Now that I've expressed my absolute disdain for this administration and how things have been going, I went back and looked at my previous posts and came to realize that it had been over two years since my last post. In fact, my last post was about a situation we were dealing with at the time, a situation I promised an update on.
Then I didn't.
I'm an embarrassment, I know.
Let's recap the summer of 2023 though.
First off, GCX was amazing. I got hang out with my favorite people in the world, meet some of my favorite Destiny 2 creators, and created memories that will last a lifetime.
But prior to that, home life was a bit chaotic. We had been living in that apartment complex for 10 years at that point. We had no problems there, at least with management or maintenance. We kept to ourselves, and aside from a VERY cranky lady when we first moved in, largely had no issues with our neighbors. She was a bitch though. I'll never forgive her for some of the nonsense she put us through very early on.
The complex itself had been fine though. When we first moved in, it was a relatively small operation. A single woman worked the office and wasn't super particular about rules so long as people didn't cause too much trouble. Unfortunately, a larger company bought the complex and she ended up retiring shortly thereafter. Much of the maintenance staff turned over, and new people started working in the office. Things were still relatively tame, but the people who were living in the complex were becoming a bit more rowdy.
We were still left alone though. We had moved in with two dogs and two cats. There had been no issues there whatsoever (the complex even after the change largely didn't care about cats as long as they didn't cause damage) and while we had one incident where I forgot to pay the electric, we otherwise kept our noses clean.
But in early 2023, there was a seismic shift in how things were handled. The entire office staff was replaced with new people, in particular a very nasty woman who sneered at everyone she came in contact with. Almost immediately, you could tell they were trying to cause issues. One of the maintenance guys complained to me about how they were trying to skirt around various rules, going so far as to tell maintenance people to just walk in randomly even if notice hadn't been given.
It wasn't long before I noticed he was no longer around. I don't know if he quit or if he was fired, but given how he felt about how things were going, either reason wouldn't surprise me if we're being honest. I heard from a few residents that management had become very aggressive when it came to inspections and finding problems, so it wasn't that big of a surprise when they came knocking towards us.
It is important to note, they were justified in wanting to check us. Our light fixture had broken in the kitchen, but the night before my dog had eviscerated a piece of cardboard and left a massive mess in the kitchen that I just hadn't bothered to clean up yet. I had no idea they were coming that day, so he walked into a pretty significant mess. I apologized for it, but he apparently complained to the office manager, and she didn't need much reason to go after anyone.
Something we found out later is that they had been targeting anyone who'd been in the complex for an extended amount of time. People who had been living there for years were at the top of the list. Given we had passed over 10 years at the complex, they were losing out on the higher rent that they had started charging. Or at least that's how it seemed. If there's one thing about community, it's that people will start talking when they notice something's amiss. And people were talking at the complex.
In any case, they showed up, made note of a smell, and took issue with our one dog. To be clear, both dogs had been registered when we moved in. Both dogs were in the residential portal that we have no control over. Yet the office manager claimed they had no record of him and would documentation asap. They said they'd be back at a later date to follow-up on the issues.
Then they didn't show.
In fact, a couple of weeks went by before they decided to come back, this time while I was out of town. They then said the same thing, that the dog was not registered, that the apartment stunk, and we had I think a week to get it together. They then didn't come back for several days before finally leaving a notice on the door that they'd begin the eviction process soon.
At this point, we began to investigate options. We felt something was wrong about the whole situation, especially given during all of this, they gave us lease renewal paperwork, but we had to prove it. I started by asking a friend to look at all of our paperwork to make sure we weren't missing something, to make sure they weren't violating something. He immediately noticed a few things, which we made note of. The main thing was they weren't giving the proper 48 hour notice that's required under state regulations when it comes to low-income housing. They also failed to give us a 30-day grace period to fix whatever issue that they had. That alone felt like a victory.
It was also at this point we realized the resident portal aspect of the story. Both dogs were listed at the residence, something the office had to put in as residents don't have access to that portal. That meant someone somewhere at least had the documentation for our dogs. I still believe to this day that she looked at him, went back to the office, and destroyed the documentation. Much like this current administration though, she wasn't very smart and forgot that we could see the resident portal.
My roommate, who years ago was recommended to get the pets registered as Emotional Support Animals for her anxiety, remembered that she had submitted the letter to them years ago and they had never bothered to apply it to our rent (you can't be charged for pets under an ESA in the state of Ohio). She used the initial letter to register the cat, then she spoke to someone about the dogs and was able to register both dogs as well. We began gathering all of the relevant information and decided our best bet was to go above the office manager.
Then we went to pay our rent and realized that they had retroactively added years of pet rent fees to the amount due. One set was for the dog, who had been registered, the other was for Arbalest, our cat, who was now a problem even they had never cared about cats before (yes, I know legally it wouldn't stand up and I know we should've seen it coming, but it still sucked). Instead of paying rent online, which wasn't allowing us to just pay our normal rent, we decided to mail a check in and attach a detailed letter.
This letter pointed out the numerous times that our rights as a tenant had been violated. It pointed out the "loss" of our dog's registration even though he was in the residential portal. It pointed out that she had given the office a letter for an ESA 6 years ago that had never been applied. We came with details, we came with receipts, and then we waited.
About a week or so later, a new notice was posted on our door. It was an apology letter that the manager was clearly forced to write, but didn't want to write. The pet fees had been removed from our account and they were open to us renewing our lease if we so desired. We had been vindicated and felt a tremendous weight lift off of us.
But we were done there. We had been looking into other options the other time, and while options for animals were limited, all of our pets being covered as an ESA meant we had a lot more freedom than most.
We ultimately settled on an apartment complex that we had previously thought we'd never live in given how expensive it was. But we knew someone who lived here who said it was nice, we could afford it, and it would be much, much nicer than where we had been living. It was a very anxious period of time as we applied and waited for approval, but we were ultimately approved and moved in by the end of October 2023.
The previous complex wasn't done trying to hurt us though. As anyone who's lived in a rental knows, you put a deposit down. When you move out, they do an inspection, replace carpet, paint walls, and look for damage. They decided to hit us with around $2k worth of charges after we moved, but didn't itemize anything so we didn't know what they were charging us for. We asked for a list, but they decided to immediately send it to collections instead, which was a choice.
My roommate disputed it on her report, noting that they had only been given a couple of weeks to even consider paying for the charges. The collection was removed shortly thereafter and that was the end of our experience with that apartment complex.
We've been in the current place since, and while it isn't perfect (and is still quite expensive), it's comfortable, it's quiet, and they largely leave us alone. There's a pool that Kylie has greatly enjoyed in the summer, and it's relatively close to everything we need to get to. We've largely left the other place in the past, but I still think about it from time to time. I know we're not the only people they went after, and probably not the only people they screwed over.
And right now, I don't know what the future holds. There's still hope that the housing market will settle down and we can get a house, but that still seems very unlikely at this point. While we did get lucky with our rent increase this past year, I wouldn't be surprised to see a significant increase next time our renewal comes around (somewhere close to the fall). The reality is housing in this country, like most things, is out of control and the government has no interest in doing anything actually meaningful to help with it.
In any case, I promised an update, and while it's over two years late, I at least came through with it. I don't know how much writing I'll do going forward. My best friend has suggested I do this more and I don't disagree with her on that. It was my go-to back in the day when I needed to express feelings, but that was more because I never felt I could talk to anyone about anything. That's less of an issue these days, but could still fill a void when people aren't around for chatting.
The main thing I want to express to those renting is know your rights. Our previous complex tried to screw us over and I'm sure we weren't alone. We had the ability figure out and prove that what they were doing was wrong, but I can only imagine how many people were forced out because they didn't know. And while many of our government agencies have decided that following the law is optional, some still have a little iota of dignity. Not much, but at least a little bit.
That's the update and where things are at the moment. Now it's time for bed and to contemplate my next post, which may end up being about social media. I have a LOT of thoughts about that.
Until next time...
No comments:
Post a Comment