good luck finding a place.
I had that happen to me once. Moved in, immediately got a letter saying "we're raising your rent." I tossed the letter away and kept paying what we had originally agreed to. This went on for several months until I got a job in another city and had to move.
Landlords suck ass. I say this and I am a landlord of course since I couldn't sell my house in time so ended up renting it out to finance my move. But that's different.
Landlords suck. I am not renewing my lease. I gave a bunch of problems to the landlord. Never addresed a single one. I found a new place, and the asshole wont even let me break my lease one lousy month early. Id like to keep my money.
Landlords suck. I am not renewing my lease. I gave a bunch of problems to the landlord. Never addresed a single one. I found a new place, and the asshole wont even let me break my lease one lousy month early. Id like to keep my money.
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