I spent too many minutes this weekend fighting with my apartment complex about whether my rent is late or not.

Let me tell you verbatim what my lease says on the front page "any rent left unpaid as of the 4th day of each month is considered late in which case you will be charged a $75 late fee which is to be paid before any rent is accepted."

One thing you want to notice about this statement. 1st it doesn't specify a time frame on the 4th day of the month. So, when I read this, I think that if I don't pay them on the 4th it will be late.

I've paid the rent in this complex 5 times. The 1st time I paid it on the 4th day and no late fee was given to me. NONE. So I think its okay to pay it that day. Apparently not.

I go in and give them my check on January 4th and they tell me it's late. I was in a hurry so I say no it's not and tell them that I pay it on the 4th all the time and then I walk out. I then get a call the next day stating how they cannot cash my check without a $75 late fee attached to it.

At this point, I'm just thinking a simple call to explain myself and to agree to pay on the 3rd next time will fix this because it's a misunderstanding and they should waive it.

Gosh, I was terribly wrong.

They inform me that if they didn't charge me a late fee previously, I was lucky and they will not waive it this month because the lease states that it is late on the forth. We go back and forth on a phone call with some guy that works there and then I hang up because I'm eating lunch.



Now, when I go in and give someone a rent check on the 4th, in my mind, it's paid AS OF the forth.

I guess at the same time, on the 4th, it was also unpaid. However, there is no specified time on the lease for that day. So I as a tenant assume its fine. As soon as I come back from lunch I go to the office and I get referred to the office manager, Anna. Anna asks how she can help me.

I again explain my case to her and in the middle of my reasoning she interrupts me. (I was trying to play nice because if you know where I work I've dealt with jerk customer's all the time). She tells me the same thing it's late and we're not waiving it.

She also tells me that she's been doing this for 5 years and they have to be consistent with all of the tenants and if she waived my late fee, she would have to waive everyone elses also.

I tell Anna that I understand that she needs to hold people accountable but she's being a heinous ----- right from the start. She informs me that this lease is written by lawyer and she can call them and ask them to interpret if I want. I accept.

She gets someone on the phone while I sit and listen to the conversation from her end, and she asks him about my question. He apparently asked her to read the line of the lease which she does and he then tells her that a court would "interpret that as the 4th at midnight."

**Names have not been changed because they are snobby -------**

So what they are telling me is that I signed a lease that does not specify information and I am incorrect for interpreting in a way that does not benefit them'

I don't accept that and Anna refers me to her manager, Tami Greene. She gives me 2 phone #'s to call and I leave the office.

I call Tami immediately, she doesn't answer so I leave her a voice message with my name, residence and brief summary of a couple questions I had for her.

This is Friday, she doesn't return my call. AT ALL.

Saturday after I get home, I have a note on my door. In this note is my signed check to the apartment complex and a note stating that "any rent paid after the 4th is late" I'm not kidding, it said that. And they cannot cash my check until I pay the late fee or I have 3 days to get out. So they STAPLED my signed check in folded piece of paper and put it on my door and in it they put that they placed the note in an inconspicuous location. '!' I'm baffled.

So, I'm given 3 days to move out or pay a late fee that I was disputing. I was given some ladies number and I left her a message and she didn't return my calls.

WOW.

So to avoid being homeless I paid the rent and late fee. Today I again called Tami Greene and left a message with her secretary, she has not yet returned my calls

User Responses
From: abbess	Date: 05/17/2007
My thoughts exactly! Anytime you try to call someone and have them call you back or you leave a message you get NO response. I have dealt with that issue several times..I am so sorry to hear you had to go thru that!

Your thoughts? Post a response to this review. Display my response: with my username anonymously Responses appear below reviews and one response per user is permitted.

   Free estimates on moving trucks      Find apartment share/roommates